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Along the 21 miles of the Heritage Rail Trail, lie small communities ready to greet you.

Whether a tasty snack, unique lunch spot, or refreshing libation is calling your name, a few moments exploring one of the 5 York County Trail Towns, is time well spent. Following the tracks of the Northern Central Railway, experience the history of the railways, while enjoying modern and trendy accommodations along the way.

From artistic and edgy beauty in Glen Rock, to the bustling businesses of New Freedom, Seven Valleys, and Downtown City of York, to the history of Railroad, we welcome trail users to stop and visit.

Each community welcomes long-distance bikers, families, casual walkers and runners, and many are even pet friendly at their outdoor patios.

Explore a Trail Town Today!

What Is a Trail Town?

Trail Towns are communities adjacent to public trails that choose to embrace the trail as an opportunity for economic growth and improved quality of life.  Trail Towns programs use an integrated and asset-based, economic development approach that considers each town’s existing resources, it’s character and local businesses to develop a memorable and inviting trail experience for users including residents and out of town visitors alike.

York County Economic Alliance launched the “Trail Towns Program”, to leverage the York Heritage Rail Trail as a platform and driver for economic development in towns located along or near the popular multi-use trail. Partnering with the York County Department of Parks, the York County Rail Trail Authority, Explore York, and our municipal partners, the Trail Towns Program is a collaborative process with outreach to local governments, residents and business owners in order for each town to reach its potential as a vibrant hub for trail users. 

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York County Trail Towns
York County Trail Towns6 days ago

Trail Friendly Business Gillice Italian Ice & Ice Cream is hosting the inaugural New Freedom Christmas Parade this Saturday, December 4 beginning at 5 pm.

The parade will kick-off at the New Freedom Community Center (150 East Main Street). The parade route...

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York County Trail Towns
York County Trail Towns1 week ago

Check out this trailside real estate in Glen Rock!

What type of business would you love to see in this space?

York County Trail Towns
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York County Trail Towns
York County Trail Towns3 weeks ago

Today we were joined by Senator Kristin Phillips-Hill, PA State Rep. Kate Klunk’s office, and a dozen municipal officials from across York County to highlight the York County Trail Towns program and Northern Central Railway.

We took the train from New...

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York County Trail Towns
York County Trail Towns1 month ago

The section of trail outside of Seven Valley looks amazing right now! Check out the fall foliage along the Heritage Rail Trail, Hanover Rail Trail, and Susquehanna River. And visit our York County Trail Towns while you’re there!

York County Trail Towns
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York County Trail Towns
York County Trail Towns updated their status.2 months ago

When this happens, it's usually because the owner only shared it with a small group of people, changed who can see it or it's been deleted.

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York County Trail Towns
York County Trail Towns2 months ago

Silas was out in Pittsburgh at an American Planning Association conference to participate on a panel about nature-based revitalization and share our story of launching the York County Trail Towns program. He was joined by Amy Camp, author of Deciding on Trails and an originator...

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Want To Learn More?

Contact Silas Chamberlin to learn more and get involved. 

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Conservation & Environmental Benefits

Rail trails are linear greenspaces with all the expected and traditional conservation benefits of open space. They help preserve important natural landscapes, provide needed links to create wildlife corridors between fragmented habitats, and offer important opportunities for protecting plant and animal species. Rail trails that lie along watercourses (like the HRTCP) are also assets in the preservation and protection of wetlands and the improvement of water quality. When used as transportation alternatives to the auto, as noted above, trails can also help with improved air quality. In addition, they can allow humans to experience nature with minimal environmental impact.

Providing opportunities for people to experience and interact with nature fosters appreciation for natural resources and increase the likelihood of those people supporting efforts to preserve and sustain those resources. This support can then be leveraged for environmental stewardship activities.

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Education Benefits

Trails of all kinds offer layers of benefits, an often overlooked one is the opportunity to educate its users. Providing signage, programs or events that present information about natural resources, the history of the area, or cultural resources along the trail or a specific site enriches the personal experience and can encourage further exploration or increase awareness and stewardship.

Health & Wellness Benefits

Pennsylvania has the 24th highest adult obesity rate in the nation and the 14th highest obesity rate for youth ages 10 to 17 a clear indication that Pennsylvanians (and Americans in general) don’t engage in physical activity as much as we should. In fact, only 50% of adults in the United States meet the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) recommended guidelines for physical activity: 150 minutes of moderate to vigorous exercise per week, or its equivalent.

By contrast, physical activity, such as walking, running or cycling on a trail, can prevent the development of chronic disease or the progression of existing health conditions.

Along with reducing the risk of disease, physical activity has also been shown to improve individuals’ sleep, functioning and overall wellness. A single instance of physical activity can decrease blood pressure and anxiety symptoms while improving sleep, insulin sensitivity and cognition throughout the day the activity is performed.

Rail trails are non-discriminatory towards people, they benefit people of all ages, abilities, gender, ethnicity or race and are free! They are particularly suitable for families to exercise together, being accessible and safe for children. As attractive places to walk and bike, they are desirable to use and studies find people are more likely to exercise on a scenic trail giving them the added benefit of being in touch with nature. Trails provide a cost-effective way to exercise and provide a place for people to see others doing physical activities – a visible social support, which researchers have found to be an effective tool to encourage participation in physical activity.

Heritage Preservation/Community Identity
Rail trails also represent an opportunity to celebrate the heritage and history of towns located on the trail. The preservation and restoration of historic buildings and other man-made structures (like rail tunnels, bridges, etc.) can enhance a community’s identity, highlight historical figures and events and generally boost civic pride. A popular rail-trail can encourage the rehabilitation and reuse of historic buildings; these types of activities are catalysts for future community preservation projects of other buildings. Reuse and rehabilitation of historic resources enable those assets to continue to contribute to their community and will offer succeeding generations the opportunity to appreciate the history of places that the rail trail passes through.
Social Capital Benefits

Expanding on the theme of the community identity and civic pride is social capital. Social capital is the effective functioning of social groups in a place through interpersonal relationships, a shared sense of identity, and a shared understanding that leads to a positive product, benefits, or outcome. It is similar to financial capital but within a group of people or community – it’s personal. Trails function to bring people together through shared experience and therefore generate and enhance an area’s social capital. Having adequate social capital can be very beneficial when a community is met with a challenge requiring collaboration, cooperation, or common action among residents.

Rail trails have been called the 21st century’s “town square”, representing meeting places to socialize, exchange ideas, and get to know their neighbors. In this way, trails can capitalize on the social capital that they create and enhance community communications and interactions.

Transportation Benefits

A rail-trail, with its easy-to-cycle grades and off-road character, is an excellent transportation option with several transportation-specific benefits. As a transportation corridor, the trail provides accessible and safe routes for people to use for work trips or errands, trips to community facilities like local parks or the library, to go to school (primary, secondary and post-secondary), for some shopping trips, or for visiting friends.

Trails are community connectors, within communities and between communities. Rail trails, due to historic alignments that typically went through the middle of towns, offer easy mobility into town centers. This facilitates the exploration of nearby towns without the use of cars.

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