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

Whether a tasty snack, a unique lunch spot, or a refreshing libation is calling your name, a few moments exploring one of the seven 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. Enjoy the serene majesty of the mighty Susquehanna or the beating heart of Downtown York.

From artistic and edgy beauty in Glen Rock, to the bustling businesses of New Freedom, Seven Valleys, and Hanover, to the history of Railroad and Wrightsville, and a variety of cultural adventures in York City, 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!
Hanover Trolley Trail Downtown Alignment Study RFP
Explore a Trail Town Today!
View the list of trail friendly businesses!

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 Towns
York County Trail Towns is at Columbia Crossing.3 days ago
Columbia Crossing

It was great to share information on our Trail Towns Program with partners in Lancaster County this afternoon. We're excited to work together to help our communities leverage the possibilities in the outdoor economy!

Columbia Economic Development Corporation | Columbia Borough |...

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York County Trail Towns5 days ago

THIS WEEK on Thursday, February 2 from 12-4pm over 30 companies will be in attendance at the York Hiring Fair, indoors at PeoplesBank Park. This hiring fair series is in partnership with York Revolution , Downtown York, PA and many more!

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York County Trail Towns3 weeks ago

Join Downtown Inc virtually on Wednesday, January 18 from 8:30am-9:30am for the next BLOOM Business Series Webinar: Leveraging Destination Marketing Tools.
Register here: https://bit.ly/BSWJAN

• Are you a small business owner looking to attract more foot traffic into...

York County Trail Towns
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York County Trail Towns
York County Trail Towns is with Refillism and 7 others at York County Heritage Rail Trail.3 weeks ago
York County Heritage Rail Trail

Returning for FestivICE in the Trail Towns! , is our FestivICE Trail Towns Passport!

As you visit the ice sculptures this weekend, stop by the many businesses that are along the Heritage Rail Trail. Many of them are Trail Friendly Businesses...

York County Trail Towns
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York County Trail Towns
York County Trail Towns4 weeks ago

Calling all outdoor lovers! Join the YCEA on January 25 talking economic impact of the recreation industry! Details & registration below ⬇️

York County Trail Towns
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York County Trail Towns
York County Trail Towns2 months ago

Congratulations to the winners of the 2022 York County Rail Trail Authority Awards!

The awards, which are presented at the YCRTA Holiday party, honor community members, government officials, and organizations that who dedicate themselves to maintain, expanding, and promoting trails in York...

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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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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