Warwick to Ephrata Rail Trail - Day Trip

August 16, 2023

Ride as much or as little or as long or as short as you feel. But ride.

- Eddy Merckx

Wednesay, August 16th was forecast to be slightly cooler than the past few days. We were determined to squeeze in as many adventures as we could before one of us had to head back to work for the school year, so we decided to take a short bike ride on the Warwick to Ephrata Rail Trail in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. The 7.1 mile trail follows the former Reading and Columbia Railroad, running west from Ephrata to Lititz in Warwick Township. 

Note: This trail is highly used by walkers and bike riders, especially at the eastern end in Ephrata. We suggest riding it early in the morning if you prefer to have the trail mostly to yourself. Also, there are a few road crossings on this trail. Be watchful when crossing because drivers do not always slow down or stop for trail users.

We rode on this trail for the first time in September 2021 and enjoyed it enough to want to go back again. Many of the photos you see here will be from that first trip since it was nearly the same time of the year and not much had changed in the two years since we had first ridden the trail.

We started our journey at the Ephrata Linear Park trailhead, riding on the paved trail as we headed west. The trail passes by some buildings with murals painted on them before passing through a tunnel carrying Rt. 272 over it. 

Ephrata - along the trail (2023)	Ephrata - along the trail (2023)
Rt. 272 tunnel (2021)

At some point before entering the small town of Akron, the trail becomes gravel. For the last eight years, people passing through this section of the trail have been treated with the sight of the Nibbles McGibbles Gnome Village. Sadly, while writing this post we discovered that the gnome village was permanently removed not long after our recent ride on the trail. Fortunately, we stopped to take photos of it, not realizing it would be dismantled within the next few days. It was a very popular spot on the trail and will be missed!

Gnome Village in Akron, along the trail (2023)

Gnome Village, Akron (2021) Gnome Village, Akron (2023)

Gnome Village, Akron (2021) Gnome Village, Akron (2023) Gnome Village, Akron (20230

Gnome Village, Akron (2023) Gnome Village, Akron (2023)

Gnome Village, Akron (2021) Gnome Village, Akron (2023)

Also found along the trail is Hope Meadow, a lovely plot of land filled with wildflowers for all to enjoy - but no picking!

Hope Meadow, along the trail (2021) Hope Meadow (2021) Black-Eyed Susan (2023)

Hope Meadow (2021) Cutleaf Coneflowers (2023) New England Aster (2023)

Wild Senna (2023)

The trail continues into a nicely tree-shaded area, passing over the Cocalico Creek before heading out into farmland and Warwick Township, with the off-road portion of the trail ending just as you enter Lititz.

Along the trail (2021) Cocalico Creek bridge (2021)

Along the trail (2021) Along the trail (2021)

Trailhead at Lititz (2021)

You can take the road to the official end of the trail, by turning left onto the roadway where the gravel trail ends, and heading up the hill where you turn right and follow the street into Lititz Spring Park. We have only ever ridden on the off-road portion of the trail.

After taking a short break at the Lititz/Warwick end of the trail we returned to our start in Ephrata Linear Park where we sat on a bench at the trailside Veteran's Plaza and ate our lunch before heading the short distance further east on the trail to Main Street in Ephrata, then circled back to our car for the ride home.

Veteran's Plaza, Ephrata (2023)

Statue plaque (2023) Trail into the center of Ephrata

It was a pleasant day for a ride and we are ever so grateful we were lucky enough to see the gnome village one more time before it was dismantled.

* All Photos and videos are the property of the authors except where otherwise noted. *

Trap Pond State Park, Delaware Camping Trip

 August 6 to August 10, 2023

The river you paddle runs through the rest of your life. It bubbles up in pools and eddies to remind you who you are.

- Lynn Noel

Our last camping trip for the summer season was to a new to us state park in Delaware. Trap Pond State Park is located near Laurel, Delaware in the southwest corner of the tiny state. The park's campground has tent sites, RV sites with water and electric hookups, cabins and yurts. There's a nicely stocked camp store, laundry facilities and the bath houses are some of the cleanest we've seen. The sites were large and spaced nicely apart so you didn't feel crowded in.

The park's namesake Trap Pond, at only 90 acres, is home to the northern-most naturally occurring stand of Baldycypress trees. The state park and pond are just a small part of the former Great Cypress Swamp covering parts of Delaware, Maryland and Virginia. Large swaths of the swamp was drained for farming and logging, with only a few small sections remaining. Trap Pond State Park holds the largest section. 

The park includes nearly 9 miles of water trails, and there are kayaks, canoes, boats and paddleboards available for rent. There is also a boat launch and several fishing docks along the pond's edge. You can also take a 1-hour guided tour of the swamp on a 28-foot pontoon boat on weekends. We absolutely loved the water trail in the swamp. It reminded us so much of the swamps in the Louisiana that at times we could imagine seeing gators slipping into the water to follow us.

Trap Pond

It's important to note that there is no swimming at Trap Pond due to the poor water quality of the swamp. However, there are walking trails and biking trails throughout the park, a Nature Center, and a day-use area including picnic areas, pavilions, volleyball courtws, horseshoe pits, a disc golf course, athletic fields and a playground.

During our stay we also drove to Rehoboth, Delaware, to take advantage of some of the bicycle trails in the area. We started at the Wolfe Neck trailhead for the Junction & Breakwater Trail built partly from unused rail lines. The trail winds through hardwood and pine forests, open fields and coastal marshes. The trail also connects with the Georgetown-Lewes Trail at its northern end, but we headed south to the Rehoboth Visitor Center and Grove Park. 

From there we followed the bicycle lanes on the back streets to connect with the Gordons Pond Trail at the southern end of Cape Henlopen State Park in Rehoboth Beach. We followed the trail along the side of the 900-acre saltwater Gordons Pond, then turned around at trail's end across from the Biden Center (currently under renovation) and headed back the way we came, completing a 18.48 miles circuit.

Both of the trails are mostly flat with a mixture of paved, crushed stone and asphalt surfaces with some boardwalks, bridges and scenic lookouts along the way. The trail from Wolfe Neck south into Rehoboth wasn't very busy, but the route through Rehoboth and around Gordon Pond was very busy when we rode the trail in late morning. We had hoped to continue our ride and complete the northern end of the Junction & Breakwater Trail into Lewes and back, but it was getting pretty hot and humid, so we decided to save that end of the trail for another time.

We really enjoyed our stay at Trap Pond State Park, especially the water trail through the Cypress swamp and the bike trail around the pond. If you are looking for a nice quiet and relaxing escape, we highly recommend Trap Pond!

Great Blue Heron   Trumpet Creeper

Bob Trail   View from the bike trail

View from Cypress Trail

Sunset over Trap Pond

* All Photos and videos are the property of the authors except where otherwise noted. *

D&L Trail - Cementon to Lehigh Gap, & the Slatington Heritage Trail (Northampton and Lehigh Counties) - Day Trip

 July 31, 2023

Cyclists see considerably more of this beautiful world than any other class of citizens. A good bicycle, well applied, will cure most ills this flesh is heir to. 

– Dr. K.K. Doty

Monday, July 31 was the start of some cooler weather here in Pennsylvania and we were determined to take advantage of it, so we got up early, packed a lunch and loaded up the bikes to ride another portion of the D&L Trail. The Delaware & Lehigh National Corridor was established to preserve the historic pathway that was used to carry coal and iron from Wilkes-Barre to Philadelphia. The D&L Trail is a 165-mile long multi-use path stretching between Wilkes-Barre and Bristol, near Philadelphia. It passes through 5 counties and is nationally recognized for its scenic landscapes and waterways, picturesque towns and remnants of historic canals. We've been riding portions of the trail since 2019, slowly working our way south. So far we've covered the trail from White Haven in the north down to the Lehigh Gap Nature Center, a total of 47 miles one way. Only 118 more miles until we complete the trail! We rode another portion of the trail earlier this year. Take a look at the April 10, 2023 post to read about the section from the Lehigh Gap to Jim Thorpe.

On this trip we started at the trailhead in Cementon, Pennsylvania. Cementon is a small hamlet near Allentown. We had planned to start our ride at the North Catasaqua trail, further south, but the trail crosses over the Lehigh River at Cementon on a bridge, and the bridge was under construction. We'll have to go back and ride that portion of the trail after the bridge work is completed.

The trail heading north was heavily shaded and cool with views on the right of the river through the trees. Our first interesting stop along the way was at the Three Mile Dam, also called Treichler's Dam, or Dam #4. The dam made a three mile pool deep enough for canal boats to float down the river and also to divert water into the canal at the locks. It was a crib dam, made of wood timbers and filled with rocks, stones and silt. A layer of concrete was later added to the top to stabilize it, but in 1980s the dam was breached by an ice flow and was never repaired.

D&L Trail

Three Mile/Treichler's Dam

Three Mile/Treichler's Dam

View downstream from the top of the dam	View back toward the trail
Some of the damaged cribbing

We continued north on the trail past a stream flowing down a gap in the forest, past the ruins of an old building and stopped to take a photo of an amusing sculpture.

Trailside view	Building ruins
Amusing sight along the trail

Our next stop was at the Lehigh Gap Nature Center. The grounds of the center is said to be the only Superfund site in the U.S. to be converted into an environmental education center. Located at the foot of the Kittatiny Ridge, the Center includes the Osprey House visitor center, a 756 acre wildlife refuge with approximately 13 miles of trails, including a portion of the Appalachian Trail. It also has a wildflower garden which wasn't in bloom the last time we visited. The garden spanned both sides of the trail and we only explored one side during this visit. We definitely want to return to the LGNC again sometime to explore some of the trails.

Lehigh Gap Nature Center

After enjoying the wildflowers we turned around and headed back south to the Slatington trailhead where we stopped to have some lunch. The trailhead had nice restrooms and a pavilion with picnic tables next to it. There is also the "Diggity Dogs & More" food truck parked there. The menu items looked good, but we had brought our own lunch.

After eating our lunch we drove a little further back south on the trail to the intersection with the Slate Heritage Trail. The 3.3 mile trail uses the right-of-way from the former Lehigh Valley Railroad. We passed ruins of an old hotel alongside a stream and crossed over 4 bridges including the Trout Run Covered Bridge on our way to the trail's end in Washington Township. We almost had the trail to ourselves and it was very quiet and peaceful riding out and back.

Slate Heritage Trail Sign Hotel Ruins View from the covered bridge Trout Run

View from the trail Trout Run Covered Bridge View from the covered bridge View from the trail

After rejoining the D&L Trail we made a couple of other stops on our way back to Cementon.

View of the Lehigh from the trail View from the trail

View from the trail D&L Trailside Kindness Garden

We had a great time riding the trails for a total of 27.03 miles. The weather was perfect. The trails were mostly level, making for an easy ride. We're already looking forward to our next ride on the D&L sometime in the future.

Wildflowers from the Trail and Nature Center Wildflower Garden

Northern Bush Honeysuckle Fleabane   Waxberry Beebalm

Brown Eyed Susan Wild Carrot   Phlox Glolden Aster

Trumpet Honeysuckle

Rattlesnake Master

Butterfly Bush

Tick-Trefoil

Soapwort

* All Photos and videos are the property of the authors except where otherwise noted. *