November 9th dawned bright and sunny, if a little cool, and since we both had the day off we decided to head to Columbia in Lancaster County for one of our favorite multi-use trails, the
Northwest Lancaster County River Trail. The trail follows the route of the historic
Pennsylvania Main Line Canal from Columbia to Falmouth alongside the Susquehanna River. We've ridden it 4 times since we first discovered it in 2020 during the pandemic. The trail is completely paved the 14 miles of its length and there are countless beautiful views and historical sites along the way - it never grows old!
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 | | Columbia Crossing River Trails Center (2020) |
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 | | St. Charles Furnace |
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 | | Point Rock Tunnel, looking north |
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The next mile along the trail includes ruins of many buildings that were once part of the
Henry Clay Furnace (1845) complex. Then, just past the 2 mile marker, we arrived at Chickies Rock. Chickies Rock is a massive quartzite outcropping that towers 100 feet above the trail and Susquehanna River. The rock is part of the
Chickies Rock County Park which includes trails and overlooks on the ridge above. Chickie's Rock is frequented by rock climbers and we always stop to watch them as they make their way up the rock wall.
 | | Ruins of the casting house at Henry Clay Furnace |
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 | | Chickies Rock |
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 | | Three climbers on the wall at Chickies Rock |
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The trail continues across a bridge over Chiques Creek and passes through a meadow before arriving at the
Mussleman-Vesta Iron Furnace Center in Marietta. Riding along the trail in Marietta there are plenty of signposts directing you to businesses and places to eat. We brought our lunch with us, so we passed quickly through the town and continued on our way.
 | | Musselman-Vesta Iron Furnace Center |
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 | | One of many directional signs in Marietta |
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Outside of Marietta the trail leaves the tree cover and follows along the edge of some farm fields before returning back under the trees and arriving at the Shocks Mill Railroad Bridge (1903). Winding along the trail through the trees we next made our way past the foundations from some of the homes in the long-gone town of
Billmeyer, before arriving at the
White Cliffs of Conoy. The cliffs were formed when excess lime and dolomite from the nearby quarry were piled up there, forming cliffs up to 30 feet tall. When you first approach the cliffs, they have an other-worldly appearance, seemingly out of a Star Wars movie. Ironically, during one of our rides on the trail in 2022, we saw a film crew taping some actors dressed as characters from none other than... Star Wars! I read recently that the filming takes place there every year, although no one is quite sure what it is for.
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 | | Shocks Mill Bridge |
 | | White Cliffs of Conoy, looking south |
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 | | White Cliffs of Conoy, looking north |
 | | White Cliffs of Conoy |
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 | | White Cliffs of Conoy (2020) |
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 | | White Cliffs of Conoy (2020) |
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 | | Star Wars!!! (2022) |
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Just across the trail and railroad tracks from the cliffs are ruins of the limestone factory that was responsible for the creation of the cliffs.
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 | | Limestone Factory Ruins |
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 | | Limestone Factory Ruins (2020) |
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Traveling further north along the trail heading toward Bainbridge, we passed by the
Locust Grove Estate, know locally as the Haldeman Mansion. The estate, nationally recognized for its historical significance, was the birthplace of Samuel S. Haldeman, a noted 19th century scholar.
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| Haldeman Mansion/Locust Grove Estate (2020) |
After passing through Koser Park in Bainbridge the trail runs along the
Conewago Canal, the first canal built in Pennsylvania, which was built to bypass the Conewago Falls on the Susquehanna River. The trail also crosses through the
Conoy Wetlands Nature Preserve before reaching trail's end at the
Falmouth Boat Access. Across the river is the York Haven Hydro Station, York Haven Dam, and Conewago Falls.
When the water level is low enough to expose them, you can climb out on the rocks and explore the
Conewago Potholes, interesting rock formations formed by the erosional power of water on hard rock. They're even more interesting to see when kayaking further out in the river among them. We had the chance to do that after our bike ride on the trail in October 2020.
 | | Conewago Potholes (2020) |
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 | | Conewago Potholes (2020) |
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On the way back south along the trail, we watched for remains of the canal. We saw some things of interest, but aren't sure if they were leftover from the canal.
 | | View along the trail |
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 | | View along the trail |
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 | | View along the trail |
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We made our way back through Bainbridge, passing under Shocks Mill Bridge and stopping at East Donegal Township's Riverfront Park for some photos and a short break. Then we headed through Marietta and the Point Rock Tunnel before finishing up back in Columbia and rewarding ourselves with a sweet treat at
Coffee and Cream before the drive back home.
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 | | View of the Susquehanna from the trail. |
 | | View across the Susquehanna |
 | | View from the trail |
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 | | Shocks Mill Bridge |
 | | Point Rock Tunnel, looking south |
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 | | Inside Point Rock Tunnel |
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 | | Columbia-Wrightsville Bridge |
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 | | Our tropical fruit flavored smoothie reward! |
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We highly recommend checking out this trail, whether you choose to do it walking, riding, in sections or all in one go, as we did. The views are always beautiful, even on cold, cloudy days, and there is so much to explore along the trail. Every time we go we discover something new!
* All Photos and videos are the property of the authors except where otherwise noted. *
