York County Heritage Rail Trail
| York County Heritage Rail Trail | |
|---|---|
Howard Tunnel
|
|
| Established | 1999 |
| Length | 21 mi (34 km) |
| Location | York County, PA |
| Designation | National Recreation Trail |
| Trailheads |
York, PA 39°57′48″N 76°43′58″W / 39.963321°N 76.732797°W Mason-Dixon Line 39°43′16″N 76°41′53″W / 39.721088°N 76.697953°W |
| Use | Hiking, biking, horseback riding, fishing, pet walking |
| Elevation | |
| Elevation change | 482 feet (147 m) |
| Highest point | Summit Grove, 852 feet (260 m) |
| Lowest point | York Valley, 370 feet (110 m) |
| Hiking details | |
| Trail difficulty | Easy, level, ADA accessible |
| Season | Year-round |
| Surface | Crushed limestone |
| Right of way | Northern Central Railway |
| Website | http://www.yorkcountytrails.org/ |
Heritage Rail Trail County Park is a National Recreation Trailrail-with-trail in Pennsylvania built in 1999 by the York County Government; it connects with the Torrey C. Brown Rail Trail in Maryland. The trail runs along the active Northern Central Railway line and forms the southernmost part of Route J in the BicyclePA route system.
The Heritage Rail Trail is located along railroad tracks built during the nineteenth century as part of the Northern Central Railroad (NCR). The NCR was an important link between Washington, D.C. and points along the northern path to Lake Ontario and upstate New York.
During the Civil War, the railroad was a target of the Confederate Army before the Battle of Gettysburg. The Confederate Army’s troops tried to isolate the Union's capital by damaging the railroad, telegraph wires and bridges. On November 18 and 19, 1863, President Lincoln traveled on the railroad and stopped at Hanover Junction before giving the Gettysburg Address.
Between the years of 1838 and 1972, the NCR connected Baltimore, Maryland to York, Pennsylvania and vastly contributed to the municipalities along the railroad. The line eventually came under Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) ownership. In 1968 the PRR and rival New York Central Railroad merged to form the Penn Central Transportation Company (PC). By 1970 PC was bankrupt. The line sustained significant damage resulting from Hurricane Agnes in 1972. PC joined the government-created Conrail in 1976 and the line was abandoned shortly thereafter. The state of Maryland abandoned the line within state borders; Pennsylvania removed one track and left the second in place. In 1990 York County officials looked to develop the 18.5 mile-corridor alongside the dormant trackage. Expansion of the trail to 1.5 miles from John Rudy County Park to Crist Memorial Fields was completed in August 2007. Beginning in early 2012, a $1.3 million project to further extend to the Northern Extension of the Heritage Rail Trail County Park.
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Wikipedia