Pack up your picnic basket, grab your hiking sticks, load up the bikes, or bring the binoculars and camera for some nature hunting and bird watching and head to one of Lancaster County’s parks or trails. We’re reviewing just a few of the many parks and trails our county has to offer.

Lititz Springs Park

Right in our backyard, this park has something for everyone…a playground, band shell and pavilion, volleyball court, Train caboose, spring head with stream and pond, paved walkway and many resident ducks and geese who delight the young and old alike with their playful antics and chatter.


Speedwell Forge County Park

Close to Lititz, The Speedwell Forge County Park is excellent for hikers, campers and nature lovers. This undeveloped park has trails through scenic woodlands with a diversity of habitats featuring wildflowers and abundant wildlife. The 415 acres is located between Speedwell Forge Lake and wooded state game lands.
Photo credit: www.traillink.com


Speedwell Forge Lake

This 106-acre lake is open for unpowered boats, mostly canoes and kayaks. In addition to a pavilion with picnic tables by the lake, there’s a hiking trail that features beautiful wildflowers and places good for fishing. The lake is historically stocked with Channel Catfish.
Photo credit: www.traillink.com


Chickies Rock County Park

This 422-acre park in Marietta is named after the Native American word “Chiquesalunga,” meaning “place of the crayfish.” The park features hiking trails and a scenic view that towers 200 feet above the Susquehanna River. Ruins of iron furnaces, rolling mills, a canal a and trolley line can also still be found throughout the park.
Photo credit: www.traillink.com


Long’s Park

On a different note, Long’s Park with its amphitheater has a hub of activities, from a free summer-long music series to a nationally acclaimed fine art and craft festival. This year the music series has transitioned to a virtual event and the art festival has been cancelled for 2020. This 80-acre city is also home to the world’s largest chicken barbecue. Long’s Park also boasts other picnic pavilions, a petting farm, children’s playgrounds, and a three-acre, spring fed lake, tennis courts and a fitness trail.