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The Enola Low Grade Trail follows 29 miles of the Pennsylvania Railroad's Atglen and Susquehanna Branch across southern Lancaster County, from Atglen west through Quarryville to Safe Harbor and then north along the Susquehanna River to the Turkey Hill Trailhead. The railroad was built to keep freight grades under one percent, so the crushed stone trail runs nearly flat through deep rock cuts and over high fills. Two rebuilt trestles are the landmarks: Martic Forge, 150 feet above Pequea Creek, and Safe Harbor, which crosses the mouth of the Conestoga River above the Safe Harbor Dam. Each township maintains its own section, and the surface can change a little at the municipal lines.
Enola Low Grade Trail
Your comfort. Prognosticated.
-Cory
In a typical year the Enola Low Grade Trail has about 118 to 158 days of excellent weather for popular activities such as hiking, dog walking, e-biking, birding, running, biking, and walking, with April, May, and October the best months.
Hourly comfort scores for the next 15 days of weather, tuned to your activity and your own thresholds.
Plan your visit to this trail. Get the best windows for a comfortable outing.
Enjoy the Enola Low Grade Trail!
In half of past years, color along the Enola Low Grade Trail peaks October 26 to November 8, typically around November 1. The trail has 24% deciduous coverage, with the majority being yellow-poplar, red maple, chestnut oak, white oak, and scarlet oak.
The Pennsylvania Railroad blasted the Atglen and Susquehanna Branch through southern Lancaster County between 1902 and 1906 as a freight bypass with grades under one percent. About 1,000 men and 150 horses worked the bluffs of the Susquehanna, and more than 200 men died along the entire railroad. At the Deep Cut near Quarryville, crews cut through 90 feet of solid rock. The line opened on July 27, 1906, at a ceremony in that cut. It was the middle piece of the railroad's Low Grade Line, a freight route from Morrisville near Trenton to the Enola yard west of Harrisburg. By 1941 it carried about 2,220 railcars in each direction every day. Conrail inherited the branch, took down the overhead catenary, and ran the last train on December 19, 1988. Abandonment followed in 1989, and the track came up around 1990. In July 2008 Norfolk Southern sold the corridor to eight municipalities for one dollar each, with $1.4 million in grants for bridge work. The first trail section opened in September 2011. Manor Township bought its riverfront stretch in 2012 and finished its 5.25 miles in 2013. Martic and Conestoga townships opened their sections in 2017, and a pedestrian bridge over U.S. 222 followed in April 2018. That same year the Martic Forge Trestle burned. The Safe Harbor Trestle reopened in June 2022, the rebuilt Martic Forge Trestle in October 2022, and the trail became one continuous 29 mile route.
Turkey Hill Overlook Trail
