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E-bikingBikingWalkingRunningHikingBirdingHorseback ridingCross-country skiingand more
The Lebanon Valley Rail Trail follows the former Cornwall and Lebanon Railroad about 18 miles across Lebanon County, from Long Lane north of the city of Lebanon past Union Canal Tunnel Park, through downtown Lebanon and Cornwall, over the wooded highland at Mount Gretna, and down through Colebrook and Lawn to the Lancaster County line. The grade is rail-trail easy, with a steady climb of a few hundred feet from Lebanon to Mount Gretna and a gentle descent beyond. The surface is paved in and near the city and crushed stone elsewhere, with a separate wood chip path for horses. At the county line the route continues as the Conewago Recreation Trail toward Elizabethtown.
Lebanon Valley Rail Trail
Your comfort. Prognosticated.
-Cory
In a typical year the Lebanon Valley Rail Trail has about 118 to 164 days of excellent weather for popular activities such as hiking, dog walking, e-biking, running, birding, 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 Lebanon Valley Rail Trail!
In half of past years, color along the Lebanon Valley Rail Trail peaks October 27 to November 7, typically around October 31. The trail has 28% deciduous coverage, with the majority being yellow-poplar, chestnut oak, red maple, and northern red oak.
Iron ore from the Cornwall ore banks moved to the Union Canal at Lebanon on the North Lebanon Railroad starting in 1854, later renamed the Cornwall Railroad. In the early 1880s Robert H. Coleman built a rival line, the Cornwall and Lebanon Railroad, and spent 1.2 million dollars on it. His line ran south from Lebanon through Cornwall and then southwest to Conewago Station in Lancaster County. It hauled ore and other products of the mines to furnaces and mills. In 1883 a picnic grove beside the tracks became Mount Gretna. Coleman added passenger service, a resort, and a narrow gauge railroad, and the station grew to six tracks. Passenger trains also served the Pennsylvania National Guard encampment near Mount Gretna. Passenger service ended in 1928, and the Pennsylvania Railroad bought the line. Hurricane Agnes in 1972 flooded the Cornwall mine and damaged long sections of track, and the Penn Central abandoned the branch in 1979. Lebanon Valley Rails-to-Trails, Inc. formed in 1996, bought the railbed from Eastern Enterprises in December 1999, and opened the first five miles in 2000. A 2.5 mile extension into the city of Lebanon followed in 2009, and later phases carried the trail north past Union Canal Tunnel Park to Long Lane. The trail is a National Recreation Trail. The group plans to push north along Swatara Creek toward Swatara State Park, with the last gaps expected to close around 2027 or 2028.
Conewago Recreation TrailHorse-Shoe Trail
