York, PA - Heritage Rail Trail (10/1 - 10/6/25)

While in PA, we made sure to ride another HoF Rail Trail near York, PA. The Heritage Rail Trail starts in York and travels down to the PA state line with MD. We stayed at the Ben Franklin RV Park near the west side of York.

This trail was unique in that the trail still has the original rails that are still used in some ways today. There is a section of the trail you can ride on a rail bike with American Rail Bike in Seven Valleys. I've seen this before in IA, but I still haven't tried it (maybe someday).

Built in 1838, the Howard Tunnel is the second oldest rail tunnel still in use.

The trail is 27 miles long and traverses through the towns and cities of York, Seven Valleys, Glen Rock, and New Freedom. The towns offer brewery pubs and restaurants in several locations not far from the trail.

The hard-packed limestone surface was easily ridden and in good condition.

Just north of York, the trail was extended a few more miles.

Most of the trail is under the canopy of trees and shaded.

Each of the towns had the original train stations restored to their original beauty.

On these historic trails, it's always interesting to see signs of the past. This was a late 19th century paint manufacturer used on rail cars made by Empire Car Works.

From the Liquid Hero Brewery in York, you can also see remnants of the past industrial base of this city. Pullman Automobiles were built in the early 1900's for about 12 years until they went bankrupt.

From here we will travel to northern PA to ride another HoF Rail Trail in the Grand Canyon of PA. Check my next blog post to see how we enjoyed that experience.