Noel Dorwart Park Trails: What's Walkable and What's Coming

If the Blue Green Connector's paved trail won't be finished until 2028, what is everyone walking on at Noel Dorwart Park right now?

They're walking on a trail that's been there for 17 years. The project called the formal opening of the Noel Dorwart Trailhead "an exciting milestone" this summer. That's accurate. But the gravel loops behind the new playground and pavilion are the Farmingdale Trail. The Lancaster County Solid Waste Management Authority finished the first phase in 2009, on land that used to be a brickyard and a landfill. The 3.5 miles of paved, ADA-accessible trail the Steinman Foundation is building along the Little Conestoga Creek is still mostly in design. The foundation hopes to open it by 2028.

So this summer gave Noel Dorwart a much better entrance. The new miles are still ahead. Once you know which is which, a fall walk at 409 Good Drive makes a lot more sense.

The trail behind the new trailhead

East Hempfield Township's recreation page lists Noel Dorwart Park at 409 Good Drive and calls it the trailhead for the Farmingdale Trail, which LCSWMA maintains. LCSWMA describes it as "three interconnected loops of varying lengths" with wetlands, wooded and creekside paths, picnic tables, benches and a dog play area. Parking is off Good Drive.

LCSWMA's current trail map, posted in February 2026, gives these distances:

Add up the posted segments and you get exactly 3 miles. The Pennsylvania DCNR trail listing puts the Farmingdale Trail at 1.70 miles. The two numbers probably measure different things, like one route versus every loop, so plan your outing by loop instead of trusting a single total.

DCNR describes the surface as mostly hard stone dust, with some dirt sections. That works for strollers, bikes and jogging. The property covers 70 acres on both sides of Farmingdale Road, and it's open daily from dawn to dusk. TrailLink adds a few details the official pages leave out. Boardwalks cross the wetlands in the northwest corner. A grass path runs through a meadow on the north side. The dog area off Farmingdale Road has no fence. We couldn't find current leash rules on LCSWMA's or the township's pages, so check the signs at the trailhead before you unclip.

The Trestle Spur is the shortest line on the map and the one people talk about most. TrailLink says freight trains often roll past on the stretch between Good Drive and Farmingdale Road, and the spur dead-ends at a railroad bridge over the Little Conestoga Creek. That trestle is also where the Blue Green Connector's plans pick up.

What the summer opening actually added

The Connector's trail page lists what the Noel Dorwart work was meant to deliver: more parking, native plantings, a pavilion, education stations and a natural playground. It also calls for upgrading the trail to ADA standards and meeting the Little Conestoga Creek "near the Norfolk Southern Railroad trestle." The project's July 22 update lists what's there now: a rain garden, a labyrinth, native landscaping, educational spaces and more interpretive features on the way. Emily Landis of the Steinman Foundation describes the pavilion as one "that doubles as an outdoor classroom for K–12 students."

The planting is where you'll see the most change from one visit to the next. Before the project, the Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay described the park as mostly "a parking lot and a large lawn space." In June, the Alliance reported about 250 trees on roughly an acre. By the July update, the count was 400 trees and the meadow had been seeded. The species range from swamp white oak, black tupelo and American sycamore to understory trees like serviceberry, redbud and persimmon. The park has a lot of deer, so the small trees wear shelters and the bigger ones sit in cages. Freshly regraded soil means the larger trees get regular watering.

The half-acre meadow is the part to be patient with. The Alliance said it would bloom "in the coming years," not this first season. The seed mix includes:

• Little bluestem and partridge pea
• Blazing star, coneflower and asters
• Wild bergamot and mountain mint
• Coreopsis
• Butterfly milkweed, picked to host migrating monarchs

This fall, that half acre will look more like young grass than a wildflower field. That's expected for a meadow seeded in June.

The walk to Long's Park already exists

The Connector's plans say the Noel Dorwart section will tie the Franklin & Marshall lands to the south with The Crossings and Long's Park to the north. You can already walk the northern half of that.

In 2019, the Farmingdale network was extended north into The Crossings at Conestoga Creek. TrailLink describes the route: you cross the Little Conestoga on a footbridge and pick up an asphalt path. It passes the apartments at the back of the property, runs just south of the Wegmans, and comes out on Harrisburg Pike right across from the Long's Park entrance. Along the way you pass ruins of old kilns from the 19th and early 20th centuries, a stone farmhouse that was under restoration when TrailLink wrote it up, and drainage ponds that draw waterfowl. Long's Park's own paths and a connector that passes under Route 30 then give you an indirect link to Park City Center. You can also start the walk from the parking lots at The Crossings or at Long's Park.

Back in 2009, LancasterOnline's opening-day coverage said the trail "could connect with F&M's Baker Campus and extend to Long's Park." The Long's Park half of that idea has been walkable since 2019. The Franklin & Marshall half, to the south, is still the open piece, and it's one the Connector plans to fill in.

Where the genuinely new miles will go

The Blue Green Connector plans three trailheads. Listed north to south, here's where each one stands as of the end of September 2026:

1. Penn Medicine/LGH Trailhead, at Good Drive and West Roseville Road on the Suburban Pavilion campus. The trail would pass restoration work at Trillium Place, cross Harrisburg Pike, run past Woodcrest Villa and meet Park City Center at the Landis Mill Covered Bridge on Shreiner Station Road. The project's January update forecast a Summer 2026 opening. We haven't found a later confirmation that it opened.
2. Noel Dorwart Park Trailhead, formally opened this summer.
3. Marietta Avenue / Lancaster Township Trailhead, at Marietta Avenue and River Drive. It will anchor the south end, and construction is expected in 2027.

The project says the trail will go in "in phases between 2025 and 2028." The Steinman Foundation also plans an amphitheater, a labyrinth path, and nature sculptures by local artists. In April 2025, Pennsylvania DEP reported more than $4 million in state money for the effort, including over $3 million in Growing Greener grants.

The creek work is further along than the trail. In 2022, the Steinman Foundation decided to sell its historic Conestoga House on the creek and use the money for restoration. That plan grew into what Landis calls the largest floodplain restoration project in Lancaster County's history. As of the September 2026 project feature, about 12 acres had been restored at three sites. That's half the goal of 25 acres across six sites by 2028. Scientists are already using the corridor. A Franklin & Marshall biologist has put acoustic sensors for birds and bats along the creek, and wildlife cameras are coming. The foundation is also building a public water-quality dashboard with live data from sensors in the stream.

Seeing the unbuilt part before it opens

The project wasn't taking volunteer sign-ups as of its January update, and we found no Connector volunteer day on the calendar for October. One public event does get you onto the corridor this season. Lancaster Clean Water Partners lists a Blue Green Connector "Stormwater Action Team Lunch and Learn" on Tuesday, November 17, from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at 1604 Marietta Avenue, with a project tour included. RSVP by November 12 if you want lunch. Until then, the stone-dust loops, the trestle and the footbridge to Long's Park are all open from dawn to dusk, starting from the lot on Good Drive.

Cindy and I have watched this corner of East Hempfield change for more than 20 years, and we're happy to talk about how the Connector's plans could affect your street as more of it gets built. If a new trailhead near your home has you thinking about what comes next, reach out to the James Dunn Team. We'll walk you through what's finished, what's scheduled, and what that could mean for you. Contact Us.