Find the top rated dog walking trails in Hazleton, whether you're looking for an easy short dog walking trail or a long dog walking trail, you'll find what you're looking for. Click on a dog walking trail below to find trail descriptions, trail maps, photos, and reviews.
My wife and I rode the Switchback this past weekend for the first time, and it was her first time off-road on a bike. The only part she had difficulty with was the last stretch of the downhill rock garden. This was a very fun ride, and I don’t recommend riding the whole 18 miles unless you’re in a mountain bike.
Mt. Gretna is very long, shady, hill, but with a tolerable grade ... which is great highlight. Most of the trail is crushed stone, with some paved sections in Cornwall & Lebanon; lots of shady sections. Unfortunately it dead ends at rt. 422 (read reviewer joelkring's comments about the sections north of rt. 422, but it means riding the streets).
Have made it as far south as Prospect Rd on the Conewago Recreational Trail. In Lebanon, there is an offshoot trail, just south of Wilhelm Ave. It leads to South Hills Park & the VA Medical Center. And South Hills Park has a 9.5% grade, which dwarfs Mt. Gretna.
Trail heads: Only Lawn & Cornwall have port-a-johns, so those are the best to park the car.
Bad road crossing, from a trike's perspective: Butler Rd. Bikes & pedestrians will have no problem, but trikes & wide strollers need to duck under the crossbar.
Chester Valley Trail & the Perkiomen Trails are also nice riding.
Wish list for this trail: 1) Connect it to the NW Lancaster County River Trail, 2) Connect the northern sections in Lebanon, and 3) Get rid of that stupid narrow gate at Butler Rd.
My first trail since coming back to PA late this summer. Nice crushed gravel mostly tree lined trail along the Swaty. Took a quick 6.5 mi out and back on a smooth and relatively empty weekday morning. Nice parking and access from the state park. I didn’t see the marked parking on the south side near the KOA so drove further up. Will definitely come back and explore the other improved trails in and around this area!
First, I appreciate this trail being there.
A lot of the trail is right next to route 11, so if you are looking to "get away from things" this may not do it for ya. The part by the route 239 bridge is overgrown - not maintained at all - so we had to ride on the road through a traffic light and find our way through the town to get back on the trail.
The trail was mowed and week killer of a sort was put down which made the trail at least 8 feet wide. Wide is good.
We started at Riverlands Park and went 5.5 miles before turning around. It just got a bit too bumpy for our party.
I would recommend this to those who like to ride distance, do not mind riding over some bumps, rocks, and grass, and do not mind circumnavigating some inconveniences - like riding on the highway and some land slides by Shickshinny (3 of them).
Other than that we enjoyed it.
Rode this trail today, 42.02 miles in total out to the reservoir and back. Parked at the Ellendale trailhead, fits about 4 or 5 cars. If you continue up the dirt road about 1 mile, there is a bigger trail head that fits a whole lot more cars and is the actual start of the trail.
Couldn't decide whether to bring my mountain bike or gravel bike, decided to go with my gravel bike. If you are a recreational rider, and used to well maintained rail trails on hybrids or road bikes, this probably isn't the place for you. I got by just fine on my gravel bike, but the surface changes ALOT. Hardpack, fine gravel, cinder, bigger gravel, and big rocks randomly. Be prepared to slow down if you are bombing down the trail. Also, there were a few trees down in the middle of the trail, and countless branches all over. Also lots of ruts. You will be just fine if you take it slow.
If you really want to bomb down this thing at a fast pace, I recommend a plus tire mountain bike, with at least a front suspension fork, tubeless tires of course to help soften the ride. It's very rough, especially at the Ellendale end.
All in all, I will definitely ride this trail again, and most likely bring my MTB next time. It's secluded, serene, peaceful, and the scenery is beautiful. I rode almost 4 hours starting at 7am and saw next to no one on this trail. If you need to get away from people for a while, this is your place.
Also, please be prepared and bring hydration, tools, spare tube, tire levers, etc, and know how to work on your bike. Wouldn't want to get caught 20 miles from your car here with a broken bike.
Pedestrian bridge complete south of Jim Thorpe! Rode approx 28 miles round trip from Slatington to Jim Thorpe and back. Trail head at Slatington had bathrooms, picnic tables, and food truck. The ride was mostly on trail with small sections on roads-not much traffic at all (note we were there on an overcast Tuesday-not sure what a sunny weekend would be like). With the Pedestrian Bridge we were able to go into Jim Thorpe for lunch with no problem! Flat trip although we thought perhaps slight grade going south to north. Scenic ride with river on one side and canal on other. Worth the 2 hour drive.
We take this trail every Sunday, from Coopersburg ( where we live) to Hellertown, visit the farmers market stands in the park, stop by for a beer and some wings at the hotel and then ride back home. The trail is flat, with packed assault, it passes through Upper Saucon Park, and there is one small section with ruts and rocks, but all in all... A very nice ride
Stayed at Shawnee resort with my wife and 2 kids (6 and 9). Not knowing the area we cam upon this trail at Hialeah. Started easy enough but before long the hills started. Wish there had been warnings (maybe we missed them). We are not experienced bikers so we ended up walking up all the hills with our little ones. We made it to Smithfield Beach 1.7 miles and kids didn't want to ride back. I rode back to get the car. It was a good ride but had to walk up one hill. Next day we started at Smithfield going north and got as far as Turn Farm about 2.2 miles. This stretch was pretty flat with minimal hills. A lot of green but can hardly see the river. But, good stretch to ride with kids as mostly level. Will need to visit again alone to see how far I can make it.
On 08/19/19 we rode a section of this trail running south from the airport to just past the viaduct. To begin with the trail was slightly difficult to locate and we ended up asking someone at the airport how to locate the trail. We were hoping to get in a 20 to 25 mile ride, but after passing under the viaduct the trail became increasingly tight (rubbing up against bushes) and muddy (large puddles of water) which caused us to turn around. When we arrived back at the airport we figured that heading north would be similar to our southerly experience so we ended our ride.
Our assessment of the section of the trail that we rode:
Narrow - We had to ride single file.
Muddy - It did look like it maybe rained the night before.
Rough - We usually average around 12 mph. On this trail we were at 8 mph.
Has potential, but needs a little TLC.
More suited for mountain bikes (or at least bikes with wider tires) than hybrids.
Baseline:
We are in our mid to late 50's and our home trails are the Pine Creek Trail and the Buffalo Valley Trail.
I started riding on NJ trails a few weeks ago and I had some things I liked about this trail and other things that I did not enjoy:
There's plenty of shade and it's a few degrees cooler up north than going south. There are some scenic views, for example a little water fall, body of water, areas of rock that had been blasted for the train tracks.
On the less favorable side: There are a number of times that you'll need to cross a road. Sometimes these are county roads with a lot of fast moving trucks. Be very careful! Also, there can be mud after a rain. A number of areas are very narrow and you'll encounter rocks and holes in the trail.
I did not see any animals (except for a dog).
Great trail that goes through the heart of Mifflinburg and takes you through wooded areas, meadows, fields and old farms. Another highlight was stopping at Rusty Rail Brewing Company which is right on the trail. What an amazing restoration of a beautiful old factory. I can't wait to go back.
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