Recreation & Access

The proximity of the Lower Trail and the river edge to Williamsburg’s downtown means there are unique opportunities to deliver outdoor recreation to a wide range of users. Central Pennsylvania’s wealth of natural resources is much less available to people with mobility limitations. Easy parking, paths with accessible slopes and surfaces, and necessary support services rarely align with high-quality landscapes for hiking, boating, fishing, and other nature-based activities. But relatively minor improvements to the Lower Trail and Frankstown Branch corridor can make Williamsburg a place where outdoor recreation is accessible to all.

Interventions range from the simple, like modifying gates and access points to accommodate wheelchairs and specialized equipment; to more ambitious projects like regrading sections of riverbank to create ADAcompliant boating and fishing access. Universal access can be embedded in larger habitat restoration work: Moderate slopes correspond to specific plant communities, and outboard structures for water access can be designed to improve fish habitat. New parking areas can be designed in parallel with constructed marshland to mitigate stormwater runoff. Expanded access is about attracting new users of all kinds to the trail, river, and downtown, from local residents, to area college students, to long distance hikers.

The Lower Trail is one of many excellent short-tomiddle distance walking and biking paths in Central Pennsylvania, but it is also connected to a sprawling network of state-wide and regional routes. Hikers on the Mid State Trail turn off the Lower Trail at Spring Street and walk right through the downtown. The 9/11 National Memorial Trail and the Main Line Canal Greenway both overlap entirely with the Lower Trail. Route planners are working to create and improve safe trail connections between Harrisburg, Pittsburgh, New York, and Washington, D.C., among other urban centers, as well as to national routes like the East Coast Greenway, Appalachian Trail, Great Eastern Trail, and Great American Rail Trail.

As a midway point on the Lower Trail and one of few town centers with direct trail access between Harrisburg and Pittsburgh, Williamsburg is perfectly positioned to welcome local users of the Lower Trail and Frankstown Branch, as well as touring cyclists and hikers from afar. By building up amenities along the trail that serve Williamsburg residents, the Borough becomes a more welcoming and profitable destination for non-resident use. With a strong connection to regional history and the Main Line Canal corridor, spotlighting features like Big Spring and the legacy of canal infrastructure can further expand and deepen engagement with the Borough and surroundings.

Informal gathering area opposite “Indian Chief Rock:” limited access over steep banks and dense vegetation (See ZONE 4 Section D)

River access limited by retaining walls and fences at former dam site. Potential promontory for views (See ZONE 4 Section C)

Moderate slope; sparse understory; and low, wide shelf to riverbank suggest potential new water access (See ZONE 4 Section A & B)

Moderate slopes from Farm Show Property suggest potential new water access (See ZONE 1 Section A)

Steep slopes and dense vegetation prevent further trail and river access until Grannas Station

Ash waste hill: no formal access (See ZONE 4 Sections C, D, & E)

Fenced wet meadow on former industrial site: limited access (See ZONE 4 Section A)

Informal parking area provides direct access from Juniata River Rd between trail heads (See ZONE 3 Section E)

Abutment and central pier from removed conduit bridge: informal promontory (See ZONE 3 Section C)

“Scout Steps” to river access (See ZONE 3 Section B)

High St Bridge intersection: steep grade leads to unsignaled vehicle crossing (See ZONE 2 Section F)

‘V’ chicane at main gate may impeded personal mobility devices (See ZONE 2 Section B

Steep slopes and forest prevent further trail access (See ZONE 1 Sections A & B)