8 Monday, October 5,1998
Get up, get out; winter's coming quickly
NEGLEY PARK, Lemoyne
This is one of my favorite scenic spots in the area, and
don't we just have an abundance of those? You drive into
Lemoyne from 1-83 and go straight at the light at the
Hardee's, taking a right at the first road and driving up,
up into the neighborhood there.
The road suddenly opens onto an expansive vista with
the city of Harrisburg, the Susquehanna River and the
mountains in the distance. There is a picnic pavilion and a
nice playground, tennis courts and a ball field there. There
are also several swings you can relax on while you enjoy
the view. Ahhh.
Even though I have been from Harrisburg FOREVER, I
did not find out about this place until I was urn older.
Then it was from someone who wasn't even from around
here! I suppose it’s because I grew up on the East Shore,
and this is a West Shore attraction (Locally, the West
Shore translates to the West Coast as far as figurative
distance goes to people on the East Shore. Of course, the
THE APPALACHIAN TRAIL
Stretches from Maine to Georgia, so get off your butt
and start hikin'. If you rather be a weenie and take a local,
shorter, (1 mile) pleasant, easy walk through a relatively
level section of it, here’s your cheat sheet:
Take Rt. 322 north to 225 through Dauphin. Don't for
get to swallow as you start up the mountain to “pop" your
ears and down-shift that old clunker of a car to get you up
there. Now, pay attention here slow down as you near
the top of the mountain because the opening to the park
ing area beside the trail appears suddenly. Turn into the
opening you see on your right before you hit the sharp
hairpin turn at the top. Slow down at this point or you will
need new tires or a muffler; it’s really stony and bumpy
for a couple of minutes until you pull into the parking area.
This particular part of the trail is on the crest of Peter's
Mountain. In the course of walking, you come into a clear
ing that opens onto a breathtaking view (especially at au
tumn) of the valley stretching far beyond into upper Dau
phin and Perry counties. If you want to climb the boulders
Photos and story by Barb Roy
ENTERTAINMENT
East Shore is just a suburb of New York City to those on
the West).
Or, you could look at the West Shore as representing
Canada and the East Shore as the United States. Which
there, you'll get a more expansive view and cancel the
weenie factor since this walk is not very strenuous.
You can also see the lovely view on the other side of the
mountain, which looks into the valley between Peter's and
Second mountains. If you turn right at the stone fire pit
side has the prettier view of Niagara Falls? Come on, we
all know it's our neighbors to the North. The same prin
ciple follows here the city of Harrisburg is WAY pret
tier from the “Canadian" side.
FT. HUNTER PARK
Harrisburg
The park is located on both sides of Front Street, with
picnic pavilions and playground areas in each area. The one
side borders the Susquehanna River and offers a refresh
ing, scenic view of the water, the Rockville train bridge
and the craggy mountain on the other side. The historic
Fort Hunter Mansion is on the grounds; tours are Tue.-
Sat. 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and Sun. noon to 4:30. If you're
there on a weekend, you can tour the Centennial Barn, which
houses interesting old artifacts associated with past own
ers of the house; like carriages and old farm equipment.
Special events occur here throughout the year, especially
in December with a Christmas tea. Call 599-5751 for info.
shortly before the clearing and follow the trail that
emerges in the brush there, you will also come onto this
view at the base of the other side of the boulders. The
trail continues on if you want to keep walking, now that
you're on a roll.
SHANKS PARK, Hershey
Turn onto Bullfrog Hollow Rd. off of Rt. 322. It's the
first road beside the Hershey Medical Center on the west
side. The park is on the right-hand side after you drive
about 2 miles.
Located on spacious grounds, there are the usual play
ground, picnic pavilion, ball and soccer fields here. But the
main thing that makes this such a nice park is that there
is a 1.63 mile nature trail around the perimeter that winds
through the fields and wooded areas. There is a bonfire
pit in a clearing at the back of the park that you can rent
through Derry Twp.
Also, head straight for this place when it snows with a
sled, toboggan or snowboard in hand and hit the awesome
hill you see to your right when you first drive into the
park. I had a blast there two days before Christmas when
we actually had that much snow around. That was three
years ago —here's hopin'.
The Capital Times