Visitors to the Swatara State Park in Lebanon County and users of its Multi-Use Trail can now enjoy nature, uncluttered by debris, as a result of a cleanup performed in October, 2001, as part of the Forest Lands Beautification Program.
"This cleanup is just one of many we are undertaking this year in our multi-year effort to rid Pennsylvania's parks and forests of unsightly dumps," said DCNR Secretary John C. Oliver. "Hikers at Swatara once again can enjoy a trail free of debris."
More than 900 tons of broken and deteriorating railroad ties were removed from the entrance to the Multi-Use Trail, which begins at Lickdale and continues north toward Pine Grove. The trail intersects the Appalachian Trail at the Waterville Bridge.
PA Cleanways, DCNR's cleanup partner, contracted with Lebanon Farms Disposal to haul the ties to the Lebanon County Landfill. Brian Stevey of Brian Stevey Tree Work assisted Memorial Lake/Swatara State Park staff with loading the ties into roll-off dumpsters for Lebanon Farms Disposal to haul to the landfill. Because of the heavy lifting involved with this cleanup, no citizen volunteers were used. Park staff seeded the cleared site to establish new ground cover.
The Indiantown Gap Station at Lickdale, built in the early 1940s, was a railhead used to ferry troops and equipment into and out of the area during World War II. Thousands of soldiers were transported via railroad to the site, where they then marched five miles to the Indiantown Gap Military reservation. A spur off the main rail line made a large loop beyond the embarkation platforms in order to return the trains to their point of origin in New York.
The loop and a nine-mile section of the railroad right-of-way were part of 65 acres turned over to the park after freight use of the railroad ceased in the early 1980s.
Today, Swatara State Park stretches 3,515 acres along Interstate 81 between Second and Blue mountains. One of the main focal points of this currently undeveloped state park is the eight miles of Swatara Creek that winds through the park. More than 70,000 visitors use the park each year for hiking, hunting, fishing and wildlife watching.
Learn about other illegal dump sites in state forests and parks.
This page last updated December 28, 2001.
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