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Susquehanna State Park is located along the west shore of the river a few miles from where it empties into the Chesapeake Bay. The park offers a variety of recreational opportunities with camping, picnic grounds, pond, creek, and river fishing, as well as trails for walking, biking, and horseback riding. Historical sites within the park include the Rock Run Grist Mill, the Jersey Toll House, and locks from the Susquehanna and Tidewater Canal.

You can also see the remains of the light rail system that was built to carry men and supplies to the Conowingo Dam construction site. On our first trip to Susquehanna, we parked the car at the mill. We kept to the road along the river and rode about 6 miles with a stop at the Lapidum Landing. When Trailwalker bought herself a new bike, we ventured deeper into the woods.

From the footbridge across Deer Creek, Broken Claw led the way northward onto the riverbank trail, which is used mainly by fisherman. At first, Trailwalker had her doubts about taking her new bike on this narrow, windy, bumpy, muddy trail. It was slow going most of the way, especially when the trail was blocked by fallen trees. Although we had no map, we knew the old trail continued all the way to the Conowingo Dam, and with the river on the right there was no way we could get lost, so we just kept going. We were both surprised when the riverbank foot trail suddenly interesected with an actual maintained recreational trail! It was built on the old railroad bed, and some of the rails were still visible. The trail even includes a new boardwalk-type bridge over a swampy area.

This section of the trail is about 2 miles long and ends at the visitors parking lot below Conowingo Dam. When we rode back, we followed the new bike trail to the end where it connects to the paved road. From there it was a few miles past the picnic area back to the mill. Since then, we have found references to this area as part of the Mason-Dixon Trail and the Lower Susquehanna Heritage Greenway. This latter name applies more to a management plan than to a complete trail. The plan, which is often cited in the local newspapers, calls for a contiguous recreational trail on both sides of the lower river. Part of the trail, from Havre de Grace to Conwingo, is actually listed in the Baltimore Regional Transportation Board’s long range capital projects. The estimated year of completion is 2020!

On a subsequent visit to the park in early summer, we took the hiking trail south from the mill. The trail leads inland from the gravel road, up the ridge, then downriver. At one point we were momentarily confused where the trail seemed to end abruptly in a mass of vegetation. We were ready to turn back, when Trailwalker finally identified the trail on the other side of the overgrowth. The trail ended only a few yards further along at the paved road leading to the public boat ramp at Lapidum Landing. Susquehanna State Park contains several single-track trails throughout the park, over the ridges and through the woods to the campground and picnic areas, for more intense mountain biking.

Our neighbor, Biller’s Bikes, offers bicycle rental and delivery service around Susquehanna State Park.