Map shows York County
- Emmons Preserve, Tyler Brook Preserve, and Cape Porpoise Greenbelt — I’m linking these three preserves because they’re connected by a long trail system. It’s about four miles from one end to the other.
- Edwin L. Smith Preserve — This 1,100-acre preserve offers more than 10 miles of trails. They’re really popular with mountain bikers and seem to have been created with them in mind. The paths wend through pitch pine forest and lichen-covered boulders that tempt you to lie down and take a nap (on warm days).
- Meadow Woods Preserve — At the start of the trail system (which was still being developed in the spring of 2022), there is a lovely spring-fed pond surrounded by native shrubs and places to sit. The trails will eventually be extended into the hundreds of forested acres protected here.
- James Wood — Not far from downtown, you can go for a roughly 1-mile walk in a 15-acre forested preserve. Check out the firebreak dug in 1947 to try to contain fires.