My First Visit To The Susquehanna Riverlands State Park In York County

I spent another weekend hiking along the ancient and scenic Susquehanna River. Not  on the trails  in the Susquehanna Wetlands in Luzerne County, but this time I was 125 miles down river,  in the Susquehanna Riverlands State Park in York County.  Susquehanna Riverlands State Park is one of the three new state parks established in 2022.  I visited Vosburg State Park in Wyoming County  October of 2022.  (The blue highlighted words will link you to my blog post) . Big Elk Creek  in Chester State Park was the third new park. I  hope to visit it soon.

After a two hour drive from my home in Luzerne County,  I  checked into my hotel in  York , and drove about 5 mile  to the  1044 acre state park   along the Susquehanna River.  I  The park consists of former farm fields and woodlands located at the along the confluence of Codorus Creek with the  Susquehanna River.  There are currently   only two  marked trails in the park,  which is still under development. More  trails and a campground are  planned. It was a beautiful June afternoon when I arrived around 3 p.m.  Cumulus clouds floated in a  steady breeze in deep blue skies.I parked  in the first parking area along River Farm Road just off of Furnace Road.

Along the parking lot was a tall loblolly pine. At first I thought it was pitch pine one of my favorite Pennsylvania  trees.  Although closely related loblolly pines trees are native to the southeastern United States and are not native to Pennsyvlania. Their northern range  southern New Jersey and  Delaware.  They can hybridize with pitch pines where their range overlaps.  Anyways, it was a beautiful tree  to see at the start of my hike.

 I decided to walk to the Overlook at Schull’s Rock. There is another, closer trail, to the Overlook but I wanted to explore more of the park. I walked about a 1/4 mile on the dirt  River  Farm Road.  There was almost no traffic on the road and is a great   hiking trail.  The  woodland along the  road had many tall oak  and tulip trees.

  Along the road where many wineberry  brambles.  I first saw this invasive species  in French Creek State Park  They are related to raspberries and blackberries.

  I  came to the Mason- Dixon Trail and followed it through a grove of towering tulip trees. Tulip trees are the tallest trees found in Pennsylvania.  These trees are not found in the woodlands near my home in Northeastern Pennsylvania.

There were many tulip tree seed pods scattered  along the trail.

It was late afternoon and not much bird or wildlife activity  but I did see this eastern towhee ,

and I this whitetail deer foraging under the tulip trees along  the trail.

Growing under  the tall tulip trees were some more tree not found in the mountain ridges near my home , pawpaw trees.   I love the  fruits of these native trees that grow in the fertile soil near the Susquehanna and other rivers in southern Pennsylvania. 

The trail continued though the grove of tulip trees, and then  took me back to the Farm River Road.

Here there was a meadow  along the road on a gas line right of way.

Indian hemp flowers were blooming in the meadow and attracted  a number of these beautiful butterflies I had not seen before, zebra swallowtails.  These butterflies are only found where there are pawpaw trees on which the caterpillars feed.  They are  beautiful butterflies.

I also saw  silver spotted skippers,

a little glassing butterfly , and,

an American Lady butterfly feeding on the Indian hemp flowers. .

 I also saw some other insects in the meadow including a dogbane leaf  beetle,

and a  pair of six spotted tiger beetles. I am no expert on insect, plants or birds, and  most of my identifications rely on my iPhone apps and Google images so please correct me if I misidentify something.  I could spend hours observing insects in a patch of Indian hemp or milkweed . However, I was meeting my niece at a 6 p.m for dinner in nearby historic Wrightsville so had to move on.

The trail now took me in a more mature woodland with large oak and tulip trees   providing  a canopy of leaves that shaded the sun.  I loved the late afternoon sun filtering through the leaves.

Here I saw more hay-scented ferns,

and many May apple or mandrake wildflowers which had bloomed earlier in the Spring.

Unfortunately, I also found invasive Japanese stiltgrass growing along the beautiful woodland trail.  This species of grass overtakes  the understory of a woodland or forest  destroying native plants, ferns and wildflowers.  I hate seeing it on my hikes in our woodlands.

I continued on the trail under the tall trees,

and was lucky to see   a tulip tree beauty moth  fly onto a tree trunk. .  These nocturnal moths  are  perfectly camouflaged to blend in with the trunk of a tree.   It is also considered good luck in local folk lore to see one.

There were a lot more pawpaw trees along the trail with some small fallen  fruit  on the trail. The fruit won’t be ripe until late in  the Summer. 

I had hiked about 1 1/2 miles when I came to the Schulls’s Rock Overlook.

I climbed the rocks and took in the view  of my favorite river on our planet. I have seen many rivers on my travels, and  am fortunate to live near two more beautiful river, the Lehigh and the Schuylkill  but the  Susquehanna River was the first river I saw and will away be my favorite.

I have visited it’s source at Lake Ostego in  New York,    it’s end where it enters Chesapeake Bay in Maryland and hiked many miles along it’s banks in between.  I sat on the rocks taking in the view and reflecting on the Native American, explorers, settlers, merchants and nature lovers who   sat on these same rocks.

I wish I could have stayed longer and take in the beauty of the river,

but it was getting late and I already knew it would be a quick hike back to the parking lot, sadly, without time to observe the beauty of  the trail.

I did see two more birds, an American robin perched high in a treetop,

and scarlet tanager singing in he late afternoon sunshine. 

I finished my 3 mile hike around 5: 30 p.m. which gave me enough time to make it to the John Wright Restaurant on the Susquehanna River.

It is  along one of it’s widest points.   I arrived  just in time to meet my niece Cassidy.  We had a wonderful dinner and conversation with a view of the river.  As is my tradition I’ll share my delicious  meal here, which started with cream of crab and asparagus soup, a fried calamari appetizer,

my main course was sesame crusted tuna with curry rice and zuccini.

Of course we split a New York cheesecake for dessert.

After dinner we walked down to the river and took in the beautiful view  It was a wonderful way to end a great day.   I returned to my hotel in York, edited some photos, and fell asleep, looking forward to exploring more of the Susquehanna Riverlands State  Park in the morning. Here is a link to a gallery on my blog web page with some more photos from my Friday afternoon hike.  Susquehanna  Riverlands State Park June 19 2026. 

I was up early the next morning, and after a couple of cups of coffee at the hotel, on my way to the Susquehanna Riverlands State Park again. It was about  6 miles and a 15 minute drive from my hotel in York.  I arrived at 6:30 a.m. and was the only one  at the same parking lot as the previous afternoon. I began my hike under the large trees on the Farm River Road,

which took me to the Mason Dixon Trail and I followed the same  route as the day before.I walked under the large tulip trees and came to the meadow  where  I found the Indian hemp.

Here I saw a few birds, including a Carolina wren singing a cheerful morning song,

and a colorful male indigo bunting.

I then walked into the  older forest more dense forest above the Susquehanna River where  I saw this female or juvenile northern cardinal.

I discoverd the park rangers were at work late the  previous day since they cleared a fell tree that had blocked the path  on my afternoon hike.

I followed the trail to the Schulls’ Rock  Overlook and again climbed up on the rocks to take in the spectacular view of the Susquehanna River.

It was only me and a few eastern gray squirrels enjoying the view.

I was told by a park ranger there was an old wagon trail along the river.  I saw the trail on my AllTrail app and decided to take the steep switch back trail down to the river.  It was a real steep  switch back trail with a lot of rocks and roots. In my younger years I would have ran down the trail like a mountain goat. This time, in my not so young days, and having falled twice on trails in the last year, I carefully hiked down to the wagon trail.

It was worth it. I loved the old trail above the river. There was no one there and it didn’t look like many people hike down here. (No one came down the switchback trail for a while, I knew this by the spider webs  that were spun across the trail)

As I walked on the old wagon trail I imagined the settlors or farmers who used it and where I  went. I would guess to a dock along the Susquehanna River. The trail continued south along the river but the trail wasn’t shown in that direction on my AllTrail app. I followed it  north.

Large maple and oak trees grew along the trail which was a couple hundrend yards above the riversome  hanging over the trail making for a scenic walk.

Growing along the trail where many plants I  don’t see on my hikes in Northeastern Pennsylvania, and some I have never seen before, like these American bladdernut and,

  blue cohosh plants.  Both are native to Pennsylvania and are found in moist lowlands areas along rivers.

False nettles,

and red trilliums also grew in the understory along the trail.  I have seen these plants on many hikes in Pennsylvania.

I also began to hear and see more birds, the first being the haunting melody of wood thrushes,  I saw a few, including this unusual sighting of  one on the ground,

In one area, where  a large tree had fallen creating a clearing in the woods along the trail,

where I saw a large variety of birds, including, an Acadian flycatcher ,

a few Baltimore orioles,

a worm eating warbler,

and a beautifully colored northern parula.

I have seen many of these birds when I visit Florida in the Winter but rarely see them in Pennsylvania. All of these birds migrate south for our Winters.

I also saw Carolina wrens,

Carolina chickadees,

and a downy woodpeckers here, all year long resident birds. I probably should have stayed here, it seemed it was a perfect place for birds to gather and feed. However, I decided to continue my hike and didn’t see many more birds the rest of the way.

I followed the old wagon trail for about a mile past the overlook, when it began to take me back up the ridge along the river. It was a steep incline but not as bad as I expected.

At the top, I came to another overlook with a view of the river and the active railroad bridge.

Here I looked at my AllTrails app map and it showed two trails, one  along the ridge that lead back to the overlook, and another that   left the forest and followed a road to the parking area for the Schull’s Rock Overlook trail. I decided to follow this trail. 

In about a 1/4 mile it took me to a farm road. I followed the road to the parking lot and learned it was private property. I never knowingly trespass on posted property, However, there were no signs  posted as you  left the park trail  warning that this was a private road.  I saw the signs when I came to the entrance of the road in about another 1/2 mile. I certainly won’t hike on the road again, and would hope the owner and rangers at the park would post the property where the park trail ends.

I now walked on the Farm River Road, past the private farm fields and came to the parking lot and Overlook Trail.

Here I saw a few chipping sparrow perched on utility wires,

and a few turkey vulture fly overhead. Here is a link to a gallery on my blog web page with some more photos of the birds I saw on my hikes.   Susquehanna  Riverlands State Park birds June 19-20 2026.

There were quite a few  automobiles here and a lot of folks, many with young children, setting out on the trail.

I followed the trail which took me through farm fields. Below the fields was the private  farm house and barn, I envied the folks who lived here. My mind wandered again, imaging how the residents of the farm, over the years, and decades, would look over the fields,   on an evening  in the Spring with a full moon rising, or at sunrise on a morning in the Summer  or  when covered with snow with stars shining above in Winter.

Also,  towering over a mountian ridge in the distance, I saw the cooling towers from  Three Mile Island, the site of the nuclear accident in the 1970’s.

The trail passed  through some corn fields,

and along the corn fields were more wildflowers including prairie fleabane.

Here I saw more zebra swallowtail butterflies,

this, I believe, a cabbage white buterfly,

and a long jawed orb weaver spider.  Here is a link to a gallery on my blog web page with some more photos of the insects  I saw on my hikes.   Susquehanna  Riverlands State Park insects  June 19-20 2026.

I also found some deadly poison hemlock growing along the trail.

The trail left the corn fields and entered the harwood woodlands, and in about a 1/2 mile took me to the Schull’sOverlook again.

It was now late afternoon and I followed the Mason -Dixon Trail back to the River  Farm Road. This time I continued on the trail which took me to River Drive

which I followed to Furnace Drive,

and back into the park on the River Farm Road.  Here is a link to a Both gallery on my blog web page with some more photos from my Saturday Morning  hike.  Susquehanna  Riverlands State Park June 20  2026.

I had hiked over 6 1/2 miles and I was hungry. I drove back to York and had a wholesome late breakfast at the Yorkshire Dinner.

I returned to my hotel an edited photos. I wasn’t planning to hike anymore, after my pleasant but long hike in the Susquehanna Riverlands State Park. But plans often change.

“What are the natural features which make a township handsome? A river, with its waterfalls and meadows, a lake, a hill, a cliff or individual rocks, a forest, and ancient trees standing singly. Such things are beautiful; they have a high use which dollars and cents never represent. If the inhabitants of a town were wise, they would seek to preserve these things, though at a considerable expense; for such things educate far more than any hired teachers or preachers, or any at present recognized system of school education.”  Henry Thoreau 

“No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it’s not the same river and he’s not the same man.” – Heraclitus