Planning Your Hike
Explore a restored grassland meadow and edge habitat along the natural-surface yellow-blazed trail. This trail is approximately 0.5 miles with minimal elevation change and minimal shade.
Extend your hike to the Enola Low Grade Trail by following the blue-blazed trail, which follows Observation Road away from the parking area before turning off the road and down a steep hill to the rail trail.
Ecology
Safe Harbor consists of a mosaic of habitat types including fields, woods edge, and forest, making this preserve attractive to a wide variety of wildlife such as ground-nesting birds, small mammals, and wild game including white-tailed deer and turkey. Common wildflowers, ferns, and sedges can be observed through the season.
Restoration of a 26-acre meadow at Safe Harbor Nature Preserve converted a hay field into native grassland habitat that provides essential food and shelter to birds and pollinators, while also offering a vibrant display of summer wildflowers for visitors to enjoy.
Watershed
An unnamed tributary flows into the Witmer Run before joining the Conestoga River which then empties into the Susquehanna River just beneath the Safe Harbor Dam.
Hunting Information
Safe Harbor is open to Archery-Only Hunting with areas of No Hunting (notably along Observation Road, Conestoga Boulevard, and near homes). Respect property boundaries and safety zones. All Pennsylvania Game Commission Rules and Regulations apply. See ‘Where to Hunt’ for more details.
Report Hunting Violations: PA Game Commission Centralized Dispatch Center at 1-833-PGC-HUNT (1-833-742-4868) or 1-833-PGC-WILD (1-833-742-9453)
Acquisition History
This preserve was acquired as part of a nationally recognized landscape protection project known as the PPL Project. Funds for that Project were provided by the PA Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, The Conservation Fund, Lancaster County, York County, PPL, Talen Energy, and Brookfield Renewable. The tracts that form the Safe Harbor Nature Preserve were donated by PPL in 2011.
Amenities
Parking. Trails. Preserve sign. Kiosk.