After four years of hard work by volunteers who carved paths out of steep slopes and moved boulders to create natural stream crossings, the 1-mile-long Oak Park Nature Trail officially opened October 2024 in Lower Paxton. The Township purchased the roughly 7-acre wooded tract by Oak Park and Maple roads adjacent to Shoop’s Cemetery in 2017 for $20,000, and volunteers started work the following year on the .4 of a mile southern section. The northern section was finished in fall 2023, which included placing a bridge over a section of stream and boardwalk over marshy areas,
Recently, the Township named the north part of the trail “Newsome Way” and the south part “Seidler Way” after William Roy Newsome Jr. and Jim Seidler, who were the driving force behind this trail project. Jim is a current member while William was a former member of Lower Paxton’s Greenway Committee that works to enhance natural recreational spaces.
Crucial to the trail’s completion was a $2,000 donation from the Greater Harrisburg Association of REALTORS®(GHAR) and the hard work of more than a half dozen members of the SATC’s “Rock Crew” that muscled 500 lb. boulders into several areas for natural stream crossings and built stone steps using handcarts and 20-pound hardened steel prybars. “We’ve built trail steps, retaining walls, water diversions on trails throughout the area,’’ said Tim Bachmann, who heads the Rock Crew, primarily comprised of retirees in their 60s and 70s.
“Oak Park is a nice trail for folks who want to walk their dog or for the kids who live nearby.” explained Jim, who did much of the trail work on his own – including building a wooden bridge and boardwalk sections – he added, “It was challenging carving the trail into the hillsides bordering the stream below. The trail had to be high on the slopes because the center of the small valley is a drainage area that floods during storms.”
Lower Paxton owes a multitude of thanks to the amazing SATC Rock Crew for devoting their time and energy to establish such an exceptional trail.