Lehigh Gap Nature Center
Directions
To Lehigh Gap Nature Center Osprey House Parking:
Take I-78 West from New Jersey into Pennsylvania, then continue on I-78 West to exit 71 for PA-33 N toward US-22/Stroudsburg. Continue on PA-33 North for 6 miles. Take the PA-248 exit toward Wilson. At the end of the exit ramp turn right onto PA-248 W/Nazareth Rd. Continue to follow PA-248 W for 19 miles. Turn left at the traffic light and cross the bridge on PA 873. Googlemaps will instruct to turn right after the bridge at an AT parking lot but there is no access taking that route. Instead, continue after crossing the bridge and stay on PA 873 South for 0.25 mile then make a sharp left turn on Paint Mill Road following the signs for the Lehigh Gap Nature Center.
- 8649 Paint Mill Rd., Slatington, PA 18080 – GPS Coordinates: 40.777764, -75.608093
Directions to this location and others also available at the Center’s web site, use the link under Contact Information.
- Appalachian Trail Parking, Walnutport, PA 18088 – GPS Coordinates: 40.783643, -75.604654
Park Overview
Just north of the Appalachian Trail in eastern Pennsylvania lies a side of the Kittatinny Ridge with a well-blazed network of multi-tiered hiking trails in an area under environmental restoration
Trail Overview
The Center has developed a blazed network of multi-tiered hiking trails -- from river level to mountain ridges – that provides miles of panoramic views into the Lehigh Gap and Pocono region. Individually the 12 trails are short, from one-eighth of a mile to just under three miles. Two long distance trails pass near or through, a 1.50-mile Appalachian Trail segment and a 2.75-mile segment of the Delaware & Lehigh (D&L).
In all, the system offers 13 miles of interconnected and loop trails. The North Trail, which roughly parallels the Appalachian Trail segment to its north, is not included in this official calculation. It adds another two miles roughly.
Use the Web Map link on this site to view a trail map, which includes a written synopsis of each trail.
Click for a detailed description of a hike in the park.
Park Description
In 2002 the Lehigh Gap Nature Center purchased over 750 acres on the Kittatinny Ridge to the west of the Lehigh River and in Lehigh Gap of eastern Pennsylvania, just north of the where the Appalachian Trail passes through. Much of the land, degraded by years of industrial pollution from zinc plant emissions of sulfur dioxide, is now undergoing revitalization. Other parts had remained a productive habitat , including ponds, bottomland wetlands, a 2.5 mile riparian zone, forested slopes, cliffs, and savanna at the higher elevations