This summer marks an exciting milestone for the Blue Green Connector: the formal opening of the Noel Dorwart Trailhead.
For many visitors, the new trailhead will become a place to walk, gather, learn, and reconnect with the outdoors. Features like the rain garden, labyrinth, native landscaping, educational spaces, and future interpretive experiences create opportunities to experience the corridor in new ways while deepening connections between people and the Little Conestoga Creek.
But behind every trail segment, restored floodplain, educational feature, and community gathering space is something equally important: Partnership.
A Community Park Built Through Partnership
Large-scale environmental restoration doesn’t happen in isolation.
Projects of this scale require sustained collaboration among organizations with different expertise, perspectives, and resources, all working toward a common goal.
The Blue Green Connector brings together engineers, scientists, landscape architects, educators, artists, nonprofit organizations, municipalities, conservation partners, healthcare leaders, and community organizations to create something no single group could accomplish alone.
One of those essential partners is East Hempfield Township.
As the owner and steward of Noel Dorwart Park, East Hempfield Township has been an equal partner in shaping the vision for this destination. Their leadership, investment, and collaboration helped guide both the design and funding of the trailhead, ensuring the park serves not only as a neighborhood amenity but also as a gateway to the Blue Green Connector.
The Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay is another major partner at this site. They’ve planted 400 trees and seeded the meadow at Noel Dorwart.
That spirit of partnership is reflected throughout the project.
Engineers help design resilient infrastructure capable of adapting to future flood events. Scientists monitor water quality and ecological health. Environmental professionals restore floodplains and habitat. Municipal partners coordinate planning, permitting, and connectivity. Educators, artists, and nonprofit organizations help transform the corridor into a place for learning, exploration, and community engagement.
Together, these partnerships are creating far more than a trail, they’re creating a shared investment in Lancaster County’s future.
More Than a Place to Walk
The Noel Dorwart Trailhead was intentionally designed to be much more than an access point.
Every feature serves a purpose.
The rain garden demonstrates how native landscapes naturally manage stormwater. The labyrinth provides a quiet place for reflection. Native meadows and tree plantings support pollinators, wildlife, and cleaner waterways. The natural playground and pavilion are gathering spaces that invite neighbors, families, and visitors to play and relax.
Coming soon, visitors will be able to explore two exciting educational features that will further expand the park’s role as an outdoor learning destination.
The Green Footprint Demonstration Path will feature seven interactive stations that showcase practical actions individuals, families, and communities can take to help improve water quality and support healthy ecosystems.
Nearby, the Clean Water Kiosk will feature a three-dimensional topographic model of the Little Conestoga Creek watershed, helping visitors visualize how water moves across nearly 40 square miles of Lancaster County before flowing to the Susquehanna River and ultimately the Chesapeake Bay.
Together, these experiences will help connect everyday actions with the larger story of watershed health.
A Park Designed for Learning
Education has always been one of the Blue Green Connector’s guiding principles, and Noel Dorwart Trailhead was designed with that vision in mind.
The park’s covered pavilion was intentionally planned to serve as an outdoor classroom where students, educators, and community groups can gather before exploring the surrounding restoration sites.
Dedicated bus parking makes it easy for schools and youth organizations to visit, creating opportunities for learners of all ages to experience watershed science, ecology, engineering, and environmental stewardship firsthand.
Rather than simply reading about these concepts, students can step into a living landscape where restoration is actively taking place.
Future cohorts of Teaching with Muddy Boots: A Blue Green Connector Learning Experience will also call Noel Dorwart Park home. By helping educators become comfortable teaching outdoors, the program equips them to develop Pennsylvania STEELS-aligned lessons and confidently bring their students back for meaningful field experiences.
The goal is simple: build a generation of learners who understand not only why healthy waterways matter, but how they can help protect them.
A Shared Vision in Motion
The opening of the Noel Dorwart Trailhead represents far more than the completion of a new community park.
It demonstrates what’s possible when municipalities, nonprofits, environmental organizations, educators, businesses, and community partners unite around a shared vision.
Together, they’re creating a place where recreation supports restoration, where education grows alongside native habitats, and where every visitor has the opportunity to better understand the connection between people, water, and the landscapes we all share.
The Blue Green Connector has always been about building connections.
This trailhead is proof that those connections begin long before the trail is built.
Shout Out to Our Partners:Â
- East Hempfield Township
- Steinman Foundation
- LandStudies
- ELA Group
- Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay
- Lancaster County STEM Alliance
- Chesapeake Watershed Initiative
- Franklin & Marshall College
