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Beauty of York County’s Susquehanna Trail shrouds its dangers

This photo combines the beauty and the grit of the Susquehanna Trail. This ice is colored gray with road grime along the Trail in William Kain County Park. Background posts: Hames made in Shrewsbury Township’s Hametown fueled early American horsepower and Once popular Ganoga Bridge now lightly used York County landmark and Whatever happened to York County’s Hungerford?.

The Susquehanna Trail enters York County in Fairview Township in its northern tip and exits in Shrewsbury Township at the Mason-Dixon Line.
It’s beauty is well-known, and it still serves a pleasant Sunday afternoon drive.
But last Sunday, later in the day, its dangers emerged.
A boy was killed after he was struck by a hit-and-run vehicle in Springfield Township.
The hilly, curvy, still heavily traveled road has long been a source of accidents.
What is the Susquehanna Trail – often called the “Trail” – and where does it run?… .

Thousands of gallons spill from a full Lake Redman into Williams after the remains of Hurricane Floyd dumped rain on York County earlier this decade. The cars in the background are stopped on the bridge on the crowded Susquehanna Trail over the spillway.
Before Interstate 83 was completed in the 1950s, it was the major north/south route through the county.
The following from York Daily Record/Sunday News files gives notable Susquehanna Trail points, north to south:

• Enters York County in Fairview Township, from New Cumberland, Cumberland County, as Old York Road.
• Changes from Old York Road to Old Trail Road at Newberry Commons in Newberry Township.
• Changes from Old Trail Road to the Susquehanna Trail at the Ganoga Bridge between Newberry and Conewago townships.
• Passes the York County SPCA, Manchester Township.
• Continues south until it hits Route 30 (Loucks Road) in Manchester Township.
• Joins with George Street as it runs through North York, York and Spring Garden Township, becoming the Susquehanna Trail again in York Township.
• Passes over lakes Redman and Williams in William H. Kain County Park, Springfield Township.
• Becomes Main Street in Jacobus, back to the Trail for a short while, becomes Main Street again in Loganville, then back to the Trail in Springfield Township.
• Passes Brown’s Orchards and Farm Market, Springfield Township.
• Becomes Main Street in Shrewsbury.
• Passes the Markets at Shrewsbury and Trail Church of the Nazarene, Shrewsbury Township.
• Reaches the border with Baltimore County, Md., and Shrewsbury Township, where it becomes York Road.

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A scene from Fairview Township, where the Susquehanna Trail enters – and exits – York County.