Shenks Ferry Wildflower Preserve is one of 50 nature preserves in Lancaster and York Counties in Pennsylvania owned and managed by the Lancaster Conservancy. This small preserve is known for its abundance of spring wildflowers. Unfortunately, when we hiked there in mid-May, there were no wildflowers to be seen.
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Shenks Ferry is not a place that you would just stumble across in your travels, as the preserve is in a remote location. After parking in the sizeable lot, you walk along a wide, gravel path which follows railroad tracks before reaching the trailhead. At the trailhead there is a sign with pictures of the wildflowers you might see along the trail.
The trail follows a small stream through the woods, although the trail is up the hillside from the stream. At one point it leaves the woods to pass under some powerlines, then enters the woods again. The trail dead ends where the stream flows out of the hillside. At the end of the trail is a jumble of rocks with cold air flowing out of them. It’s neat to place your hand near one of the crevices and feel the cold air.
At this point, you simply turn around and retrace your steps. The total distance is about 1 ¾ miles. There is a connector trail to the Enola Low Grade Trail but other than that there are no other hiking trails in the Preserve.
My Takeaway
The limited hiking available, coupled with the fact that we missed the wildflowers made Shenks Ferry Wildflower Preserve a nice walk in the woods but nothing special, so unless it is wildflower season I would not go out of the way to hike here.