The former Enola Low-Grade Line in Solanco is opening — gradually — for nonmotorized business.

A hiker here.

A birdwatcher there.

People cannot legally traverse the easternmost segment of the 23-mile-long corridor, through Sadsbury Township, where officials have not yet determined what to do with the land.

Riders and pedestrians have to clamber around gaps where bridges have been removed or, in the case of the Martic Forge trestle, closed pending refurbishing.

But, over much of the line, as long as they aren't operating motorized vehicles, they're now welcome.

And they can travel a major portion of the line, from the trestle to the Sadsbury Township line, without encountering any major obstacles.

The fate of the old rail line through Conestoga, Martic, Providence, Eden, Bart and Sadsbury townships hung in limbo for years.

That changed last July, when Norfolk Southern conveyed the property to the townships for $1 each and handed over $1.4 million to maintain and/or demolish bridges and road crossings.

Martic, Providence, Eden and Bart have since applied for and received tax-exempt status for their holdings, according to Mike Domin, principal planner with the county.

In turn, said Domin and Dee Dee McGuire, Lancaster County director of property assessment, they're supposed to open, maintain and post the land for public access.

PDF: Atglen-Susquehanna line

Conestoga has not applied for tax-exempt status. However, Supervisor Steve Charles said the trail there has been "pretty much open since last summer."

The chairman of the Bart Township supervisors, Calvin Keene, said the municipality has ordered signs to notify the public the land is open.

Meanwhile, Manor Township is working to extend the path 5¼ miles north along the Susquehanna River, said supervisors chairman John May.

Officials in Eden and Providence say they're trying to crack down on dirt-bikers and all-terrain-vehicle riders.

Parts of the Enola branch have been graded and cleared of railroad ballast and vegetation.

"We're far from making it what we'd like it to be," said Eden Supervisor Glenn R. Morrison.

Though the township has scant money for making improvements on the trail, he said, "We're inviting everyone to use it. We want it to be used."

East or west
Morrison said he does, often.

"I live on Pumping Station Road, so I can go east or I can go west. ... I've seen red foxes. I've seen a bald eagle."

But he's also seen motorized traffic persist during afternoons and weekends.

"We have people who want to ride horses on [the trail] but they're afraid to because of the four-wheelers," Morrison said. "Some of them are coming through there 30 or 40 miles per hour."

Eden has installed two gates to block the outlaws, Morrison said. The township is also asking Quarryville Borough police to watch over the corridor in Eden and Providence, another four-wheeler hotspot.

Quarryville is seeking a grant to buy its own four-wheeler for patrols, Morrison added, and the township submitted a letter of support last month.

A March 9 ordinance designated Eden's 2.7-mile stretch as a park, "The Low-Grade Lands of Eden Township."

Like other segments of the trail, the tract is to be open from sunrise to sunset. It will be maintained "in a natural state," according to the ordinance.

The public can access the trail at Bushong Road, where there's a gravel lot that holds 20 to 30 vehicles, Morrison said.

Township workers have repaired a boggy portion of the trail east of Quarryville, he added.

"It's not perfect but it is walkable; it is ridable from the Bart Township line to Quarryville Borough," Morrison said.

Conestoga, Martic, Providence and Eden townships have acted on similar plans.

Last fall, Charles said, Conestoga Township established a parking area for eight or nine cars on a cul-de-sac off Colemanville Church Road, near River Road.

"We do want to get the engineer down there" to study how to refurbish the Martic Forge trestle, he said.

The towering trestle over the Pequea Creek is closed and effectively bisects the trail at the border with Martic Township.

Charles said Conestoga Township is delaying a railbed overhaul until the Depression-era catenary poles that march along the length of the route are upgraded.

The owner, Amtrak, has announced that it will replace the power line.

In the meantime, tree trimmers hired by the railroad have been clearing trees and brush along the path.

In Martic, said Barb Stokes, supervisors chairwoman, "We've graded [the trail] and we've done mowing and taken some of the debris off."

The Martic section has been open to the public since the municipality took ownership, according to Stokes.

Signs announcing the status of the land were erected recently.

The property is part of the longest contiguous stretch of the path, which covers about 11 miles in Martic, Providence and Eden townships.

Hikers and other outdoors enthusiasts are slowly finding the trail, said Vicki Eldridge, Providence Township secretary.

"We leave people walk there. They can ride bike or ride horse."

The township road crew has "just started removing some of the ballast" where the line intersects Sawmill Road, Eldridge said. "There's no formal parking at this point."

Keene said Bart Township intends to open its 3-mile-plus segment to recreationists after the signs it ordered arrive.

The township has removed the bridge that carried Lamparter Road over the Low-Grade, as ordered by the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission, he said.

Workers keep the line mowed at road crossings, Keene added. They've also installed grates to prevent people from falling into some open 2-foot-diameter drainage pipes.

Sadsbury Township completed removal of Orchard Buck Road bridge last year.

The crossing would be a liability for recreationists, Supervisor Linda Swift said.

"We haven't decided what we are going to do with [the Low-Grade segment]."

At the other end of the line, Manor Township officials are vigorously pursuing establishing a trail segment that runs from the Safe Harbor trestle to Turkey Hill.

That corridor, which would connect to the rest of the path in Conestoga Township, is still owned by Norfolk Southern and is closed to the public.

The railroad will deed over the tract when the township finalizes a project to fence it from the active parallel rail line, according to May, the supervisor.

The state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources has given the township a matching $250,000 acquisition grant, but is requiring the township to build the fence, May said.

He estimated the fence cost at $300,000.

Rettew Associates is designing the project and also helping the township determine how to proceed with the Safe Harbor trestle, May said.

A trail steering committee consisting of members from the township, LCC and the Lancaster County Parks, among others, will be formed at the supervisors meeting April 6, May said.

"We're moving along," May said. He conceded he might be overly optimistic, but said, "I'm still hoping we can start construction this year."

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Jon Rutter is a staff writer for the Sunday News. His e-mail address is jrutter@lnpnews.com.