TOP 12 WINTER WALKS IN WAYNESBORO
Article and Photographs by Robb Helfrick
Walking outside during a Cumberland Valley winter poses challenges but also offers rewards. With proper attire, attention to weather conditions, and a healthy dose of nature-based curiosity, this season can be enjoyed outdoors with many unique benefits.
Winter daylight hours are shorter, but after the Winter Solstice on December 21, they grow longer each day. For walks during the workweek, only a small window of precious daylight is available in late afternoon, but that is when temperatures are warmest.
Luckily, Waynesboro, Washington Township, and Quincy Township have convenient walking venues when daylight is waning. Weekends offer more time for walkers with traditional schedules. For the bravest, walking early on winter mornings will serve as a brisk wake-up call.
With leaves absent from the trees, winter is an ideal season for bird watching. Despite the disappearance of some migratory birds, plenty of local species remain. Birds with vibrant plumage are easily spotted on bare branches, such as bluebirds, cardinals, blue jays, and house finches. Hawks and other birds of prey are often seen perched in open treetops, always hunting. When walking near bodies of water, large species like great blue herons and bald eagles are sometimes spotted. Forest sight lines are also more open in winter, allowing glimpses of white-tailed deer and other shy mammals.
Finally, don’t avoid periodic outdoor occurrences of snow and fog. These conditions can transform an ordinary scene into a winter wonderland.
Listed below are the top 12 locations for winter walks in the Waynesboro area. There are certainly other enjoyable venues; tell us your favorites.
NUMBER 12: PAT O’CONNER NATURE PARK
This park is a lesser-known venue in Washington Township off Lyons Road. Donated by the namesake property owner, this small haven sits along Antietam Creek and contains vestiges of the former homestead on the property. The walking experience here is more of a ramble as the trail system is basic. Views of the creek and its resident wildlife are the reward for an exploration. Sprouting in early spring, the wildflowers found here are abundant and colorful.
NUMBER 11: MONTEREY PASS/HAPPEL’S MEADOW WETLAND PRESERVE
These dual venues, across Route 16 from each other, offer both flat and challenging walks on the crest of the Blue Ridge in Washington Township. For a quick and easy hike, choose Happel’s Meadow Preserve. This is a six-acre tract with short loop trails on the mountain’s plateau. This landscape can often be soggy, so wear appropriate footwear.
Monterey Pass Battlefield offers a greater challenge, with trails that climb up the mountainside, past a rugged landscape that hosted a midnight Civil War battle in 1863. The reward for reaching the top is a fantastic mountain vista to the east. The trails are well-marked, but best suited for fit walkers.
NUMBER 10: DOWNTOWN WAYNESBORO
Take a winter stroll down Main Street to view the town’s preserved architecture, see the latest wares of Waynesboro merchants, or simply enjoy the hustle of the Boro’s most prominent thoroughfare. This walk can be enjoyed at any time of day as the street is well-lit and the pavement well-maintained.
NUMBER 9: ED MILLER TRAIL
This paved trail connects two of the best winter walking sites listed below. Ed Miller Trail offers a variety of vistas, from Clayton Avenue’s grand homes to open fields to the high school complex, as it passes over creeks and along farm fields on the southern side of Waynesboro. This trail has a few hills to test the legs, and the east-west route can be started in town or at Renfrew Park. This walking route offers opportunities to see wildlife, especially at dawn or dusk.
NUMBER 8: PINE HILL RECREATION AREA
This park, located off Mentzer Gap Road in Washington Township, offers panoramic mountain vistas. From the elevated parking area, the Appalachians surround visitors. This recreation area is a multi-use 174-acre property with ball fields, a skatepark, and picnic pavilions. Pine Hill’s walking trails are some of the best-maintained in the area, with wood chips serving as a soft surface for a comfortable stroll. The wooded area has never been developed and displays the atmosphere of a wild forest.
This scenic park is located on a hilltop above Red Run Park, but the two parks’ trail systems are not connected. Most of Pine Hill’s pathways (approximately three miles in total) are moderate, with a few minor hills. Address: 12684 Mentzer Gap Road, Waynesboro.
NUMBER 7: MONT ALTO STATE PARK
A large dance pavilion marks the spot of Mont Alto State Park, the oldest State Park in Pennsylvania’s system. Located 5 miles north of Waynesboro, Mont Alto has a storied past in forestry education and conservation, and this park’s forest doesn’t disappoint.
Also located along Antietam Creek, this 24-acre Quincy Township park has multiple hiking trails that lead into dense forests or follow the creek bed. Even in winter, there are ample doses of color here, due to local evergreen species that thrive in Michaux State Forest.
Nearby is Penn State’s Mont Alto campus, also a pleasant place to walk. Several forest service roads near Mont Alto State Park offer wider hiking options with strenuous uphill sections. MASP is open year-round from dawn to dusk. Parking is on the south side of Highway 233 (1 mile from downtown Mont Alto via Park Street) across from the pavilion.
NUMBER 6: ANTIETAM MEADOW PARK
Antietam Meadow Park is a hidden gem along its namesake creek. The oval-shaped grass circular trail (approximately ¾ mile in length) is flat, wide, and soft. This offers a variety of open views of meadow, creek, and trees. This park is a choice location to witness a winter sunset. Birds are easily spotted here; red-winged blackbirds are prevalent overhead. Mallards and Canada geese are a common sight in the Antietam’s shallow water. Plentiful bird boxes offer shelter to other native species.
Antietam Meadow Park rests in a floodplain, so it’s best to avoid this park after heavy rain or prolonged wet spells, since the grass trail can be soggy. Enter the park via Country Club Road at Scott Road on the west side of the Antietam. A small gravel lot serves for parking. Open dawn to dusk.
NUMBER 5: APPALACHIAN TRAIL
Winter hikes on the Appalachian Trail are enjoyable, but require more planning. With several AT access points at Pen Mar Park, Old Forge State Park, and Route 16, walking on the trail need not be a full day’s adventure. A simple out-and-back route provides a taste of wilderness without requiring a map or a vehicle at each end of a hike. The reward is solitude and a strenuous hike that offers stunning vistas of the surrounding countryside from higher elevations. Be prepared with proper footwear, as the AT is rocky in this region. Always hike with a companion during the winter months.
NUMBER 4: MEMORIAL PARK
In the center of Waynesboro, Memorial Park is a beloved community property with baseball fields, pickleball and tennis courts, and a play area for kids. But in winter, it’s a quiet space with a paved loop trail that is easily navigated. A tunnel of hardwoods leads south into the park, beckoning to Memorial Plaza, where war veterans are honored. Nearby is the gigantic Wye Oak tree.
Although this park can be crowded in other seasons, you’ll likely have the place to yourself during winter. Memorial Park sits between Walnut Street, South Broad, Fifth Street, and Clayton Avenues. Open dawn to dusk.
NUMBER 3: ROTARY PARK
This park in southern Waynesboro (West of Potomac on 9th Street) offers a paved circular path that passes among trees with views of surrounding homes. The park will likely become an arboretum soon (a museum for trees), and each tree is tagged and can be tracked online to learn more about its species and condition. With ample parking, exercise stations, and a pavilion to shelter from the weather, this park is a convenient place for a quick winter loop walk, which can be tailored in length based on fitness or weather.
NUMBER 2: BUTTONWOOD NATURE CENTER
Buttonwood Nature Center is a new and exciting discovery for Waynesboro’s walkers. Located off Amsterdam Road in Washington Township, The Institute has transformed a former private property into a public Eden.
On a variety of trails, visitors will witness panoramic vistas of the surrounding farms and Appalachian Mountains. Hike through wooded glens, along a rushing creek, over hillsides, or near the pond to see abundant wildlife and landscapes of premier scenery. The park is open from dawn to dusk year-round.
NUMBER 1: RENFREW PARK
Renfrew Museum and Park offers the ideal landscape to stroll and explore. The 120-acre property has walking trails for every fitness level and desired hiking distance. Along those routes, a walker will see vestiges of an old farmstead, hear the bubbling waters of Antietam Creek, stroll through thick forests and past open fields, and pass rustic barns and stone buildings.
Renfrew has hills to challenge legs and lungs, but walkers can also stay on flat paths that wind through pine and sycamore trees. Two bridges span the Antietam, and several trails are paved if sure footing is a concern. One of those paved pathways leads to Otterbein Park near Renfrew’s southern border, while the Ed Miller Trail travels west toward the school complex and ends at Memorial Park.
The park is free, but walkers must register their dogs to accompany them here. Plenty of parking is located off Route 16 at the barn or near Renfrew’s east entrance off Welty Road. Open dawn to dusk.
