Wildlands Conservancy’s South Mountain Preserve — Attraction in Salisbury

I like the Wilderness trail for many reasons, one of them being that it is wilderness and has a totally calming and quiet effect on me from the minute I enter its green haven! A second reason is because the biodiversity is incredible, and on a hot and humid day, I pretend I am in a rainforest, stopping to close my eyes to listen to the woodpeckers peck high above me or the bugs zooming by me. I also use my Seek app to identify plants and other living organisms on this trail because there is such a plethora residing here - a junior scientist's natural laboratory!

This trail is super easy, mildly inclined and about 90% compacted earth. The remaining 10% would be small rocks and logs. There's a small meadow, several old quarry ponds from which you should not drink, plenty of black raspberries (seasonal) to keep your kids' mouths busy chewing instead of screaming and the path is well used by many a dog and deer.

Take plenty of water and wipes with you when hiking as there are no clean water sources or potties on this trail. If you packed it in, pack it out. These trails are very clean; let's keep it that way.

This trail starts at Ithaca Park, crosses over a short open area called the Powerline and connects to the Orange Trail AKA the Alpine Street Trail about .5 of a mile inland. It is not a loop, but out and back will clock you roughly a mile if you are looking for an easy peasy...

The orange Alpine Street trail is a nice loop that can be walked in 90 minutes with some time for taking pictures. There are stepping stones for crossing Rodale Run (creek) as well as smaller wet areas. Wearing appropriate footwear for a hike will make it more enjoyable. There is some elevation change, but the slope is kept reasonable with switchbacks that wind there way up. There is the opportunity to climb on rocks, but no need to. I learned a lot from my 3rd grader who hiked with her Seven Generations Charter School class, like the large depression in the ground is left over from iron ore mining.

Great for...

This is a nice place for a hike. The difficulty of your hike can be managed by consulting the maps which are available at several locations. Trails are well marked with colored flags on trees. There are a few places where trails come together and you could get confused if you don't have a copy of the map with you or on your phone.

Cell service seemed to be available throughout.

The only downside was that there are power lines in the park and they were under maintenance, which made the trail difficult in places. (As...