Turkey Hill Overlook Trail
Lancaster, PA Week 2 | Hiking the Turkey Hill Overlook Trail | Enola Low Grade Rail Trail | October 2023
We went into Curtis’ first assignment this fall with high hopes that we would be able to enjoy Lancaster and Southeastern Pennsylvania through hikes on nearby trails and in parks, and learn about some of its history like we have with every other place we’ve traveled for work. However, there were several factors that stood in our way of really enjoying our time here. First, Curtis was assigned to work the day shift instead of nights. This meant that he would leave before the sun came up and return after it had set, so we had no daylight hours together. We were also staying at a hotel that was almost an hour away from the plant, so he would be gone over 14 hours every day. And throughout his entire 3 week assignment, he only had 2 full days off — and on the second one, it was pouring rain all day long. To top it all off, we managed to get sick not once but twice while here — that’s easily the worst part of Curtis working in person, since we are pretty much always healthy when he’s not working at a plant!
We still did our best to stay positive and make the most of what time we did have here. We may not have been able to visit all the parks and historic sites in a 10 mile radius, but we did make a point to try lots of local restaurants. Two of our favorites that we had multiple times were Frisco’s Chicken, a Peruvian restaurant with delicious chicken and side dishes like fried plantains and yucca fries, and Silantra Asian Street Kitchen which served Asian scallion pancake burritos and rice and veggie bowls. And for the few nights when Curtis made it back before dark, we were able to visit Long’s Park which was just across the street from our hotel.
During our second weekend, Curtis had one full day off — the aforementioned rainy day — but got to come home a few hours early on Sunday, giving us a chance to go out for a hike. Our chosen trail was to Turkey Hill Overlook, which was right along the Susquehanna River not too far from Lancaster. The trail was 2 miles round trip and had about 400 feet of elevation gain. It shares a trailhead with the Enola Low Grade Trail, a 29 mile long rail trail, and being a beautiful Sunday afternoon, both trails were pretty busy with other hikers.
The Turkey Hill Overlook Trail was pretty easy, it gradually gained elevation up the slope and made one switchback before arriving at a small overlook facing the river. Charlotte did great, and just needed a little help with a stream crossing. When we finished the hike, we walked a little bit more on the Enola Low Grade Trail before calling it a day. You can see our hike recording on AllTrails here.
