“It's a forgiving river, but you have to respect it.”

Brook Lenker, president of the Susquehanna River Trail Association, traces the origins of Pennsylvania's first formal water trail. Celebrating its 25th anniversary in recent years, the trail encompasses the 52-mile middle section of the Susquehanna between Sunbury and Harrisburg.

The idea began with a single canoe trip in the early 1990s that turned a casual acquaintance with the river into a lifelong passion. What followed was years of coalition-building. The middle section's success helped seed a statewide network that today shares in Pennsylvania's more than 83,000 miles of waterways, the second most in the nation.

What sets this stretch apart is its geography. It has roughly 500 islands, five consecutive water gaps cutting through the ridge-and-valley mountains (rare enough to earn National Natural Landmark status) and river towns like Millersburg and Harrisburg that have embraced the water rather than turned away from it.

Twenty-three designated, numbered campsites along the 52 miles, measured from the river's mouth at Havre de Grace, Maryland, invite paddlers into primitive, forested camping within sight of the State Capitol dome.

A dedicated corps of volunteer stewards, working alongside the Bureau of Forestry, keeps the sites usable, all while encountering otters, beaver dams, and at least one paddler who signed every logbook "Squid Billy."

Key Topics:

• A River Rat's Canoe Trip: How the Idea Was Born (02:30)
• Island Camping 101: Signs, Logbooks, and Mile Markers (08:42)
• Know Before You Go: Dams and River Hazards (14:01)
• Primitive Camping and a River That Changes (17:46)
• Volunteer Island Stewards and Trail Upkeep (21:54)
• River Encounters: Otters, Beavers, and "Squid Billy" (25:18)
• Dauphin Narrows: Lady Liberty and a National Natural Landmark (27:14)

Resources:

• Susquehanna River Trail Association: https://www.susquehannarivertrail.org/
• Facebook, Susquehanna River Trail Association: https://www.facebook.com/SusquehannaRiverTrailAssociation/
• Weiser State Forest: https://www.pa.gov/agencies/dcnr/recreation/where-to-go/state-forests/find-a-forest/weiser
• Captain John Smith Chesapeake National Historic Trail: https://www.nps.gov/cajo/index.htm
• Canoe Camping Fact Sheet: https://paparksandforests.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/canoe-camping.pdf

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If you've never experienced the Susquehanna, or not to a significant extent, highly encourage you to take the time to to do it. I think you'll find it it can be almost life changing. For me, it it set in motion a whole bunch of personal passions and career stuff that that unfolded from that, and I think it's touched other people's lives in similar or you know special ways to them.

Yeah, it's just a very different way to see the landscape and and to see yourself. Imagine a place where stress fades, fresh air fills your lungs, an adventure awaits around every corner. Welcome to Think Outside, the podcast that inspires you to explore, connect, and embrace the outdoors. Welcome to Think Outside with the Pennsylvania Parks and Forest Foundation. I'm your host Marcy Maury. Today we're going to explore the Susquehanna River Trail middle section with our guest Brooke Lanker, who is the president of the Susquehanna Trail Association. Brooke is actually the we're going to call him the founding father of the middle section of the Susquehanna River Trail, which celebrated its 25th anniversary a few years ago. So let's learn about this pretty unique destination that we have right here in Central Pennsylvania. Brooke, welcome.

Thank you, Marcy. It's a pleasure to join you for your podcast. Yeah, wow, the Susquehanna River Water Trail. It's been a it's been a big part of my life for gosh 2829 pushing 30 years. I guess. Gosh, I don't like how that sounds.

I know, but things like that. It's like, wait a minute, where's the time gone?

Holy cow. Yeah, I mean, I I appreciate your comment about calling me a founding father, but this project, like so many, takes really takes a village of people. We had a formal planning committee with representatives from a whole bunch of different agencies and organizations and businesses that helped establish the water trail. But it was yeah, it was a a sparkle in our eyes, way back in the mid 1990s.

I think it'd be interested for listeners to know what sparked the idea. What gave you that sparkle?

Yeah. So I met a person in the early 1990s, probably like 1991, who was, as we call it, river rat. Somebody who loves the river spends a lot of time on it, and this person took me out canoeing and really established my own love for canoeing via those experiences, and really opened my eyes to how special the section of the Susquehanna River is near Harrisburg. I mean, the whole river is a great resource, but I hadn't spent a lot of time on it. I had seen the Susquehanna River, you know, from Front Street and you know by car. Had had a few kind of cursory water experiences on it, but really got started to explore it in that time frame, and of like 9293, maybe into 94, spending more and more time on it, and just was realizing what a special natural resource it was with all the islands, all the bird life, just sort of its size and scale, the width of it, the the the water gaps and mountains to the north, really really special and unique. So that was sort of happening to me, you know, on a personal basis for the most part. Although I also at the time was working for the Dauphin County Parks and Recreation Department, and the department did some programming on the river, and my own sort of circle of friends and of environmental professionals was was growing. And I know some of those organizations, probably some you were involved with, Marci, were were also doing some programs on the river. So again, just became more exposed to it, and and and started having conversations with with people who realize, like, yeah, we need the the rivers just beckoning for more people to discover it and learn from it. So somehow the idea was catalyzed that if we sort of packaged it up more, and in the best sense of that term, providing information so people could safely explore it, know where to go, and then especially this idea of island camping, because that section of the river between, say, Sunbury and Harrisburg is is so sort of ripe with with islands. I mean. Something like 500 islands in that section, and so we thought, and we we knew just from observation that a number of people camp out there routinely on their own, and those islands and and this and this arrangement was more and more sort of formalized are under the auspices, as as I know you know well, of the Bureau of Forestry with some within memorandum of understanding with the Pennsylvania Game Commission, but most of those islands in that section are these Commonwealth islands that the Bureau of Forestry has some responsibilities for, but they can't do it alone, and so we, this sort of nascent committee, and later a more formal committee, approached the Bureau of Forestry about establishing campsites out there, formal campsites, and and they were very receptive to that. So there was sort of the you know this idea that this would be a cool thing. At the same time, there was the beginnings of a national water trail movement and sort of serendipity and other things put me in contact with some of those folks. Next thing we know that we're working on a formal formal water trail establishment. At that time, it was it was focused on the section of the river from Halifax to Harrisburg, and a few years later, the water trail was expanded upriver the whole way to Sunbury, a 52-mile section. But in that sort of mid '90s now, like '95, '96, we're we're talking to people at the Chesapeake Bay Program Office in Annapolis, Maryland, they're really excited about expanding access to the Susquehanna River and to the Chesapeake Bay watershed overall, all the rivers of the bay, and they thought this water trail idea was really cool. And then there's this national organization that I sort of mentioned; they were trying to encourage the establishment of water trails across the country, in Canada, and so yeah, so all these circles sort of overlapped a little bit and reinforced not only our efforts on the middle section, Susquehanna, which did become eventually the first formal water trail in Pennsylvania, but it also helped spur a water trail movement across Pennsylvania, and then also in the Chesapeake Bay watershed.

We worked really closely with the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission in in establishing the middle section, and they kind of took those concepts and worked with them to promote the water trails elsewhere in the Susquehanna to other other river systems in Pennsylvania, like the Schoolkill and the Delaware, and you know, and so on. So today we have a pretty elaborate water trail network in the state, but I still think the middle section is extra special because of its not just because of its origins and my own you know personal history with it, but because of the unique qualities of it. Again, the islands, the water gaps, some of the bird life, the cool towns we have along that section of the river. I think. I mean, there are cool towns on other parts of the river too, but but Millersburg, Harrisburg. You know, it's just it's a those those communities kind of have embraced the river and and they they provide opportunities for you know amenities and access and all that. So yeah, it's really cool. So yeah, that's a little bit about it, but I could go on and on.

Yeah, well, well, well, you know, full disclosure. You know, we are both involved in the Susquehanna River Trail Association, and we serve in the role as stewards. You serve as also serve in the role as president of the organization, and you mentioned you know that this we are in the middle section. There has since been a lower Susquehanna, a West Branch, a North Branch, and then you know a lot of the rivers across Pennsylvania and creeks have water trails. But I think one of the things that makes the middle section unique are these forested island campsites. And for just to let listeners know, not all the islands in the Susquehanna River are publicly owned. Some of them are privately owned. So when you we talk about the island campsites, there are some things you're going to want to look for. So let's talk a little bit about those island campsites since it is such a unique opportunity.

Absolutely. So the River Trail Association publishes a map and guide that we sell because the proceeds help sustain the organization. But that map and guide, which the Pennsylvania Parks and Forest Foundation helped with, is is a great guidance to experience in the trail. So it shows you it it shows on a map where. This this designated the 23 I believe it is today the 23 island campsite designated island campsites are located. It has a lot of information about safety, you know, water levels, other things to think about when you're going out there. It espouses leave no trace principles for how to to you know when you are camping on an island, so that's a a really good piece of information to carry with you when you're well both to use when you're planning your trip, but also to have with you on the water. Some of the information that's in the guide is also on the SRTA's website, but that it's it's still an indispensable resource to take with you, and you can access the water trail from a whole number of of access points that are pretty, generally speaking, pretty evenly distributed up and down that corridor on both sides of the river. A number of them are fish and boat commission access sites, so you have you should have your boat registered or have a sticker,

which you can also register with the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources.

Yes, but when you're so okay, you're out in the water. You're the best way, in my opinion, to explore the the water trail is by canoe and kayak. So you're out there, you're looking for the for a specific island that where you want to camp for the night, you can look for certain things. We have a sort of a a very basic collection of infrastructure on the islands. So there's a kind of an eight by 10 or eight half by 11 size green sign, neon green sign that has the camping symbol and some other words on it, but that's basically showing you that that's a designated campsite. So, in the generally in the neighborhood of where that sign is, you'll find sort of the access and egress in into the campsite. When you get to the campsite, you should see a fire ring or like a looks like the kind of firing you'd see at a state park or state forest campsite. There's also in almost every case there also will be a picnic table, a clearing for a few tents. There'll be a post like a four by four post that has a metal box on the side of it that you open up, and inside that box, there'll be a plastic box with a logbook inside that you can kind of record your visit. It's a great way for us at the SRTA to understand, you know, where people are coming from, what size groups are experiencing the islands, etc. So that's really fun information. And sometimes people write down observations about what they're seeing, and that's it's neat to say, "Oh, we saw eagles, or you know, whatever whatever they experienced could have been an otter. Then on that post, we have little signs that also just reinforce that you're at X campsite, and it's and it's maintained by River Trail Association volunteers. And then there's a little leave no trace placard that that has some of those principles that that we ask folks to follow when they're out there. An important point too is the these sites are numbered, and they're numbered in miles from the mouth of the river at Haverty Grace, Maryland, where the Susquehanna empties into the Chesapeake Bay. So, for example, Island. There's 270 fours. We have a 74 A and a 70 4b. Those are 74 miles from Havertigrece Which another way to just to reference where those are would be just north of, or really just off the city of Harrisburg, north of City Island by a couple miles. So then they ascend as you go upriver. Of course, the numbers increase. So, for example, just south of Sealands Grove, you could be at Island 118. You're 118 miles from Havertacres

nice, and I'm glad that you mentioned that it's just above City Island. We encourage people to pull off at City Island because just below City Island is a low-head dam, which can be very dangerous. So, if you choose the paddle, the the water trail, City Island should be your southernmost destination. If if you want to go below and start looking at the lower Susquehanna, you know, go beyond the dam, you know, portage. Don't don't want it. It's dangerous. People have died, so we want to make sure to make sure that's clear. And then on the northern end, there is there is an also also a dam. So be very cautious of reserve river hazards. They are outlined on the map, which is one of the reasons the map is a great idea. It will tell you travel routes that would be best because the Susquehanna River is a little bit rocky, so you want to try to avoid those those riffles as the river went over the mountains and created these these little rocky edges. The. Campsites are first come first serve, so I think that's another value of having the map. If you arrive at a at a campsite and it's already filled with people, we discourage trampling everything down because these are are natural islands and they're serving a function. You may have to go to the next island, and the map will tell you how close that

is. Yeah, the nice thing is that in many cases, some of the campsites are clustered. So, as as you know, Marcy, so there. So, if somebody does come upon a occupied campsite, they can probably find one. In some cases, you know, less than a quarter or half mile away, but just something else. I'd like to reinforce that you mentioned you know the the value of you know planning ahead and preparing by using that that map and guide, thinking about what those options are ahead of time. Yes, yes, the the river is very rocky and very shallow, and in in kind of typical summertime levels, so yeah, where high water is certainly a hazard for various reasons, low water can be kind of a hazard too because you it may take you longer to get to your destination. You may have to drag your boat and you could twist an ankle. I mean, all kinds of things. The heat the river can is shallow, so it it's not as refreshing. Sometimes you know, come yeah, come July or August. So so yeah, you have to be careful. You're going to be very exposed. It's a wide river, so you are going to be out in the sun a lot. Just another thing too, I think it's it's probably neat for your listeners to think about is, I kind of rave on about the middle section, but the other sections of the river, the other water trails are are have their own special qualities, and the lower the lower Susquehanna, of course, has some of these big dams and lakes, but it has a lot of Native American heritage. It's a deep gorge, so it's very different from the our our section of water trail that goes through the heart of the like ridge and valley physiographic province, and then you know the West Branch, Susquehanna. Well, it literally is on the West Branch of the river, and it it goes past a lot of state forest land has a pretty rugged quality and some unique some unique wildlife to that region. So you know I would encourage certainly to explore the middle section, but over time, if somebody's an avid paddler or camper, and and wants to get out there, you know, to check them all out as you have time.

Yeah, with 444 miles, not all of that in Pennsylvania. There's a lot to explore, and even touching on the fact that we have this network of river trails, our water trails is you know Pennsylvania's second in the nation in terms of the number of miles of of waterways with over 83,000 miles, so there's a lot of opportunity to get on the water in Pennsylvania. To me, one of the unique opportunities on the middle section is you could be primitive camping and staring at the dome of the Capitol.

Yes, absolutely.

And you know it is primitive, you know. So you do have to plan ahead because you have to think about your waste. You have to think about what you need. It's not like there's going to be a store on the river. You're you're camping on forested islands, and we will say these are part of the Wiser State Forest. There are some islands that will be posted as privately owned. Some islands are part of the Game Commission network, and they might be protected and posted as no entry because they're protecting critical habitat for a species. So you know, do observe the postings that are listed and and don't go onto the islands that are private or don't disturb wildlife because that's their home and you know we're we're being invited into that.

Absolutely, you make made me think too about, um, the criticality of of knowing like what you need out there, and these island sites don't have a water source. I mean, they have the river, and and sure, you could try to use river water and sterilize it, but or disinfect it. But typically, you want to bring in your own water. The nice thing about canoe or kayak camping is you can generally bring in your own water pretty easily. So yeah, I definitely want to be prepared for a primitive experience. And then I guess too, I just like to say that really that that preparation is also about that travel time, I see. I've encountered over the years people and groups, whether they're you know in canoes and kayaks or in inner tubes on the Yellow Beaches Creek, where they they've underestimated the time it's going to take to go someplace. So that can really you know you don't want to come in at nightfall trying to find your way. Sure. So it's

or find your campsite on an island with no light.

Yep. So yeah, just to to respect. I think respecting sort of the the challenge that's you know to take it seriously is it's not it's a forgiving river, but you have to respect it and think things through ahead of time,

and don't think that you know the river, because if we have a rough winter, if we have high water, the face of the river, the the islands, they change. You know, we as stewards, and we'll talk a little bit about that when we go out to open our islands. We might find that where we normally would have people getting out, it's no longer a safe place to get in and out. Or trees may have fallen, so you know you have to keep that in mind too. That these are alluvial islands, and they change over time. So it's always a little bit different every time you you go out to experience the trail.

Yeah, I guess any any discussion about the river trail would be complete without mentioning poison ivy as a you know

problem. Yes, as a

problem. I mean, it's it's it's not necessarily on par with the the hazards of a low head dam, but but it's ubiquitous. So we so you need to know what poison ivy looks like and avoid it, and we try to keep the area immediately where we want people to camp. We we truly try hard to keep that poison at bay, but but it's all over the islands, so you have to watch what you're grabbing onto and and what you're walking through.

Yeah, leaves of three, let them be.

Yes, I've had many cases of poison ivy over the years as we've worked on the islands.

Yes, ditto. So these islands, you mentioned there are 23 campsites on the 52 miles of trail. How are they maintained?

Yes, so they are maintained by volunteers, the river stewards, island stewards that form like the core of the SRTA's activities are out there a few times a season. You know, whacking down poison ivy, Japanese knotweed, making sure that signs are up, the making picking up any litter. Although fortunately, we don't have a a big problem with that from campers. Although the river washes in things when there's floods and such, but yeah, basically tending those sites. These if if they weren't doing that, the islands would quickly be overgrown. I mean, the camping activity itself helps keep the sites nice, so long as the the campers are are practicing leave no trace, but they always need a lot of TLC, and it's really important that we have that network of stewards. Which we've been fortunate over the years to have a number of volunteers who do that, but we always need more, and we we and we really need people who maybe want to invest a little more time in helping to coordinate some of those activities because it's it's sort of that administrative part. Although it it doesn't doesn't have to be as unfun as that might sound. The river trail is always in need of of folks that are willing to kind of go the extra mile to help coordinate some of those activities, and but but yeah, we couldn't do it without a cadre of 1015, 20 island stewards who go out there periodically, and then supplementing that is the work of the Bureau of Forestry themselves. They often partner with us on special work days and go out on their own time on their work days to to do like some of the more intensive maintenance, maybe install or you know install bringing out a fire ring or bringing out a picnic table or fixing something or cutting down a large tree or often cutting up it may have already fallen. So right,

right, and I, I, I will in the the show notes connect to the Facebook page, connect to the SRTA website, also an Instagram an infographic on thinking about canoe and kayak camping, and we've also seen people out on stand up paddleboards camping, taking their gear out. So, thinking about what that means and what that looks like, if you're new to it, or if you just want to learn a little bit more about how to do it safely and have a positive experience, you mentioned water levels. You know, the the map does point you to looking at the gages because if the water is too low, it could be not pleasant experience. If the water is too high; it could be dangerous. On the Facebook page, you know, we do try to keep people informed of what's happening, and encourage the wearing of your personal flotation device, your PFD or your life jacket, just to make sure that you have a positive experience and you are able to talk about your experience. So, speaking of positive experience, what's one of your favorite memories of of being out on the trail?

Wow, there's a lot. I mean, fun experiences have been had. We did years ago. We did a leave no trace class, and

I was in that, and

I know you were. That's why I brought it up. Yes, and we just had a lot of fun out there practicing what we what we preach, and but the river always has like a new surprise. Whether like I think it was about two years ago, was out in the fall, and it was kind of a windy day, and kind of was was being challenged to to just make headway, and all of a sudden, an otter popped up and was looking at us, and that was that's probably the first time I personally had seen an otter on the river. Another time, closer to or upstream of Dauphin, and that's an interesting section of of the water trail. A lot of islands. We we came across a channel between two islands where a beaver or beavers had built a dam they across the a river channel so much so that they had basically the water was probably a foot higher behind the dam and it's funny you see that on smaller streams but out in the middle of river to see it, the impoundment effect the the viewers get out was was mind blowing. So yeah, just and then I'll just say this too: it's interesting, you know, being out there doing island work or island stewardship, and and reading some of the log entries and the logbooks were really interesting. And then just some of the people we've met. We there was a character that was sort of showing himself one particular season here and there, and he was signing everything Squid Billy. So Squid, if

you're out there, yeah,

he might be listening. I don't know, but just some of the interesting people you meet along the way certainly is part of that whole, you know, river adventure. So,

for people that aren't from Central Pennsylvania, you mentioned the Dolphin Arrows. There's something very unique in the Dolphin Arrows. Do you want to talk about what people might see?

Sure. There's a on one of an old. Well, it's a it's an old bridge pier. There was a bit of a railroad bridge that went across the river, and it's no longer there. But there's one of the stone pilings to the support of the bridge, and on top of that is a replica of the Statue of Liberty, and so it's locally known as Lady Liberty, and it's actually the second edition, I believe, of the statue that originally was put up as a prank overnight, sometime in the 1980s, I believe, and caused quite a traffic jam when people were driving into to work and saw this statue that had suddenly appeared. So it's sort of a a local a part of the local lore for sure, but the statue's still out there. You can still paddle by it, and another thing is that's above what's in a section of the river we call the Dolphin Narrows. The river obviously kind of comes together a little bit more, and there's some rapids there, and on the west side of that channel, the the rapids are pretty significant. So we encourage people to stay on the the east side, or call it River Left,

River Left, yeah.

But the but as you're going through there, and part of the reason those those rapids have formed is because you're you're basically going through cut you know cutting through the mountain, and there are the that middle the middle section of the water trail does that consecutively because there's something like five water gaps, five mountains that it cuts through, and that makes it a so so unique. I mean, you find water gaps other places, but the fact that the Susquehanna has five of them consecutively made it so noteworthy that the Department of the Interior claim has deemed it a national natural landmark, and there's a a marker stone to that effect in Marysville. That if you're if you know where to find it, you can pull off the road and check it out. So it's it's kind of interesting that the statue kind of punctuates the water gap there at the Dauphin Narrows.

And you mentioned it being a national natural landmark, which I always stumble over.

That's

that's a the the river trail itself is all part now part of a national network of trails.

Yes, it's a national recreation trail, which is also a Department of the Interior designation, National Park Service, and yeah, and then other. I believe I I know at least. The West Branch and I think the Lower Susquehanna are also national recreation. Yeah,

and they don't. Is it a part of the John Smith?

Yes, Captain John Smith network. Yes.

Yeah. So, is there anything else that you'd like our listeners to know about the Susquehanna River Water Trail middle section?

Yeah, I mean, I think it's if you've if you've grown up in Central Pennsylvania or if you've spent a lot of years here, I think traditionally the river has been something we just kind of take for granted. It's there. It's it's cool. It's big. Some people are shocked how big it is, but not everyone has explored it, and there's really no no good reason not to. Right? It's right there. It's and we've established this this network, this system with information, with campsites, that signage at at access points that facilitate that experience. And then adding to that, there are outfitters that can put you onto the water. Those those businesses and other entities and organizations have programs that can get you know get put people under the water. So if you if you've never experienced the the Susquehanna or not to a significant extent, highly encourage you to take the time to to do it. I think you'll find it; it can be almost life changing for me. It it set in motion a whole bunch of personal passions and career stuff that that unfolded from that, and I think it's touched other people's lives in similar or you know special ways to them. Yeah,

it's just a very different way to see the landscape and and to see yourself as well,

absolutely.

Yeah. Well, thank you, Brooke. Thank you for joining us to explore the Susquehanna River Water Trail Middle Section and the Susquehanna River Trail Association. And appreciate your time and and your your leadership on this trail for many decades. We won't say how many because that makes us both older than we want to be. Yes,

nice. Well, thanks very much.

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