The enhanced parking area and new barn trail are now open at our Letort Spring Garden Preserve! 1110 S. Spring Garden Road, Carlisle, PA 17013
The Letort Spring Garden Preserve is a public nature preserve featuring trails through a variety of upland and wetland habitats, as well as the historic Melester Barn and Spring House. A recently enhanced parking area is located at 1110 S. Spring Garden Street, Carlisle, PA 17013. An ADA-accessible trail from the parking meadow to the barn, and a partially-accessible trail from the barn to the Letort Nature Trail were recently opened in December of 2024. The preserve is also accessible from the Letort Regional Authority (LRA Trail), 2 miles south of the trailhead at LeTort Park in Carlisle and 1 mile from the parking area at Heiser’s Lane in South Middleton Township.
Enjoying the natural beauty of the Cumberland Valley is getting more accessible. Our parking area got a makeover and we added an ADA-compliant trail at the Letort Spring Garden Preserve in Carlisle.
Thanks to funding from Pennsylvania’s Department of Conservation and Natural Resources’ Community Conservation Partnership Program, Cumberland County’s Land Partnerships program, and Cumberland Valley Visitors Bureau’s Tourism Product Development grant for making this project possible.
Additional support from The Stabler Foundation, PPL Foundation, Partnership for Better Health, and private donors facilitated access components with ADA-compliant benches, picnic tables, native plant landscaping, and interpretive signage.
The parking lot provides an accessible route to the popular Letort Regional Authority’s Nature Trail which runs from Letort Park in Carlisle Borough, through the Letort Spring Garden Preserve to Heisers Lane in South Middleton Township.
We are seeking volunteers to assist with the native plant landscaping along the ADA trail and parking lot. Go to the “Get Involved” tab to register as a volunteer. A public dedication at the Letort Spring Garden Preserve will be held the weekend of April 12th, 2025. Mark your calendars!
ADA Trail & Parking Lot Funders
Native Plant Landscaping, Visitor Amenities, and Interpretive Signage Funders
Observation Platforms at the Letort Spring Garden Preserve – Completed!
We repurposed former farm infrastructure into safe observation platforms with interpretive signage and can’t wait for you to check it out. This project was made possible through support from a South Mountain Partnership Mini-Grant, the American Water Foundation, and PPL Foundation. We’re grateful for
Volunteers from Pennsylvania American Water showing off their work!
History
The headwaters of the nationally-significant Letort Spring Run, a cradle of fly angling heritage, lies two miles south of Carlisle by way of the Letort Rail Trail. The Letort Spring Garden Preserve and surrounding land contain abundant limestone springs and seeps.
The consistently clean and cold water at this location has driven trade, commerce, and settlement for thousands of years. In the early 1700’s, James Le Tort, the first European settler, was drawn here to ‘Great Beaver Pond.’ Subsequent Scots-Irish settlers revered what they had deemed the ‘Bonny Brook’, the east branch of Letort Spring Run.
Early Carlisle residents came to the meadows surrounding the Letort to picnic, and enterprising locals developed the site as ‘Moore’s Grove’ and ‘Bonny Brook Trout Pond.’ Once the South Mountain Iron Company built a railroad through the site in 1868, it served as the leisure destination for Carlisle.
Beginning in 1892, the spring wetlands were converted to bogs for commerical watercress cultivation. Over 100 years, that process gradually intensified, transformed the landscape, excluded public use, and degrading the terrestrial and aquatic habitats. With the support of the community and partner organizations, Central Pennsylvania Conservancy is restoring natural habitats, returning the site to its former role as a public nature preserve.
Partnerships
Our work would not be complete without the support of our community, stewardship volunteers, and local organizations. Here are some helpful links to connect with our partners: