TCNN Member Focus – Carantouan Greenway

This year Carantouan Greenway, an all-volunteer not-for-profit 501 (c)(3) Land Trust and environmental organization, is celebrating our 25th anniversary working to educate and connect our local Penn-York communities to their natural resources. The Greenway provides a variety of educational and outreach programs for all ages, with an enthusiastic core group of Board Members and volunteers.  

Carantouan Greenway owns and maintains two properties for the enjoyment of hikers, dog walkers, photographers, birders, anglers, and outdoor enthusiasts. The Forbidden Path in Waverly is a lovely half-mile out-and-back trail leading to the cistern of the Carantouan Springs.  

Wildwood, a 55-acre nature reserve in Barton, offers several trails, which wind through varied habitats including woods, wetlands, uplands, and a lake.  

Our programs include field trips with a trained naturalist to help participants learn about local birds, trees, wildflowers, geology, vernal pools, and other natural resources; public forums given by local and regional experts covering topics such as ticks and Lyme disease, Marcellus Shale gas drilling, and climate change; presentations to local clubs, schools, and other organizations on topics such as “the 40th anniversary of Earth Day” and “all about bones”; and community river cleanups.  

Thanks to a very talented and dedicated Board and many generous partners, Carantouan Greenway has completed many projects to benefit local communities. We were very fortunate to have boy scouts, Richard and Simon Stevens, each carry out Eagle Scout Projects at our Wildwood Nature Reserve this year. 

Richard and crew built a deer enclosure to prevent browsing inside a fenced area and allowed us to study deer impact on vegetation as compared to that outside the fence. This will be a great educational opportunity. Simon and crew built two Leopold benches at scenic locations in the preserve and re-graded the steep slopes on one of the trails, which will enhance visitors’ enjoyment and improve safety.

The Greenway also partnered to help another local non-profit, Futurescapes, build the new Diahoga Trail along the Susquehanna River through Athens and Sayre. A grant from the United Way of Bradford County will allow Carantouan to install tree trail markers, signage to allow mobile device users to access our tree brochure, a bench overlooking the river, and an inspirational sign of Joyce Kilmer’s poem – “Trees”.      

Upcoming events include the organization’s annual dinner meeting on March 31. This will be held at 6 p.m. at Tomasso’s Restaurant in Waverly. The Cloverleaf 4K Trail Run will be held on April 26, 2020, at 10 a.m. at Wildwood Nature Reserve in the Town of Barton. 

To learn more, visit www.carantouangreenway.org or Find them on Facebook. Carantouan Greenway is a member agency of the Waverly Community Chest and the United Way of Bradford County.