Good morning, Lancaster!

Looking for somewhere to catch the final days of peak fall color? I stopped on a drive this week and discovered Fisherman’s Park. Just over the southern county line, you can view dozens of bald eagles feasting on their daily catch. As the temps drop through November, sometimes there are over 100 national birds to be seen. More details below.

Bald eagles and fall leaves. A perfect pairing.

See ya ’round Lancaster!

-Ed (connect on LinkedIn)

Today’s cover art is from my trusty iPhone 13. I’ll call this, “A fisherman near the shadows”

If you know an artist who should be featured as the weekly cover art, forward this email.

We love to feature local artists, creators, and those who celebrate Lancaster.

Last week’s poll results:

Last week I asked which part of the hemp plant the USDA valued at $656 million in 2025.

82 of you said hemp oil. But, it was wrong. The answer is HEMP FLOWER. Only 24 of you nailed it. (gold stars…to you and you and you)

Here’s the twist: CBD oil is made from the flower. The flower is where the good stuff lives, so the oil is basically the flower in a bottle. Plain hemp seed oil has almost no CBD at all.

Side Quest Poll Results: Is chicken pot pie a soup?
78 of you: double crust or death.
49 of you: Poor Ed, clearly he has only lived here three years.

Problem solved: I’ll arrive to any future dinner invites with my spoon and fork at the ready.

I received some tasty sounding soup recipes last week. I’ll share them soon. In the meantime, add yours to the mix:

Lancaster’s trees are putting on their final show. The leaves are peaking right now, and over the next week or so they’ll be gone. I’m a hiker at heart, but a drive is also a great way to spend an afternoon. Here are 3 hikes and 2 drives to catch the color this week.

Say “hi 👋” to a new neighbor as you walk the trails or enjoy the overlooks.

THE HIKES

Short: Chickies Rock Overlook | ~1 mile round trip
A tree-lined dirt path on the western edge of the county, just north of Columbia. It follows an old trolley line that carried tourists up here in the early 1900s and ends on a quartzite cliff high above the ‘Susque. Short climb at the start, then it’s fairly easy. The river view takes in Marietta, Columbia and Wrightsville, all of it framed in color. Bring the kids & the pup.

take the short way up

Medium: Lancaster County Central Park | ~3-4 miles
Thirteen-plus miles of trail hiding in plain sight, minutes from downtown Lanc. Link the yellow-blazed Mill Creek Trail with the orange-blazed Conestoga Trail, which winds about 2.5 miles through the park along Mill Creek and the Conestoga River. You get creekside woods and a covered bridge in the Kiwanis Area. You’ll forget you’re five minutes from traffic lights.

pick your loop

Long: Enola Low Grade Trail | ~10 miles round trip
Flat as a pancake (it’s sorta in the name), but don’t let that fool you. Park at the Red Hill Road trailhead off Route 324 in Martic Township. About a mile in, you’ll cross the Martic Forge Trestle, 146 feet above Pequea Creek. An arsonist burned it in 2018 and it was rebuilt and reopened in 2022. Keep going through wooded rock cuts and river views to the Safe Harbor Trestle, then turn around and loop back. That’s roughly ten miles of crushed stone and canopy. Pack a sandwich and feel free to bike it as well.

cross both trestles

THE DRIVES (+ tunes)

Fill the tank, grab a coffee and a jacket, and hit play on a song list that’ll carry you around the county. Here’s a fall-inspired playlist I pulled together that’ll run you about an hour and a half.

Note: It also makes for good desk listening whilst dreaming of the open road.

Southern Destination | Fisherman’s Park | 39.654596°, -76.172862°

Take Route 324 south out of the city toward Martic Forge and drop down River Road along the Pequea. It’s twisty, shaded and hugs the creek. Climb out through Holtwood, and pull into Pinnacle Overlook if you want a warm-up view. Then roll south through the farm hills of Drumore and Peach Bottom, where every crest shows you another ridge of leaf-color-fire.

Pick up Route 222 south into Maryland and cross the Conowingo Dam on Route 1. Then turn down Shures Landing Road to Fisherman’s Park at the base of the dam. Yep, that’s this week’s cover photo.

Why so many eagles? The dams turbines pull fish through and they pop out stunned, which makes the water below the dam an all-you-can-eat buffet for bald eagles.

A few dozen live here year-round. Starting in November, bird neighbors from upstate New York and Canada fly in because the water below the dam doesn’t freeze. You’ll see eagles snatch fish out of the water and sometimes steal from each other midair.

Best time to go: late October through December, with November and early December as the sweet spots. Early morning and late afternoon are best.

Bring binoculars. Spot some eagles. Sit and stare at the river & falling leaves.

fly like an eagle

Northern Destination | Governor Dick Tower | 40.24627°, -76.45560°

Head north out of Lititz on farm roads toward Brickerville and climb into the Furnace Hills. The roads roll and curve and the woods come right up to the edge. Take your time through Penryn and up toward Mount Gretna, just over the Lebanon County line.

Add on to the drive and enjoy a hike. Park at the trailhead on Pinch Road for the Clarence Schock Memorial Park at Governor Dick. It’s a rocky, leaf-covered climb, about 1 ½ miles to the summit.

At the top stands a 66-foot observation tower from 1954. Careful. You climb ladders, not stairs, inside its narrow shafts, and from the cage at the top you can see across five counties: Lancaster, Lebanon, York, Dauphin and Berks. All of them changing color together.

Fun fact: “Gov’ Dick” wasn’t a governor. He was a woodcutter and charcoal burner for nearby Cornwall Furnace.

climb the tower

Snap a horizontal photo at any of these spots and email it my way. Best shot will get featured as next week’s cover art!

Height Fight is a game dreamt up by two Lancaster Countians who would love to help you play.

Kerry and Ryan of Barn Boy Games went from a kitchen table to 100% funded on Day 1. Their Kickstarter is now at $22,197 of an original $15,000 goal. If you were one of their 288 backers, thank you. That’s a lot of game players!

They reached out to the Loop with one more goal: 300 backers before the clock runs out Sunday, Nov 1.

If you're on the fence, the game gets my full endorsement.

Back it and get a hometown game on your kitchen table. It’s ages 6+, plays with 2 people or a whole family divided but united over play.

Grab a game on Kickstarter or:

Why The Fuzzy Sponsor Today?

You’ll notice something different in the sponsor spot this week. It’s blurred on purpose.

Those are real ads that could have run here. They just aren’t from Lancaster, so I said no thank you. Honestly, that wasn’t easy. Those ads pay the bills.

But the Loop will always be at least 90% content. The other 10% is reserved for local businesses and organizations that make Lancaster…Lancaster.

The events, businesses, and people I point you toward are all right here in Lancaster County. The folks who help keep this newsletter in your inbox each week should be too.

One county, ten miles deep. That goes for who we feature and who we partner with.

If you run a Lancaster business and want to say hello to 15,500+ neighbors every Tuesday, hit reply. Don’t own a business? Forward this to one you love. An intro from you means more than any pitch from me.

Either way, thank you for reading. This seat will always be reserved for Lancaster.

The Loop is nearing our one-year anniversary. The first edition, on November 18th, 2025, landed in exactly six inboxes. (hiya, Mom!) Each week it’s researched, written, and sent by one local human (👋).

I find all the good of L🌹nc🌹ster and share it with you.
Always free, always local.

If the Loop has earned your weekly read, make a contribution of any size and receive my eternal gratitude and a high-five or hug at a future IRL event. Every dollar goes back into growing our community. Can’t or don’t want to? I still ❤️🤍 you.

Here are some clues: This week I’m standing next to the most cheerful building in Lancaster County. You couldn’t miss it with your eyes closed. Hot pink shutters, school-bus-yellow walls, a train rumbling by, and some of the best food you’ll find. It’s a family affair, and they’ve been feeding us since 2020.