The D&L Trail is one of the many treasures of the Lehigh Valley and beyond.

A section in Allentown and Bethlehem connects the two cities, running between the Lehigh River and the Lehigh Canal.

In Easton, the trail goes through Hugh Moore Park, past the National Canal Museum and the mule-drawn canal boats.

This is but one portion of the approximately 165 miles of trails of the Delaware & Lehigh National Heritage Corridor.

A new guidebook, “165” (120 pp; $15 print, $10 digital) lets you preview your scenic walk or bike ride with photos, maps and a bit of history, and lists trail heads (starting points), side trips and points of interest.

Nancy Treskot is proud of the Slatington Trail Head. In the middle of town, right across the river from Walnutport, at the beginning of a wide section of trail overlooking the Lehigh River, there is a large pavilion and restroom building with a parking lot. Treskot chairs the Venture Group, an association that maintains the facility and helps raise funds for its upkeep.

“There were 86,000 users of this section of the trail last year, and this year we expect over 100,000,” says Treskot.

Many hikers and bicyclists camp along the trail for multi-day trips.

“You could not find parking on weekends. You could not find a bike in bicycle shops. There was a six- to eight-week wait,” Treskot says.

The pavilion at the trailhead has hosted a farmers’ market.

The Slatington portion of the trail is along a hill overlooking the Lehigh River. There are beautiful side nooks and many narrow paths going down to the river. You will see huge support remnants of a railroad bridge along the way.

The Bethlehem portion of the trail that heads west to Allentown was recently improved.

On the walk on Sand Island in Bethlehem, there are birds that you do not often see in town, and resident geese, turtles and deer.

“More people are using trails statewide and across the nation,” says Kathleen Ward, Delaware and Lehigh National Heritage Corridor Conservation Coordinator.

“There is no silver lining to the pandemic, but it is nice to see more people hitting the trail,” Ward says.

Ward says the Heritage Corridor mission is “celebrating industrial heritage and economic development, promoting health and wellness, and preserving nature and the outdoors. Being in nature contributes to your health.”

The D&L Trail is the spine of the Link Trail network of the Lehigh Valley, which contains 125 miles of interconnected trails with plans to add 100 more miles.

The D&L Trail begins near Wilkes-Barre and ends at Bristol, Bucks County. Ward says there are 145 miles of D&L trails, and up to 179 miles, including peripheral loops.

There are a few gaps in the trail near Catasauqua, in Luzerne County, New Hope, and at the Allentown Waterfront. New trail sections are being developed.

In May, a connector project was begun that went through a county parking lot in Jim Thorpe.

In June, there was a groundbreaking ceremony for a one-and-one-half mile section in North Catasauqua.

The D&L Trail is owned by dozens of nonprofits, municipalities and counties.

“The Heritage Corridor coordinates landowners and helps take care of the trail,” says Ward.

Information: www.delawareandlehigh.org; www.thelinktrails.com. The guidebook is available at www.store.delawareandlehigh.org. A free app with trail information is available at the Google Play Store and Apple App Store.

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