Hiking

The Martins Creek Environmental Preserve is PPL's newest environmental preserve, having been designated in July 2001. But the Tekening Hiking Trails go back many years. The name "Tekening" (pronounced tek-en-ing) comes from the Lenni Lenapi Indians, who used to frequent this area. The word means "in the wood."

For more than two decades, the public has been welcome to hike, bicycle and walk on the 215 acres of land that PPL purchased as a buffer for its Martins Creek power plant.

The Tekening Trails consist of a five-mile network of four pathways through fields and forests along the Delaware River. Each trail is marked by color.

The longest, the Blue or Scenic River Trail, hugs the Delaware for 2.1 miles between Foul Rift Road and the village of Riverton opposite Belvidere, N.J. This trail is the most scenic. It passes by the rugged Foul Rift rapids and forested vistas beyond. The Orange or Ridge Trail follows the higher ground 1.3 miles past rocky outcroppings and farm fields. The rows of fieldstones on the Red or Woodland Trail once marked the boundaries of early settlers' farmlands. The homesteads have long since reverted to forest. The Yellow Trail provides a convenient loop for brief walks from Foul Rift Road.

Parking is available at both ends of the trail system, along Foul Rift Road near the Martins Creek power plant or along the Belvidere-Martins Creek Highway in Riverton.

The trails pass through a variety of habitats. They pass beneath the last remaining stands of old-growth forest in Northampton County, and they travel through former farm fields and pastures that the woods have reclaimed. The wildlife has enjoyed the return of the meadows and woods. A variety of species call the Martins Creek Environmental Preserve home. It's a wonderful place to watch for bluebirds, indigo bunting, scarlet tanager, cedar waxwing and a variety of woodpeckers, owls and hawks, as well as turkey, rabbits, deer and coyote.

For trail map, click here.