D&L Trail – A Smithsonian Institution Affiliate

D&L Trail Earns Smithsonian Designation

On June 3 2017, the Delaware & Lehigh National Heritage Corridor (D&L), was given the honor of America’s first National Heritage Area to receive an important partnership designation from the Smithsonian Institution.

The D&L Trail Covers 165 miles from the coal regions of the Poconos through the Lehigh Valley to the Delaware river all the way down to the Philadelphia area. As you bike the Bethlehem section of the D&L your passing through the heart of “where America was built.” The Lehigh Valley was at the center of the American Industrial Revolution. Slate, zinc, and limestone for cement were processed here. Iron and steel from the Bethlehem Steel Corporation helped build the skyline of New York City, The Golden Gate Bridge and was a major producer of armaments and munitions for World War I & II. Due in part to the strategic location of the Lehigh and Delaware Canals, Bethlehem and the surrounding Lehigh Valley became the cradle of the American Industrial Revolution.

So when you come out to Historic Bethlehem River Tours to take a recreational kayak tour down the Lehigh River, and a bike ride back on the D&L Trail, your doing much more than enjoying a day on the river and trail, your visiting a Smithsonian Institution affiliate, spending time in one of the most culturally important areas in America. We will help highlight major points of interest and promise some really cool photo opportunities. See You on the River!