renda Mull likes to call the D&L Trail her “therapy.”

Whether she was recovering from a broken foot or a surgery, a walk from the Lehigh Gap Nature Center to Riverview Park has the ability to make her feel better.

“It’s relaxing, it’s calming, and I see critters,” the Palmerton resident says.

She likes to walk along a trail section in East Penn Township where it’s easy to see hikers, bikers and dog owners - as well as eagles, turtles and snakes - Mull’s favorite.

The 3.5-mile section of the D&L in East Penn is a gateway to the Kittatinny Ridge and Lehigh Gap. 25 years ago, it was an abandoned section of railroad.

Today’s Riverview Park sits near the site of Lizard Creek Junction, a busy spot from the region’s mining heyday, when trains carried anthracite along the river. Two railroads traveled through the area. But after the trains stopped running in the 1960s, the area went unused.

“It was a place you could get in there and do some fishing, other than that, nothing,” recalled Hal Resh, chairman of the East Penn Parks Commission.

Around the turn of the century, two major efforts transformed the area - the Lehigh Gap Nature Center and the Delaware and Lehigh National Heritage Corridor.

East Penn’s parks commission saw an opportunity to join in. The township became caretaker for a 3.5-mile section of the trail.

The township also turned the land around Lizard Creek Junction into their own park system.

“A lot of people in our township have nowhere to walk their dogs or walk themselves. That’s how it started - but it’s open to anybody,” said Hal Resh, Chairman of the East Penn Parks Commission.

At the time, the newly built Riverview Drive had improved vehicle access to the riverfront areas. In 2003, the township started Riverview Park and built a boat launch on the Lehigh using state grants.

Over the years they’ve added campsites, disc golf, picnic areas and bathrooms.

They’ve also established other small parks nearby like Mountain View and Marvin Gardens.

Hech Weir park, on the other side of the D&L, an Eagle Scout built a large dog park, one of the most popular features in the park for locals. All of the projects have received some funding from the state - over $1 million collectively at this point.

During the pandemic, the park saw more visitors than ever. To this day it continues to attract visitors from surrounding counties and states, especially when access to Beltzville and Mauch Chunk Lake are limited.

The trail also attracts tourists in addition to locals. Cyclists are the biggest users of the trail, but it’s not uncommon to see walkers - some with dogs, and horse owners as well. This year, for the first time, it will host the D&L Heritage Half Marathon.

In East Penn, the D&L parallels the Kittatinny Ridge. It provides clear views of the ridge, and Elisha Marshall’s iconic hilltop house in Palmerton. Along the trail, springs emerge from the walls in small waterfalls.

Traveling south, the section enters the nature center’s 756-acre wildlife refuge, where it leads into the Lehigh Gap.The East Penn Parks Commission hopes to continue to add to its system - continuing to host events and incorporating another abandoned rail bed which once connected to Lizard Creek junction.

“We want to continue to develop what we’ve got,” Resh said.