For several weeks, I'd been trekking through what Appalachian Trail hikers call "The Green Tunnel." In Georgia, Tennessee and North Carolina, reaching the summits of mountains meant seeing awesome vistas; in Virginia and southern Pennsylvania, the summits were often treed in without affording a view.

Then one day the Green Tunnel changed, but not overhead. The soil changed color with a switch that was as dramatic as if someone had snapped a chalk line. One side was brown, the other dark, nearly black. I was back in my home-area woods; more specifically, I'd reached Swatara State Park.Only two miles of the 2,185-miles of the Appalachian Trail are within Swatara State Park, and those are steep miles. But there are 24 miles of trails in the 3,520-acre park, some moderately difficult, some flat enough for bike riding. They layout of the trails allows hikers to use them as connector trails to create loops:Swatara Rail Trail - ten miles, extending from Lickdale (exit 90 from I-81) to the Pine Grove interchange (exit 100). The surface includes dirt, gravel and pavement. In 1870, the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad opened a spur from Pine Grove to Lebanon and in the early 1980s the line had been abandoned - that's today's rail trail.Bear Hole Trail - about five miles, wide and rolling.Northern and Southern multiuse loops - The Rail and Bear Hole trails provide access to loops to Sand Sliding Bridge and/or Swopes Valley Road. These are multiuse trails, for hikers, equestrians and bike riders.Attention mountain bikers! Swatara is home to a mountain biking complex of trails, totaling 28 miles. There are six, single-track, natural-surface trails with log obstacles and stream crossings. The trails are rated "difficult" according to the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources.There are no campsites in the park, but nearby you'll find Twin Grove RV Resort and Cottages, Pine Grove (www.twingrove.com, 717-865-4602. Most of the sites are for RV's but there are 13 tent sites and a number of camping cottages. The family-friendly resort also has a playground, miniature golf course and pool.The budding archaeologist in your family will love the Fossil Site near Suedberg, which contains marine fossils from the Middle Devonian period. If you go, be sure to provide sun protection - the area is all rock and can become extremely hot.You'd miss out if you made the trip to Swatara and didn't stop by Sweet Arrow Lake Park, also in Pine Grove, a Schuylkill County Park. The clubhouse is strikingly beautiful. You can rent paddle boats, canoes and kayaks; or meander on one of the trails within the park. The lake is stocked with trout; but in warmer months is more reliable for bass and catfish.