Named for Native American word, “Chiquesalunga,” meaning “place of the crayfish,” Chickies Rock features good hiking trails and a breathtaking view off a quartzite rock cliff that towers 200 feet above the mighty Susquehanna River as it flows 444 miles from Cooperstown, N.Y., to the Chesapeake Bay.
Sandwiched between the boroughs of Marietta and Columbia, the 422-acre Lancaster County site is the second largest regional park and includes Chiques Creek, Donegal Creek, and selected points of the Susquehanna River.
Chickies Rock Park is replete with colonial and American history, too. The area once had seven iron furnaces and rolling mills, a canal and a local trolley line – remnants of which are still visible throughout the park.
The park also features day-use areas, a group pavilion, and convenient access to Chiques and Donegal creeks, the latter of which is managed as a fly-fishing-only area for trout, open play areas and a boat-launch point on the Susquehanna River.
Restrictions: No fires, alcohol, motorized vehicles. Dogs must be leashed. Hunting permitted in season.