New Cumberland offers distinct reasons to stay: Borough Park has a marked fitness loop and access to the Yellow Breeches Water Trail, where fishing and boating are possible. There’s also a walking tour of the historic downtown, a theater, and an annual festival. As you plan, you can treat outdoor recreation, local history, and culture as separate areas of focus.

Recreation at Borough Park and on the Water

New Cumberland Borough Park is a 38-acre community park with five baseball fields. A marked, one-mile fitness loop offers a clearly defined way to exercise. Fishing and boating are possible at the Yellow Breeches Water Trail takeout in the park, where the boat launch is located. Important to note when planning: access to the trail at Borough Park is for takeout only. There is a single ADA parking space near the boat launch.

The park path and the access point by the water offer different activities: the fitness loop is one mile long, while trail access is limited to the takeout. If you’re interested in boating or fishing, you can take these conditions into account when choosing your focus.

Local History: Walking Tour, Spring House, and Archives

The walking tour of New Cumberland’s historic downtown covers 48 sites within the original 1831 borough boundaries. The loop is designed to take about 90 minutes. This gives you both the tour’s scope and an approximate time frame if you’d like to devote part of your stay to local history.

Another historic stop is the William Black Spring House in New Cumberland. William Black originally built it in 1776; it was reconstructed in 2013. The walking tour and the Spring House offer different points of connection: one takes you through sites in the historic downtown, while the other focuses on the history of a particular building.

The New Cumberland Community Archives includes unique photographs, records, maps, newspapers, and other materials about the history of New Cumberland and the surrounding area. Access is available by appointment or upon request. If you’d like to explore local sources in depth, plan your visit according to these access arrangements.

Arboretum, Trail, and Theater

Peiffer Memorial Nature Preserve Inc. in New Cumberland is an arboretum and wildlife preserve. The Evelyn Sharp Mountain Bike Trail runs through the arboretum as a one-mile loop along I-83N. The fitness loop at Borough Park is also one mile long; here, the same distance represents two different activities.

West Shore Theatre is an intimate, 200-seat theater in the heart of New Cumberland. Its program includes movies, live entertainment, educational offerings, and special events. If a particular program is important to your visit, check in advance what’s scheduled for your desired date.

The Apple Festival in September

The New Cumberland Apple Festival takes place annually on the last Saturday in September at New Cumberland Borough Park. A trolley takes visitors to the festival from several stops along Bridge Street. The event features more than 70 food vendors and 200 arts and crafts vendors. The festival combines a specific date on the calendar with a wide selection of food and arts and crafts.

If you’d like to plan your stay around the festival, check the date for the year in question. Other options offer distinct areas of focus: the loop through the historic downtown for local history, the theater for movies and live entertainment, and the park and arboretum for outdoor recreation.

Discover more destinations: Shippensburg, Boiling Springs, Mechanicsburg, Enola, Wormleysburg, Camp Hill, Carlisle

Return to the main travel overview: Cumberland.