LeTort Spring Run Nature Trail

The LeTort Spring Run Nature Trail is a rail trail in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. The trail stretches between Carlisle Borough's LeTort Park and a trailhead approximately 2mi south at South Spring Garden Street. It parallels and twice crosses the Letort Spring Run, a limestone stream nationally recognized for its role in fly fishing heritage. The trail is an expression of the LeTort Regional Authority's mission to promote appreciation of the Letort, as well as to protect the stream, greenway, and watershed from degradation.The trail begins at Letort Park, which has two baseball fields, a "Fort Letort" playground, and a tennis court. Because homes have been built adjacent to the stream, a segment of trail departs from the stream and former railbed to follow roads between the park and Lamberton Middle School. This section of the trail is approximately 8,757 ft of gravel path with beautiful overhanging trees throughout it, which concludes the trail at Spring Garden Street. The trail is supported by numerous organizations in the local Carlisle area and surrounding area of Pennsylvania.Historical developmentHistorical SignificancePrior to 1720, James Le Tort, a Native American interpreter and trader who occasionally worked as a government agent, built a cabin and trading post at the headwaters of the Letort, becoming the first European colonist to settle in the region. Shortly after 1720, the Letort family was pushed out of the area by a wave of Scots-Irish settlers and squatters.During the Civil War, the Confederate Roads Brigade bivouacked along the spring at Bonny Brook on Saturday June 27, 1863 and stayed there until the night of June 29, when they made way towards Gettysburg through Mt. Holly Springs. On Wednesday July 1, Union General William "Baldy" Smith also made use of the run as a short station while his militiamen made way towards Carlisle where they confronted Confederate General Stuart's cavalry. Stuart ordered the shelling of Carlisle and razed the US Army Barracks located there before his forces disengaged to join the second day of battle in Gettysburg.