Visit Sites on the Perry County Heritage Trail
The map and descriptions of historical places of interest on this site provide a virtual guide to the exploration of Perry County and the Juniata and Susquehanna River Valleys.
The Perry County Heritage Trail
is maintained by
The Friends of Clarks Ferry Tavern
The Perry County Heritage Trail website was created by the 2020 Bicentennial Committee and made possible by the generous donations of foundations, businesses and the citizens of the county. First under the stewardship of the Historical Society of Perry County, this site since 2022 has been administered by the Friends of Clarks Ferry Tavern. This nonprofit was formed to preserve the 1789 inn as a Welcome and Interpretative Center for the county and the Susquehanna and Juniata River Valleys that meet at the nexus of the famed Appalachian Trail. The Tavern is located at 603 N. Main Street, Duncannon, Pennsylvania.
If you have an interest in the history, recreational and cultural attractions of this area of our Commonwealth, you are invited to join the Friends of Clarks Ferry Tavern and receive the digital newsletter and know you are helping preserve the heritage of what in earlier centuries was a major Gateway of America’s Westward Movement.
The Friends of Clarks Ferry Tavern
P.O. Box 184
Duncannon, PA 17020
email: friendsofcft@gmail.com
Perry County is almost half the size of Rhode Island but with 1/20th the population. Largely countryside, with small towns, the county has a population of 46,000. Mountains wrap themselves around the county on the south, west, and north sides, with the picturesque Susquehanna River creating the eastern border.
The famed Juniata River Valley provides a historical corridor that first saw canoes, flatboats, picturesque canal boats, and the famous Pennsylvania Railroad. Now a major four-lane highway 322/22 slices through ridges and canyons onto the Appalachian Plateau. The State Capital of Harrisburg is southeast of Perry County.
What will you find on the Perry County Heritage Trail Map?
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Delightful bucolic 19th Century towns
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Covered bridges
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National Historic Register properties
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Heritage markers
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Lush valleys
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Master and legacy farms
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Rivers
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State parks
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Hiking trails
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Tuscarora State Forest
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Appalachian Trail