Overview

Wildlands Conservancy has been creating lasting connections to nature since 1973. As the region's premier nonprofit land trust, Wildlands protects green, open spaces and clean water. It's perpetually focused educating future environmental stewards and ensuring nature is nearby for all who call the region home. It's mission is kept alive through the committed support of the community and like-minded businesses.

Wildlands has permanently protected more than 60,000 acres to date, including 3,000 acres across 14 nature preserves that offer 33+ miles of trails for hiking, mountain biking, trail running, birdwatching, dog walking, and much, much more. Some preserves are readily accessible with parking, beginner-friendly trails, and restrooms available. Others are more on the rugged side with vast nature, varied terrain, open meadows, and dense woodlands.

HISTORY

More than 50 years ago, community members put pencil to paper to say yes to a future for their beloved South Mountain. While perhaps unfamiliar with its exact ecological importance, they solidly knew it mattered and were inspired to protect it – forever.With the committed support of Robert “Bob” Rodale, a local champion of organic farming and then chairman and chief of Rodale Press, these neighbors formed the Lehigh Valley Conservancy, a land-protection focused organization based in Bethlehem, Pa.

In 1975, Air Products founder Leonard Parker Pool, an earnest caretaker of the local natural environment and skeet-shooting friend to Rodale, bequeathed his 72-acre wildlife sanctuary to the Conservancy to preserve it “in its natural state for its open space, aesthetic, and wildlife values and the enjoyment of those values by the public.” The Conservancy soon moved its main office and education headquarters to this location, known today as the Dorothy Pool Wildlife Sanctuary property in Emmaus, Pa.

In the late 1980s, the organization further developed its education offerings, emphasizing more than ever the educate a tomorrow for local conservation. To better reflect the broadened scope of its mission, the name was formally changed to Wildlands Conservancy.

EXPLORE

- The Top 5 Wildlands Conservancy Hiking Trails in Emmaus, Bethlehem, Macungie, and beyond

- Wildlands Conservancy's 14 Nature Preserves

- For family-friendly fun and lifelong memories made in nature, from summer camp to guided hikes, visit the events calendar.

The mission of Wildlands Conservancy is to protect and restore critical natural areas and waterways, and educate the community to create a legacy of a healthy, sustainable, environment for future generations.