Holtwood Environmental Preserve

Holtwood is an unincorporated community in Martic Township, Lancaster County, in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. Holtwood is the site of the Muddy Run Pumped Storage Hydroelectric Power Plant (172 Bethesda Church Road West, Holtwood, PA 17532), along the Susquehanna River. It pumps water into a reservoir during off-peak hours and uses that water to generate electricity during peak demand hours; it produces over 1,000 megawatts (MW) of power.

The Holtwood Arboretum over 5,000 acres (20 km2), also known as Holtwood Preserve, is a recreation area, arboretum, and wildflower preserve located on New Village Road off Pennsylvania Route 372 in Lancaster County, Holtwood, Pennsylvania. It is open to the public daily without charge. The site is owned by PPL Corporation and provides public recreation, camping, hiking, picnicking, sightseeing, fishing, and hunting. The lower Susquehanna River runs through the preserve, which also contains substantial fish ladders (said to be the largest in the United States) and a museum of Native American artifacts.

The Norman Wood Bridge carries Pennsylvania Route 372 across the Susquehanna River between York County, Pennsylvania and Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.

Bethesda is an unincorporated community in Lancaster County, in Pennsylvania. It is situated at the junction between T-432 (Hilldale Road) and Pennsylvania Route 372.

Holtwood Dam (also Holtwood Hydroelectric Dam, Holtwood Hydroelectric Plant, McCalls Ferry Dam) is the oldest of three major dams built across the lower Susquehanna River, and the middle location of the three. It was constructed as the McCalls Ferry Dam between 1905 and 1910 by the Pennsylvania Water & Power (PW&P) Company. The dam was renamed Holtwood in honor of two company executives. PW&P merged with Pennsylvania Power & Light (PPL) in 1955. In 2015 Talen Energy took over PPL's generation and immediately sold the Holtwood plant to Brookfield Renewable Energy Partners to comply with federal antitrust requirements.

The Conestoga Trail System is a 65.8-mile (105.9 km) linear hiking trail in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. The system connects several relatively short and discontinuous footpaths with walks on paved roads. About 53% of the network's distance is made up of road walking, and those segments are intended to showcase the rural scenery of Lancaster County, utilizing three covered bridges and passing numerous Amish and Mennonite farms, as well as some urban and suburban neighborhoods in and around Lancaster. The footpath segments offer wilderness scenery of the type that can be found in many of Pennsylvania's forested areas, plus some walks alongside farm fields.Most of the off-road portions of the route are on private property, so except for several miles near the south end of the route, camping is prohibited along most of the Conestoga Trail System. The trail route is maintained by Lancaster Hiking Club, which regularly searches for options to relocate the route off of roads and into private or public woods and fields, so the route and distance of the Conestoga Trail System are known to change periodically.

Muddy Run Pumped Storage Facility is a pumped-storage hydroelectric generation facility in Drumore Township, Pennsylvania, United States. Constructed by the Philadelphia Electric Company and completed in 1968, Muddy Run was the largest pumped-storage facility in the world. Muddy Run has a capacity of 1,071 megawatts. The facility is operated by the Susquehanna Electric Company, a subsidiary of Constellation Energy. The facility's upper reservoir is the 1,000-acre (400 ha) Muddy Run Reservoir, with a full pool elevation of over 500 feet (150 m), and a usable storage capacity of 1,466 million cubic feet (33,700 acre⋅ft; 41.5 hm3). Muddy Run Reservoir was created by damming Muddy Run with a 4,800 feet (1,500 m) long, 250 feet (76 m) high, rock-filled dam. The lower reservoir is the Conowingo Reservoir, created in the Susquehanna River by the Conowingo Dam, with a normal pool elevation of 109 feet (33 m). The power house uses excess grid capacity during off peak hours to pump water from the Conowingo Reservoir into the upper reservoir through four 25-foot (7.6 m) diameter, 343-foot (105 m) vertical shafts. During peak power demand periods, the water is allowed to flow back from the lake through the shafts to the eight turbines causing the pumps to act as generators. The Muddy Run electrical machinery was designed by the noted engineer Eugene C. Whitney of Westinghouse Electric Company, who designed the machinery for the Grand Coulee Dam #3 powerhouse. Whitney "was present when the machines were first to be started. The operator was reluctant to take the first step. Gene said, 'Call your boss.' The boss said, 'If Gene says to start the machines, start them.' So they did, and water rose from the lower Susquehanna River to the upper reservoir, 400 feet above". The upper reservoir extends into Martic Township. The area around the upper reservoir is operated as a park, complementing the nearby Susquehannock State Park. Susquehannock State Park has an overlook trail with a good view of the Muddy Run facility.

Susquehannock State Park is a Pennsylvania state park on 224 acres (91 ha) in Drumore Township, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania in the United States. The park is on a scenic plateau overlooking the Susquehanna River and Conowingo Reservoir. The park is named for the Susquehannock people, who lived in the area. Susquehannock State Park is located on small roads a few miles south of Pennsylvania Route 372 and west of Pennsylvania Route 272. The nearest city is Quarryville, Pennsylvania, about 12 miles (19 km) East.

The McCalls Ferry Farm, also known as the Robert and Matthew McCall Farm, Atkins-Trout Farm, and Kilgore Farm, is an historic, American farm and national historic district located in Lower Chanceford Township in York County, Pennsylvania. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2000.

Lower Chanceford Township is a township in York County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 3,028 at the 2020 census.

Muddy Creek is a tributary of the Susquehanna River in York County, Pennsylvania, in the United States.Muddy Creek, formed by the confluence of the 11.2-mile-long (18.0 km) North Branch and the 10.3-mile-long (16.6 km) South Branch at the community of Muddy Creek Forks, flows for 17.2 miles (27.7 km) to join the Susquehanna River in the backwater of Conowingo Reservoir.It is crossed by the Muddy Creek Bridge, Maryland and Pennsylvania Railroad in Lower Chanceford Township and Peach Bottom Township, Pennsylvania.

Martic Township is a township in southwestern Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, United States. At the 2020 census, the population was 5,237. Martic Township was organized in 1729. It borders Conestoga, Providence, Pequea and Drumore townships.