Discover Palmyra: Heritage Trail, history and parks

Palmyra offers several ways to plan your trip: historic buildings, a local route that forms part of a countywide Heritage Trail, several parks, a covered farmers market and a bowling alley. If you’re looking for a hotel in Palmyra, you can first plan your stay around the topics that interest you most—such as local history, outdoor activities or a visit to the market.

Local history and the Heritage Trail

The Palmyra Bank Building has been continuously used as a bank since February 1887. The Bindnagle Evangelical Lutheran Church was built in 1803, has changed little since then and features Federal-style architecture. These two buildings illustrate different aspects of local history: the bank building is notable for its continued use as a bank, while the church stands out for its construction date, largely preserved appearance and architectural style. A look at Palmyra’s historic buildings can therefore take into account both continuity of use and building history.

The local route in Palmyra is part of the 100-mile Lebanon County Heritage Trail, which can be explored by car or on foot. The Palmyra Tour begins at Palm Lutheran Church. These details address different questions: Where does the Palmyra Tour begin, and how can you explore the longer Heritage Trail? If you include local history in your trip plans, these details help distinguish the local connection from the broader trail context.

Parks with different features

Southeast Family Park in the Borough of Palmyra covers 8.5 acres. Its features include baseball and soccer fields, a tot lot, a jogging path, passive-use park areas and an accessible spectator area. This means that both play and sports facilities, as well as a spectator area, are specifically included among the park’s amenities. The information about the area refers to the spectator area; it does not describe every part of the park in general terms.

At Heritage Park, you’ll find playgrounds, picnic areas, sports fields and scenic walking paths. Together with Southeast Family Park, this gives you a choice between different outdoor activities described in detail: walking paths and picnic areas are at Heritage Park, while Southeast Family Park is noted for features including a jogging path and an accessible spectator area. Which of these features matters for your stay depends on whether you’d rather walk, picnic, use sports facilities or include a spectator area.

Memorial Park of Palmyra adds multi-purpose fields, a covered pavilion and a band shell to the selection. When comparing the parks, you can therefore look at the features listed for each: the description of Memorial Park includes a pavilion and a band shell, while the other parks are noted for features such as playgrounds, paths and picnic areas. These different amenities give you specific points to consider when choosing a park visit that suits your planned activities.

A market visit and bowling

Farmstead Farmers Market is a covered farmers market in Palmyra that is open year-round. A variety of vendors sell fruit and vegetables, meat, homemade baked goods, soft pretzels and more. This makes a visit to the market an activity you can add to your itinerary, whether or not your main interests are buildings or parks.

Palmyra Bowling is a family-friendly bowling center with modern lanes and a snack bar. It also offers leagues for all skill levels. This provides a different kind of recreation from a walk or a visit to one of the markets: the focus is on bowling and its leagues. When planning your time in Palmyra, you can weigh these options against one another according to your interests without treating them as the same as the park or history offerings.

Getting oriented for the Palmyra Tour

Parking for the Palmyra Tour is available along Cherry Street or Railroad Street; the tour begins at Palm Lutheran Church. You can take this information into account when planning your arrival and day. Along with the option to explore the countywide Heritage Trail by car or on foot, these details offer different ways to include Palmyra’s historic and outdoor attractions in your stay.

Discover more destinations: Sand Hill, Myerstown, Annville, Lebanon, Jonestown, Campbelltown.

Go to the main travel overview: Lebanon.