Hinnershitz Dam Ruins Trail

The Hinnershitz Dam Ruins Trail at Antietam Lake Park in Reading, Pennsylvania is an easy 0.3-mile trail that leads to the historical ruins of the Hinnershitz Dam.

Exploring the Hinnershitz Dam Ruins

This trail, now seemingly-defunct, begins at the Seidel Road Parking area for Antietam Lake Park. As of April 2025 (and earlier) it seems as though a flood came through and destroyed the parking lot and trail. The parking lot is closed, but if you really care to explore this part of the park, you can still leave up to 3 vehicles (max) in front of the gate. Visitors will find Antietam Creek flowing though an old stonework channel that was built in 1899 to aerate the water and remove sediment. In 2016 it was restored, but today it's a unique part of the park that's arguably worth taking a peek at. The trail itself, as mentioned earlier, seemed to have been washed out by a flood and thus there are large rocks and uneven footing. Additionally, this part of the park is no longer maintained so there are plenty of tall grasses. Visitors will reach the Hinnershitz Dam Ruins around mile 0.15 from the parking area gate. With just some very small cascades of water, the Hinnershitz Dam Ruins are extremely easy to miss. There's an information kiosk with historical information about the dam and you can even walk around the overgrowth and up to the top of the dam's wall. Once done exploring, the walk back to the parking area makes for a quick and easy 0.3-mile walk.

Explore More at Antietam Lake Park

While visiting the park, you should really add a couple more stops to your list including the Seven Step Dam Falls Hike and a visit to Antietam Lake Falls.

Parking

Aas of April 2025 the parking lot, located at the Seidel Parking area, is closed. This part of the park is no longer maintained. Parking in front of the gate may be okay for a short period of time (park at your own risk) and can fit up to 3 vehicles at most.