Croydon Woods Nature Preserve Named a 2026 Great Place in Pennsylvania
Our Croydon Woods Nature Preserve in Bristol Township has been named a 2026 Great Preserve in Pennsylvania by the Pennsylvania Chapter of the American Planning Association (APA PA). Through its Great Places in PA Program, APA PA recognizes places across the state that reflect successful planning and serve as a model for other communities. Only eight places earned the designation this year. Croydon Woods is one of four in the Great Greenways/Trails or Preserves category, alongside the Ghost Town Trail System, Palmer Bikeway, and Robert Porter Allen Natural Area.
Croydon Woods has not always been a place people wanted to visit. Before Heritage Conservancy acquired it, the property was designated an EPA Superfund site, and neighbors saw it as an unsafe eyesore because of illegal dumping and trespassing. With support from the community, Heritage Conservancy remediated the site. Local partner organizations, businesses, and residents put in thousands of volunteer hours cleaning up trash, and their input has guided improvements ever since.
“Croydon Woods has come a long way,” said Shannon Fredebaugh-Siller, Director of Education and Community Programs. “Before we acquired the preserve, it had wonderful natural features, but it wasn’t a place where people felt safe or where children could go to learn or neighbors could walk their dog. But with a lot of hard work, patience, care and the community coming together, it has been transformed into a place where people can connect to the wonders of this unique habitat. Now thousands of people enjoy the preserve each year, from neighbors to local school students to guests at our events. It truly is a great place.”
Amy Coleman, Mark Wilicki, Shannon Fredebaugh-Siller, Crystal Smith-Herman, Steve Pierce
Today the 80-acre preserve is one of the last remaining Atlantic coastal plain forests in Pennsylvania, set in a densely developed area. It is home to more than 350 species of plants, mammals, birds, reptiles, and insects, some of them threatened or endangered. Six trails wind through the preserve, and restoration work continues with forest and habitat projects, pollinator meadows, and an abandoned pump house turned bat house.
That biodiversity is the foundation for our education programs. About 1,500 students visit Croydon Woods each year for hands-on environmental education, community science, and social and emotional learning programs. Hundreds more come out for the annual Spring Carnival and Glow Hike.
“I think it’s a really important place in this community,” said Mia Hibbs, Environmental Educator. “The community has a nice safe place to come and enjoy nature. And we get a really nice collaboration with the Bristol Township School District.”
On October 19, Heritage Conservancy staff gathered at the entrance to Croydon Woods with the award plaque. They were joined by Keystone Elementary Principal Mark Wilicki, Assistant Principal Crystal Smith-Herman, Bristol Township School District Chief Academic Officer Amy Coleman, and other district staff, along with students from Kati Bryson’s fourth grade class. Bryson has been a strong advocate for using Croydon Woods as a teaching tool.
“I love it here. Love coming outside. The kids always enjoy it, they leave with big smiles and they just have a great time,” Bryson said.
We asked the students what makes Croydon Woods a great place to visit. Several said they simply like being out in nature. “When you’re quiet you can hear the animals,” one student said. Others mentioned the birds and squirrels, the colors of the leaves and flowers, and how calm they feel when they’re there. When Connie Storz of the Bristol Township School District asked whether anyone played football or cheered on the fields next to the preserve at night, and whether they could hear the tree frogs, lots of hands went up. The frogs, they agreed, are really loud.
The community’s connection to the preserve is also on display at the Bristol baseball fields, near the Keystone Elementary entrance to Croydon Woods. A mural unveiled in spring 2024, created by Bucks County artist Jean-Marc Dubus with Truman High School student artists, highlights some of the many species documented in the preserve. It also invites students, neighbors, and Little League families to explore the trails nearby.
Heritage Conservancy’s amazing group of Environmental Educators
Thank you to the Pennsylvania Chapter of the American Planning Association for this recognition, and to the Bristol Township School District, whose partnership has been essential to the preserve’s education programs. We are also grateful to our environmental educators, who lead the programs that bring thousands of students to Croydon Woods, and to the volunteers, neighbors, and partners who have helped make it a place the whole community can enjoy.
Come visit Croydon Woods and see for yourself why this nature preserve was named a Great Place in PA.
