Park Information
Tips for enjoying your visit
Janet Johnston Housenick and William D. Housenick Park and the Archibald Johnston Conservation Area are located in Bethlehem Township, Pennsylvania. The park and conservation area are operated by the township and county.
Automobile access to the park is off of Christian Spring Road just north of Nazareth Pike. From the south, make the first left turn into an unsigned lane and continue about a tenth of a mile to a newly improved parking lot.
A visit to Housenick Park offers a unique experience to walk alongside nature. It’s a place built from the plans and mind of one man, Archibald Johnston. For more than 20 years, he shaped the land and waters with roads, walls, cultivated fields, and structures. In the seven decades since his death, nature has been reclaiming what is now the park, slowly reversing his hard work.
No drinking water is available at the park. A porta-potty maintained by the township is adjacent to the parking lot. Because of the light use of the park, trash receptacles are only at the park information kiosk. Please take your trash and recyclables with you when you leave!
Recent funding by Northampton County Open Space will provide future park visitors with new trail markers and improved interpretive information (some of which may be based on this initial unofficial guide). Until that time, the “South Walk” and “North Walk” conform with long-paved paths and easy grades. Unless otherwise noted, there are no level changes barring wheelchair access.
The south walk (about 1.1 miles round trip from the parking lot) offers opportunities to see the Archibald Johnston Mansion, known to the family as the “Big House”. Other features along the walk show the property - structures and vegetation - in various states of maturity and decline.
The north walk (1.2 miles round trip) along the Monocacy Creek provides visitors with a pleasant 30- to 45-minute amble by mostly quiet water. At the furthest distance from the house, an interpretative kiosk and rustic seating are available for visitors. Teachers in the Lehigh Valley have used this area for environmental sciences study.
Read all posted signs and warnings at the park entrance. Also, ticks and poison ivy are present in the park. Watch for and avoid three-leafed plants with shiny leaves and check for ticks on exposed skin before leaving the park.