North Whitehall Township's parks page still gives the old directions. Take Route 873 to Neffs Laurys Road, drive about three-quarters of a mile, and turn left into the park. If you follow them this week, you'll be looking for an entrance the park no longer uses. Since the park reopened this fall, the parking lot entrance has been on Park Valley Road.
The rebuild also changed what the park is for. For years, Neffs Valley Park was mostly known as a disc golf course. It has come back from its summer closure as a walking park that still has the course. It's also the first finished project in a string of North Whitehall park work, and the rest of that work will keep changing the township's parks through 2027.
What Phase I Built
Construction was set to begin the week of July 20, and the township expected it to take two to three months, weather permitting. The Lehigh Valley Press laid out the scope in a July 11 report. The township planned to take out the old parking lot and build a new entrance and parking area on Park Valley Road. It also planned an ADA-accessible walking trail around the edge of the park, native trees throughout, an evergreen buffer to screen the neighboring properties, and new grading, drainage, and landscaping. WFMZ reported the same timeline when the closure was announced.
On June 8, 2026, the Board of Supervisors gave the Phase I contract to Gaver Industries Inc. for $367,812. The state had already helped fund it. In 2024, a Pennsylvania DCNR grant gave the township $300,000 for Neffs Valley Park's access drive, parking, walkways, pedestrian bridge, and accessibility work, as lehighvalleylive.com reported.
A Disc Golf Park That Now Has a Walking Trail
Before the rebuild, the township's amenity list for Neffs Valley Park was short: a disc golf course, a walking trail, and benches. The parks page described it almost entirely as the disc golf course, set up year-round, weather permitting.
Phase I changes that. An accessible trail around the whole edge of the park makes it a place to walk, whether or not you've ever thrown a disc. The township said the project would add walking, nature appreciation, and passive recreation, and that the disc golf course would stay once the park reopened.
The course did stay. UDisc lists it as 18 holes, with 18 baskets and 18 tees. A player review posted on UDisc on Oct. 17 says the renovated course is back in play. The listing for the Oct. 24 tournament calls it "the Neffs disc golf course 2.0, fresh off the redesign and improvement project."
When the township announced the reopening, it asked visitors to stay off newly seeded areas and to park only in marked spaces. The grass is still growing in, and the lot is new.
Saturday Is the Reopening Party
The first big day on the rebuilt course is this Saturday, Oct. 24. Neffs Volunteer Fire Company #1 is hosting Firetrucks and Frisbees 3 at the park, according to its Disc Golf Scene listing. Darkside Disc Golf Dyes is the partner, and Charlie Kresge is one of the tournament directors.
The schedule for the day:
- 9:00 to 10:20 a.m. Player registration and check-in
- 10:30 to 10:40 a.m. Player meeting
- 11:00 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Tournament play
- 2:00 p.m. Awards, raffle, food, and the Rubber Duckie Race
It's a doubles event. Most divisions cost $25 per player, including Mixed Pro Open, Mixed Am 1 through 3, Women's Am 1, and the 40+ divisions. The Trail Blazers division is $20 per player for teams whose combined age is over 108. Online registration closes Friday, Oct. 23, at 9:40 p.m.
You don't have to play to take part. A duck for the race costs $3. The ducks race down the stream "with a bit of help from our firetruck buddies," and the first duck across wins a 50/50 prize. The fire company's Square site sells mega-raffle chances at 1 for $2, 3 for $5, 7 for $10, or 15 for $20. A hole sponsorship is $25. Proceeds go to the fire company.
The fire company's Oct. 13 post called this its third annual tournament and said it would be held "at the newly renovated Neffs Valley Park." So the first big crowd at the new park will be there for a fundraiser for the local volunteer fire company.
Phase I Was the Shorter Half
The township describes the park as open, with more upgrades planned through spring and summer 2027. Phase II, planned for 2027, adds a pedestrian bridge over Coplay Creek and new plantings along the stream banks. The park sits near the headwaters of Coplay Creek, and the township has said the work is meant to support the health of the creek. All of this comes from the township's 2022 Comprehensive Parks and Recreation Plan.
That means the park you walk this fall is a middle stage. The trail and parking are done. The creek crossing comes next year.
Two More Grants Arrived on Oct. 7
Neffs Valley Park is the only one of North Whitehall's current park projects with finished work you can see. Two more were funded this month. DCNR's 2026 Community Conservation Partnerships Program grants list, dated Oct. 7, 2026, includes two North Whitehall awards. The Times News covered both on Oct. 13.
| Project | Where | Money | Status as of late October 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Neffs Valley Park Phase I | 3545 Neffs Laurys Road area, Park Valley Road entrance | $367,812 contract; $300,000 DCNR grant from 2024 | Open |
| Neffs Valley Park Phase II | Coplay Creek crossing | Not itemized | Planned for 2027 |
| Independence Park | 4400 Independence Drive, Schnecksville | $250,000 DCNR grant | Funded; no construction schedule announced |
| D&L Trail bridge over Rockdale Creek | North Whitehall Township | $500,000 DCNR grant to Lehigh County | Funded; no construction schedule announced |
The Independence Park grant covers a pump track, pedestrian walkways, playground equipment with safety surfacing, and ADA access. The park already has two playgrounds, fields for lacrosse, soccer, baseball, and softball, sand volleyball and horseshoe courts, a walking path, and two pavilions you can rent. It sits at the end of Independence Drive, off Levans Road behind the CVS. A pump track would be new for a park whose current amenities are all fields, courts, playgrounds, and pavilions.
The Lehigh County grant pays for a bridge over Rockdale Creek on the D&L Trail, along with ADA access and landscaping. Neither the DCNR list nor the Times News report gives a start date for either project, so the money is in place and the work isn't scheduled yet.
There's also an earlier-stage project. On July 13, supervisors voted to advertise for a feasibility study of an Ironton Rail Trail loop and a possible connection to Levans Park. That's a study, not a construction approval.
Where the Township Calendar Goes Next
The next few public events are at other parks and buildings, so here's where they are:
- Trick-or-treat is Friday, Oct. 30, from 6 to 8 p.m.
- The Veterans Day luncheon is Wednesday, Nov. 11, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Union Lutheran Church, 5500 PA-873, Schnecksville. Registration is required.
- The 6th Annual Tree Lighting is Wednesday, Dec. 2, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at Kolapechka Park, 4075 Coffeetown Road. The township is co-hosting with the Greater Northern Lehigh Chamber of Commerce, and the evening includes holiday music, performances, food trucks, and photos with Santa.
Kolapechka Park, at the corner of Sand Spring and Coffeetown roads, opened the township's first dog park in 2020. It also has a walking path that connects to Levans Park. Between now and the tree lighting, the new trail around the edge of Neffs Valley Park is open for walking. Park on Park Valley Road and stay off the new grass.
Neffs Valley Park's new entrance, the Coplay Creek bridge coming in 2027, and a pump track at Independence Park are the kinds of local details we keep track of for neighbors across the Parkland School District. If you'd like to talk through what's changing in North Whitehall or nearby, The Mick Seislove Team is glad to help. Contact Us.
