This 20-mile loop around Pennsylvania's capital city provides visitors and tourists with opportunities to hike, ride bicycles, skate, jog, fish, walk their dogs, spot rare birds, learn about history, enjoy native flora and fauna, and appreciate nature.

In addition to parks, the Capital Area Greenbelt passes alongside attractions including the grave site of John Harris Sr. (the namesake of the city of Harrisburg), the Governor's Mansion, Fort Hunter, Harrisburg State Hospital, and the National Civil War Museum.

[1] Mira Lloyd Dock, a botanist who was born in Harrisburg, had just returned from Europe with a new vision for how the city could be improved.

Manning then recommended creating a ring boulevard encircling the city to connect its parks, which were the beginnings of what would become the Greenbelt.

Another part of the trail, constituting less than one mile, was occupied by railroad tracks for the South Harrisburg Steel Mill.

The Capital Area Greenbelt Association (CAGA) was founded in 1990 to restore completed sections of the green-way.

The city of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania and four surrounding townships and boroughs worked with CAGA to develop and enhance the trail.

These spots include City Island, the Five Senses Garden,[5] and the campus of Harrisburg Area Community College (HACC).

It was created to act as a liaison between all concerned parties, with the aim of organizing and planning the continued stewardship of the Capital Area Greenbelt trail.

In addition, the following local and community organizations are also supporters of the trail: Every summer, the Capital Area Greenbelt Association hosts their main event, the "Tour de Belt."