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Rainbow Bridge Hellertown — The Rainbow Bridge in Hellertown’s Grist Mill Park is a special place for local residents to remember their pets who have passed away.

Note: This story has been updated with additional information about the girls who who raised money and completed the Rainbow Bridge project in Hellertown’s Grist Mill Park.

What was previously a nondescript pedestrian bridge across a small stream in a Hellertown park is now a colorful, meaningful place where local pet owners can lovingly remember the furry friends and family members who are no longer with them, thanks to local Girls on the Run alumni who recently raised money and then completed the project.

Girls on the Run alumni recently transformed the structure into a colorful, soothing place where local residents can remember their pets who have “crossed the Rainbow Bridge.” (Photo courtesy of Lynn Beller)

Hellertown’s Rainbow Bridge was dedicated in October, at the conclusion of a transformation by the girls that began in August. The project followed the refurbishment of the bridge in 2024 as part of an Eagle Scout project by local teenager Martin Jaramillo Zamora, who also refurbished part of a nearby trail in Grist Mill Park.

Another local Eagle Scout, Nick Young, built the bridge as a project in 2009.

Jaramillo Zamora said he repaired wooden components that had deteriorated, watersealed the wooden structure, removed trees that were on the bridge and cleared the nearby trail of weeds and plants “for people to be able to enjoy using the bridge more.”

His earlier project was supported by friends, family, Hellertown Borough, Bethlehem Landfill and Troop 319.

“The Rainbow Bridge” is a symbolic term for a place some people believe pets cross as they enter the afterlife. The term originated in the late 1950s and has become popular in recent years through literary use and especially via social media.

On Hellertown’s Rainbow Bridge, pet owners are able to display collars and tags in remembrance of their late companions by attaching them to a wire that runs along the side of it. The colorful collars bear names such as Alvin, Oliver, Romeo, Prince, Ari, Tucker and Kirby. There are also collars on which a pet’s name may be written.

The bridge is accessible from the Grist Mill Park parking lot next to the Saucon Rail Trail on W. Walnut Street in Hellertown. It is located just north of the lot, near the southwest corner of the soccer field.

According to a sign displayed at the end of the bridge, local business sponsors for it included A Furry Tail Unleashed, Hellertown Veterinary Center, Lehigh Valley Crematory, Main Street Gym, Perfect Seal Driveway Services, Salon Mia, Saucon Valley Sporting Goods, Saucon True Value and Unrivaled Nutrition + Training.

For more information, visit the Hellertown’s Rainbow Bridge Facebook page.