| Struble Trail | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Length | 3 mi (4.8 km) |
| Location | Chester County, Pennsylvania, United States |
| Trailheads | Downingtown, Pennsylvania and Dorlan, Pennsylvania |
| Use | Hiking, Biking |
| Hiking details | |
| Trail difficulty | Good for all skill levels |
| Season | Year Round |
Struble Trail is a multi-use rail trail located in Chester County, Pennsylvania. [1] It is also known as the R.G. Struble Hike-Bike Trail.
It has 3 miles (4.8 km) currently open and 15.53 miles (24.99 km) of proposed trails. The majority of the trail is a paved surface. The trail is open for walking, running, biking, skateboarding, and roller skating. It is often used for dog walking. Use of motor vehicles and horses on the trail is prohibited. The trail is closed between dusk and dawn. [2]
The Struble Trail was named for the late Chester County Commissioner (1976-1980) and longtime Executive Director of the Brandywine Valley Association, teacher and conservationist Robert G. Struble. [1]
The trail head is located on Dorlan Mill Road, just north of the Downingtown Borough on Pennsylvania Route 282. [2] For most of its distance, the trail follows the East Branch of the Brandywine Creek. [3]
The Struble Trail is maintained by the Chester County Facilities and Parks Department. In August 2008, 23 acres (9.3 ha) of land was purchased from the owners of the defunct Shryock Paper Mill property after a highly publicized grassroots effort to preserve the property. [4] Safe, continuous passage from the Struble Trail to the approximately 6 miles (9.7 km) of hiking trails within Marsh Creek State Park is now possible.
Along the trail there are several historical sites, fishing spots, and picnic areas. Notable among the historical sites is the Dowlin Forge, also known as the Mary Ann Forge, which is the oldest industrial site in Uwchlan Township, Pennsylvania. [5]
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The Struble Trail was closed for several weeks in September 2021 as a result of damage to the trail from Hurricane Ida and the flooding of the trail from the Brandywine Creek. [6] [7]
Chester County, colloquially known as Chesco, is a county in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 534,413, increasing by 7.1% from 498,886 in 2010. The county seat and most populated municipality is West Chester. Chester County was one of the three original Pennsylvania counties created by William Penn in 1682. It was named for Chester, England.
Downingtown is a borough in Chester County, Pennsylvania, 33 miles (53 km) west of Philadelphia. As of the 2010 census it had a population of 7,666. Downingtown was settled by English and European colonists in the early 18th century and has a number of historic buildings and structures.
East Brandywine Township is a township in Chester County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 6,742 at the 2010 census.
Uwchlan Township is a township in Chester County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 19,161 at the 2020 census.
Brandywine Creek is a tributary of the Christina River in southeastern Pennsylvania and northern Delaware in the United States. The Lower Brandywine is 20.4 miles (32.8 km) long and is a designated Pennsylvania Scenic River with several tributary streams. The East Branch and West Branch of the creek originate within 2 miles (3 km) of each other on the slopes of Welsh Mountain in Honey Brook Township, Pennsylvania, about 20 miles (32 km) northwest of their confluence.
Ridley Creek State Park is a 2,606-acre (1,055 ha) Pennsylvania state park in Edgmont, Middletown, and Upper Providence Townships, Delaware County, Pennsylvania in the United States. The park, about 5 miles (8 km) north of the county seat of Media, offers many recreational activities, such as hiking, biking, fishing, and picnicking. Ridley Creek passes through the park. Highlights include a 5-mile (8 km) paved multi-use trail, a formal garden designed by the Olmsted Brothers, and Colonial Pennsylvania Plantation, which recreates daily life on a pre-Revolutionary farm. The park is adjacent to the John J. Tyler Arboretum. Ridley Creek State Park is just over 16 miles (26 km) from downtown, Philadelphia between Pennsylvania Route 352 and Pennsylvania Route 252 on Gradyville Road.
French Creek State Park is a 7,977-acre (3,228 ha) Pennsylvania state park in North Coventry and Warwick Townships in Chester County and Robeson and Union Townships in Berks County, Pennsylvania in the United States. It straddles northern Chester County and southern Berks County along French Creek. It is located in the Hopewell Big Woods. The park is the home of two lakes: Hopewell Lake, a 68-acre (28 ha) warm water lake, and Scotts Run Lake, a 22-acre (8.9 ha) cold water lake. The state record smallmouth bass was caught in Scotts Run Lake. There are extensive forests, and almost 40 miles (64 km) of hiking and equestrian trails. The park is also friendly to mountain bikers, having some renowned technical trails. Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site, which features a cold blast furnace restored to its 1830s appearance, is surrounded by the park. The Six Penny Day Use Area and Group Camp are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. French Creek State Park is located off of Pennsylvania Route 345 to the south of Birdsboro.
White Clay Creek Preserve is a 1,255-acre (508 ha) Pennsylvania state park along the valley of White Clay Creek in London Britain Township in Chester County, Pennsylvania in the United States. The park was donated by the DuPont Company in 1984 for the purpose of "preserving the diverse and unique plant and animal species, and the rich cultural heritage of the area". Dupont also donated an additional 528 acres (214 ha) for the adjoining White Clay Creek State Park to the state of Delaware. White Clay Creek Preserve is 3 miles (4.8 km) north of Newark, Delaware on Pennsylvania Route 896.
The East Branch Brandywine Creek is a 27.4-mile-long (44.1 km) tributary of Brandywine Creek in Chester County, Pennsylvania in the United States.
The Horse-Shoe Trail is a 140-mile (230 km) trail that runs from the western edge of Valley Forge National Historical Park westward toward Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. It ends about 15 miles (24 km) northeast of Harrisburg at the Appalachian Trail.
Marsh Creek State Park is a 1,705 acres (690 ha) Pennsylvania state park in Upper Uwchlan and Wallace Townships, Chester County, Pennsylvania in the United States. The park is the location of the 535-acre (217 ha) man-made Marsh Creek Lake. With an average depth of 40 feet, the lake is stocked with fish and is a stop for migrating waterfowl. Marsh Creek State Park is 2 miles (3.2 km) west of Eagle on Pennsylvania Route 100. Park road hours 8:00 am until sunset. All other access open 24 hours.
Pine Grove Furnace State Park is a protected Pennsylvania area that includes Laurel and Fuller Lakes in Cooke Township of Cumberland County. The Park accommodates various outdoor recreation activities, protects the remains of the Pine Grove Iron Works (1764), and was the site of Laurel Forge (1830), Pine Grove Park (1880s), and a brick plant (1892). The Park is 8 miles (13 km) from exit 37 of Interstate 81 on Pennsylvania Route 233.
The Panhandle Trail is a rail trail in southern Pennsylvania and the Northern Panhandle of West Virginia. It occupies an abandoned railroad corridor that had been known as the Panhandle route which has been converted to a bicycle and walking trail. The rail line between Burgettstown and Weirton was closed in 1991, but Burgettstown to Walkers Mill closed in 1995. The original section of the trail is the West Virginia section, where the trail was called the Harmon Creek Trail, for the adjacent Harmon Creek. When Pennsylvania built its section, both states agreed to call it the Panhandle Trail. Although the Panhandle Trail occupies 29 miles of the Panhandle Route, the remaining portion of the route is owned by the Pittsburgh and Ohio Central Railroad, but it is no longer used.
Pennsylvania Route 282 is an 11.9-mile-long (19.2 km) state highway in Chester County, Pennsylvania. The route runs from PA 82 in West Nantmeal Township southeast to U.S. Route 30 Business in Downingtown. PA 282 follows Creek Road, a two-lane undivided road that winds along the East Branch Brandywine Creek through rural areas. The route passes through the communities of Glenmoore and Lyndell along the way. PA 282 was designated onto its current alignment in 1928.
The Great Valley is a west-to-east valley through the center of Chester County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is also sometimes referred to as Chester Valley, and both names are in use throughout the region. The valley stretches from the Schuylkill River in Montgomery County in the east, southwesterly through Chester and Lancaster counties. The valley is most distinct in central Chester County, although traces of it can be followed almost the entire distance between the Delaware and Susquehanna rivers.
Beaver Valley straddles the Pennsylvania and Delaware border in Delaware County, PA and New Castle County, DE. An unincorporated place name, it is traversed by several streams which drain to Beaver Run which itself empties into the Brandywine River. It is approximately bounded by US Route 202 to the east, The Brandywine River to the west, Thompsons Bridge Road to the south, and Smithbridge Road to the north, with Beaver Valley Road encircling a large portion of the valley. The majority of the lands in Beaver Valley have been owned for decades by The Woodlawn Trustees, which designated in the early 1970s all of its Brandywine Hundred and Delaware County holdings in Beaver Valley and elsewhere as a Wildlife Refuge. In 2012, The Woodlawn Trustees submitted development plans to Concord Township Supervisors in Delaware County for the purpose of constructing approximately 500 housing units and a 225,000 square foot national retail store, all of which would adjoin the First State National Historical Park in Chadds Ford Township, Delaware County, Pennsylvania and New Castle County, Delaware. The original plans were withdrawn, but the developers – Frank McKee and the Julian brothers, Richard and Frank – came back with new plans entitled "Vineyard Commons" which called for 161 houses spread across approximately 230 acres. Suing Concord Township in March 2015 for its preliminary approval of Vineyard Commons, Beaver Valley Conservancy members argued that several dozen of Concord Township's own building and stormwater codes were violated by their approval. In October, 2016, a Delaware County Common Pleas Court judge sent the case back to the Concord Supervisors ordering them to hold evidentiary hearings and to apply environmental protection standards to the development per Pennsylvania's Environmental Rights Amendment to its constitution. Shortly after this court order, the developers agreed to sell their rights to the land to the Conservation Fund and the Mount Cuba Foundation, a deal which was finalized in May 2017 with the help of the Brandywine Conservancy and the Beaver Valley Conservancy. According to the Conservation Fund, the land will be donated to the National Park Service and added to the First State National Historical Park in Chadds Ford and New Castle County.
Mortonville is an unincorporated area and historic hamlet in Chester County, Pennsylvania on the eastern bank of the West Branch Brandywine Creek. It consists of about a half-dozen structures, two of which are on the National Register of Historic Places: the Mortonville Hotel, and the 12.5-foot-long (3.8 m) "Bridge in East Fallowfield Township" which crosses a mill race a few feet east of a larger bridge. The larger bridge, known as the Mortonville Bridge, was also listed on the NRHP until 2010 when it was delisted following a renovation. The two bridges are in East Fallowfield Township, while most other structures are in Newlin Township.
Chester Valley Rail Trail is a 13-mile (21 km) rail trail which runs largely through the Great Valley of Pennsylvania in Chester and Montgomery counties in southeastern Pennsylvania. The west end is in Exton, while the east end is in King of Prussia. Phase 1 of the trail was funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. Phase 2 of the trail's construction has begun in an attempt to connect the trail's three sections, adding 7.6 miles (12.2 km).
Dorlan is a populated place in Chester County, Pennsylvania, United States, along Pennsylvania Route 282 north of Downingtown and just south of Marsh Creek State Park. The place is referenced as an end point for the Struble Trail at Dorlan Mill Road.
Coordinates: 40°01′54″N75°42′26″W / 40.031708°N 75.707304°W
