Philadelphia Area Bicycle trails

http://www.chesco.org/ccparks/parks_future.html

Chester county trails above. More at Philly North Rides

Philadelphia City major trails are; The Schuylkill trail. It propose route is from the confluence with the Delaware river in south Philadelphia. It currently is rideable and paved from Spruce Street in Philadelphia to Oaks Pennsylvania. In Manuak there is an option to use a hard packed tow path or use a on street detour. See below for other connections.

The PennyPack Creek is in Northeast Philadelphia and start at State Road and Rhawn and is paved to Pine Rd. near Susquehanna Rd.

The Cobbs Creek trail Start at Market and 63 St.. and is off road and paved to Cobbs Creek and 70th St.. From there is is signed to Barturn Garden. Use 84th street and Barturn St. to the Airport. Spruce street is a good cross town route to get on the trail. I use Wynnefield out of Fairmount Park to Woodbine to 63rd Street.

Ft Washington State park branch from the Schuylkill River trail at Conshohocken, Elm and Colwell Ln. The left closed fork on the new section of the trail, between the Condo and the river led to the the old rail like that is the path for this trail. Sections near the shopping centers on both side of Ridge Ave is completed. There is the Wissahickon Creek Green trail section along Northwest Ave to Stenton Ave and from Stenton Ave. and Valley Green Rd to Fort Washington State Park. A branch of this trail also to Bethlehem Pk.and Mill Rd is shown as tracks. A map with bikepath icon along the rail bed and tracks of my bicycle ride is here. Ft Washington Trail

Future trail information sent to me

The Schuylkill River Bicycle Trail

http://www.belsky.org/PhillyRiverBikeTrail Slide show of the Philly area of the trail by Mike Belsky

http://www.schuylkillriver.org/Detail.aspx?id=548

http://www.montcopa.org/parks/Schuylkill_RiverTrail/newdevelop.htm

Montgomery County trails map bottom of this page

Thun Trail, Reading area http://www.schuylkillriver.org/Detail.aspx?id=548

The completed paved section of the Schyukill trail in Pottstown connects with the Thun trail. The Thun train is gravel and off road to Birdsboro. http://www.billcotton.com/schuylkill_river_trail.htm After Birdsboro. It uses old Schuylkill river road and Old River Rd. to Gibraltar, then a gravel trail to to a bike/ped bridge that crosses Rt. 422 in Reading. First paralleling Rt. 724 then Rt. 10.

300 cyclists on Tour de Pa. roll into Pottstown

Sarah Fleener,

07/27/2006

The new trailhead at Riverfront Park was christened by 600 wheels, two per bike, as cyclists peddled into Pottstown with the Pennsylvania Greenway Sojourn Wednesday. The 200-mile sojourn begins in the Poconos and ends in Philadelphia. This is the fifth year bike enthusiasts have taken the trip, but the first year they’ve stopped at a new pavilion and bike rack in Pottstown.A fresh new strip of blacktop that winds along with the shade trees of the Schuylkill River is what delivered the 300 cyclists. It connects the Thun Trail in Berks County to the Schuylkill River Trail, and will one day push all the way to Philadelphia.
This most recent 8-mile addition, which runs from Pottstown to Birdsboro, was spearheaded by the Schuylkill River Greenway Association and opened three weeks ago.
"Preliminary surveys show that there is already increased use of the trail since we created the section to the county line," said Kurt Zwikl, executive director of the Schuylkill River Greenway Association.
"We’ve never had a better sojourn trail partner," said Tom Sexton of the greenway association. Sexton is the director of Rails to Trails, the conservatory group that organized the trip. Rails to Trails works to convert abandoned railroad lines to foot paths and biking trials.

(exerts from) Patricia Vance (web site)
Philadelphia's Art Museum to Valley Forge has new mile marks along the trail. The marks are apparently, for the trail future southern terminus at the confluence of the Schuylkill and the Delaware rivers. The new mark at Betzwood is 30 miles. From the Art Museum, the distance is 19 miles. The Trail continue beyond Betzwood to Oaks PA. A total of about 15 miles of hard surface from Shawmount and Nixon Streets in Manayunk. A gravel path continue to Green Lane PA, through Collegeville, Graterford, Spring Mountain, Perkiomenville to Green Lane park to Rt. 29. Red Hill PA about 2 miles and Allentown is nearby. for a total of about 50 miles from the Art Museum Cue sheet to Allentown is on my web.

http://www.montcopa.org/parks/lpvp.htm Maps of the Schuylkill River Trail and other Montgomery County trails and parks are available at the web site above. The Norristown Farms State Park has a system of trails and is not far from the Schuylkill River Trail Norristown Connection.

Below on this page are maps of the Schuylkill trail Blue line and the Perkiomen trail red line and their connection at Oak PA.

Today November 22 2003 mark the opening of the completed Perkiomen muti-uses trail, the last section to be open awaited the completion of a bridge over the Perkiomen Creek at Graterford. Pictures below from the ceremony today The first one is me with Mike Marino, Montgomery county Commissioner who made it happen. As mike said, the country is watching, The trail went from start to finished in three years. Most of the work, legal and physical was done by county, local townships, and state employee. The second picture is our local bicycle clubs unofficial contact person. Bryan Lives near by and posted the progress to us regularly

The trail runs from Oaks PA to Green Lane PA, 22 miles. Mike promised more trails are to be completed more that 150 miles, total in the county. My kind of public official. Collegeville offer several food stops. Bethie's in Rahns is my favorite, Summer open hours is to 9 pm with a water ice window.

http://skippacktownship.org/documents/SkippackTrailMap.pdf

Branching from the Perkomen trail at Gradiford is a connection to the Skippack trail that ends at Evamburg State Park. http://skippacktownship.org/TrailInfo.htm

http://www.bctc.org/ Of all of the Bucks County bike trails. Tyler State park and the Delaware Canal Tow path offer the most off road trail miles, however the Covered bridges of Buck's County is a treat for bicyclist who are willing to ride quiet roads. The cuesheet, was once on the above site. There are five covered bridges . A six cover bridge can be reach in Sergeantville NJ. From the Uhlerstown Covered Bridge, cross the bridge to Frenchtown and follow the Delaware and Raritan Canal tow path Stockton. Take CR 523 to Covered Bridge Rd.

http://www.dcnr.state.pa.us/brc/heritageparks/delawareandlehigh.htm

Henry Hudson Bicycle Path, Parallel Rt. 36 and Cr. 79, very busy highways. The path

can b reached via the North Jersey Coast line to Aberdeen NJ, in Monmouth County, where the Henry Hudson trail has a break. The trail extends southwest to Freehold. From the Aberdeen/Matawan trail station, the directions are; right on Cr. 516, Main Street Cross the Garden State highway, make the first Right on Gerard St., the Parkway entrance also use this street. Follow this to the next intersection. Make a left and. the entrance is behind the Shell Gas station. At the eastern end. A right turn on the road and a left at Avenue D and a right on Bay Ave. and a very short section of the path that lead to the Highland Marina where the Seascape high speed ferry to Manhattan docks. I Use Cr. 8 to go up Mount Mitchell pass the scenic over look. Directions to get around the breaks is on the Monmouth page below. To get to the Freehold section of the bike path, left from the train station on Atlantic Ave., right on Little St. Left on Broad Street, Left on Center St. , Right on Orchard St., left on Banks St, and a right into the path, just after the play ground.

Wall township has a bike path that connect with the 30 year old Edgar Felix Bikeway that begin now in Allaire State Park and goes east to Manasquan. The path form a Tee. .the other leg of the Tee that goes north to Spring Lakes and Wall Township . From the web I read that there are plans to link with the Henry Hudson trail in Freehold to the north. I plan a ride from Freehold to Allaire State Park on a route that closely follow the rail line that may be use for the path. Then I rode along the shore to Sandy Hooks and pickup that end of the Henry Hudson bike path. That cue sheet is here. Monmouth county

The Green area that the yellow route line from Freehold is Allaire State Park. The Wall Township bike path starts here. and continues to Spring Lake. the bike path parellel Cr. 524 spur. in Wall township. The trail is about 6 mile long according to a local I talked to. However, from the Wall township web pages I read that the trail will connect to the Freehold trail. I think that it will follow the route that I have plotted from Freehold to Allaire State Park. I have plotted a route that will circle from Freehold to Spring Lake and follow the beach roads as much as possible to Sandy Hook and use the Henry Hudson trail to get back to Freehold. about 70 miles. Cue Sheet to be posted after I check the route.

Perkiomen trail, red line joins the Schuylkill Blue line at Oaks PA Red line total mileage is 22 miles, from Green Lane PA to Oaks PA. Blue line presently extend to Walnut Street in center city Philadelphia about 28 miles. It will extend south to the confluence with the Delaware River and North to Reading PA replacing the Mule Towpath where possible, one day. Mile marking at Oaks is about 34 miles.

The Schuylkill River trail extend to Spruce Park at 26th and Spruce as on September 1, 2003. Railroad tracks are to be bridged at the park. The trail will continue south to Hog Island, the confluence of the Schuylkill and the Delaware rivers. The trail will continue, Railroad right-a-way behind the airport. is designated as a bicycle path that is part of the East Coast Greenway.

The Montgomery country trail expansion includes a spur from the Schuylkill River trail that will connect to Ft Washington State park at Bethlehem Pike and Route 73. and a trail from the park to Fairmount Park at Germantown pike and Northwestern Ave. The red line on the above map is my estimate of the route.

Dotted line is MapSource tracks Art Museum to Green Lane Pa 43 miles. Click here for MapSource file. Version 6.11.3 This latest upgrade allows TRACKS to be drawn, joined or erase.

Excerpt from article by MARGARET GIBBONS , Times Herald Staff, February 12, 2004

I did not want to lose the momentum we had built over the last four years," said Matthews, who in December directed the county staff to prepare the new trail plan.
The new plan provides for the following trail construction through the end of 2007:
* Schuylkill River Trail: 7 additional miles including extending the multi-use trail from where the trail links with the Perkiomen Trail in Upper Providence to Rt. 29 in Upper Providence and just across the bridge from Phoenixville in Chester County, an extension running along Markley Street from the trail in Norristown to the Norristown Farm Park and an extension from Keystone Boulevard in Pottstown through West Pottsgrove to the border in Berks County where it will eventually link with a trail that will extend Reading.
- Audubon Loop: A 11/2- mile loop from the Perkiomen Trail to the county-owned Audubon Sanctuary and Mill Grove property and then to the Schuylkill Trail.
- Chester Valley Trail: A 51/2-mile from the Schuylkill River Trail in Norristown through Bridgeport and King of Prussia where it will eventually link with the trail coming up from Chester County.
- Lower Cross County Trail: An 8-mile trail from the Schuylkill River Trail in Conshohocken through Plymouth and Whitemarsh to Bethlehem Pike in Fort Washington.
- Cross County Connector Trail: A 1-mile segment connecting the Lower Cross County Trail to the Lower Wissahickon Green Ribbon Trail in Whitemarsh.
- Lower Wissahickon Green Ribbon Trail: A 5-mile trail from the Fort Washington Park in Whitemarsh through the panhandle section of Springfield to Fairmont Park's Forbidden Drive.
- Perkiomen Trail: An additional 11/2 miles including a segment from Green Lane borough to the Perkiomen Trail in the county's Green Lane Park, a Rt. 29 loop to the Green Lane Park Nature Center and the rehabilitation of a stone arch bridge in Perkiomenville.
Unlike the 200-plus acquisitions needed for the Perkiomen Trail, these trail projects will only require the acquisition of land or easements on 64 properties owned by 52 individuals. County trail officials said they expect only a handful of these acquisitions to be "unfriendly."
The estimated cost of this trail work is $16.38 million including $11 million from the county, $80,000 from the state and $5.3 million from the federal government.
The county's $11 million will come from the $150-million in open-space borrowings that voters last November authorized over the next 10 years. Nelson estimated that the county's cost of the trail work is equal to $1.70 a resident for the next 25 years.
In addition to keeping up the trail momentum from the last administration, this work will address the concerns of some that the bulk of the $150 million would be spent on county and municipal open-space projects in the more rural part of the county while those in the more populous eastern section would be left footing the bill, according to Matthews.
"As you can see from these endeavors, it is more favorable to the east over the next four years," said Matthews.
Also, the proposed trail plans with linkages to Chester County and Philadelphia show that the county is a "regional player," said Matthews.
Margaret Gibbons can be reached at mgibbons@timesherald.com or 610-272-2501 ext. 216.
Chester County trails:

The Chester Valley trail begins at the Chester/Mountgomery county lines with a bicycle pedstrain bridge that crosses Rt 202 and I 76 south of King of Pressua. It only goes for a few paved blocks to Warner Road now. From there, turn right on Warner, left on Swedesboro road and a right on Ole EagleRd. Left on Walker, right on Glenhardie and Richard to Gulph Rd. Rt. 23 a right at Township line road and back to the Schuylkill trail. The unpaved trail can be ridden to west of Exton, and one day, to Downingtown and the Struble Trail. The north side is reach via Allendale Rd or Gulph Rd. to Bill Smith Bvld. for the start of the trail. http://www.chesco.org/ccparks/parks_future.html