If you're looking for a place to ride that is paved, flat, and off-road, generally speaking you can't beat this trail. While there are still a couple of missing links (see suggestion #3 below), a ride from Valley Forge to Philadelphia and back is easily feasible, provided one is in shape to ride that far.

A brief historical perspective: This trail was first planned in 1976 to mark the Bicentennial. The trails within Valley Forge National Park were all built that year, but the Schuylkill Trail was a slow process. It was not until 1995--19 years later--that there was an unbroken trail from the Betzwood picnic area to Port Royal Avenue in Philadelphia. There are roads we have to use, described in reviews on this site, to get between finished trail segments. This network of routes that cyclists like to use is generally referred to as the "Schuylkill River Trail" today, even though presently it isn't 100 per cent trail.

Recent improvements in Norristown and Conshohocken on the trail make the ride more enjoyable. In Norristown, a short stretch was repaved, and both corridors over the Dannehower Bridge approach are now part of the trail, for safety. Previously only one corridor was paved. The trail has also been reconstructed and rerouted through the Norristown Transportation Station. In Conshohocken, a new housing development was built, also requiring rerouting of the trail. A definite change for the better. Westbound cyclists still face a climb when leaving the main part of Conshy, but nothing like it used to be. The proposed Cross County Trail also runs into the Schuylkill Trail at this point.

If you're thinking about taking this ride, the best advice I can give you is avoid Saturdays and Sundays if possible, especially April through October. For obvious reasons, parking at trail heads is hard to find, and the bike path along Kelly Drive becomes a human obstacle course. But if it's weekends or never, you do have an option, at least in the city: Martin Luther King Drive (formerly West River Drive) is closed to all vehicular traffic from 8 to 5 on Saturdays and Sundays from April through October. That gives cyclists, rollerbladers, and everybody else the whole road to themselves. The only caveat here is there are "invisible hills," so if your legs are telling you to downshift, do so. The stretch between the Betzwood picnic area and Port Indian is also heavily used on weekends.

The one problem with riding to Philly from Betzwood, or from anywhere west of the city, is the wind. More often than not, winds blow from the west, which means if we plan a round-trip ride from Betzwood to Philly and back, we're going to get a head wind on the return trip--ouch. There isn't much we can do about that except plan for it and deal with it.

While I would rate this trail four stars out of five, which isn't bad, my suggestions for improving it are as follows:

1. Replace the gates at highway crossings with bollards. They serve the same purpose, are just as effective, and are safer. It's mind-boggling how often you and somebody coming the other way meet at one of those gates, and somebody has to slow down or stop to yield. It doesn't have to be that way.

2. Use mile markers in Philadelphia, as well as in Montgomery County.

3. Complete the missing links. There is at least one other website devoted to just this cause. One proposal is to continue the trail eastbound on the abandoned rail bed past Port Royal Avenue, across the river at Manayunk, down the south side, and back across at the east end of Manayunk. Converting the sidewalk on Main Street to a shared bike path is also part of this plan. It also wouldn't hurt to widen and resurface the section along Kelly Drive from Ridge Avenue to the Falls Bridge. That's a sidewalk being used as a bike trail, which isn't the best but is better than nothing. If the aforementioned rail bed project falls through, then don't pave the Manayunk Towpath, but make the surface bicycle-friendly the entire length of it, now just the lower end of it. And please! get rid of those cobblestones at the old Shawmont train station. Almost anything would be better than grunting up 7 or 9 per cent grades and having to share narrow streets with flustered Philly drivers.

4. In Conshohocken, at the east end of the Fayette Street Bridge underpass, there is a rough spot that should be paved over or smoothed out. Not only can an unsuspecting cyclist get a flat, it's also a rude jolt or a crash waiting to happen. I try to ride as close to the grass as possible here to lessen the blow. There's a similar hazard between the Montgomery County line and Port Royal Avenue in the "westbound lane." Somebody does keep this well marked, but the city can't leave it that way forever. Fix it.

5. At the Betzwood Bridge trail connection to Valley Forge Park, take down those silly signs. They're put there to keep horses off the bridge--thank you--but it also forces cyclists to dismount, which is totally unnecessary. (Ironically . . . around the time the trail was finished in Montgomery County, the old Betzwood Bridge, which was an open-grate single-lane bridge, was demolished. If it were there today, it would be a much better place for cyclists to cross the river than a 4-foot-wide cattle chute along route 422!)

Check out the new trail from Oaks to Port Providence. The trail has recently been completed with the addition of a steel and concrete bridge and additional asphalt. This trail leads to Port Providence. At the end of the trail is a very nice and new parking lot as well as restrooms. Now your not too far from Phoenixville, so stop on in for some food and shopping. Sorry, for plugging my own town.

Yes, it is true that this trail map is misleading especially at the point where the SRT ends and joins a street called NIXON STREET. You have to continue on this road and make a left on SHAWMONT AVE. and then a quick right on to MINERVA STREET/UMBRIA STEET. There is no bike lane when you come down the hill and pass DOMINO LANE. Continue on UMBRIA STEET until it ends. Make a right at the traffic light and then a left at the next traffic light. You are now on MAIN STREET. This will take you into Manayunk. Famous for the Pro Cycling tour and location of "The Wall" and fine shopping and restaurants. Don't get too adventurous and explore off MAIN STREET or you could come face to face with a yunker.

Note:
If you miss this very important route deviation, you will end up on the Manayunk Canal Tow Path which is very hazardous to skinny tire bikes. The route is hard pack for a bit then cobble then very loose gravel. Not to mention confusing.

When leaving Manayunk by way of MAIN STREET you will come to an intersection where MAIN STREET ends. This is where it's gets a little tricky. At this traffic light MAIN STREET ends and meets RIDGE AVENUE. Continue right on RIDGE AVENUE and just past the SEPTA bus station is an entrance ramp to KELLY DRIVE. There is a narrow bike bath that will take you to KELLY DRIVE and the continuation of a proper bike trail. There is another way to get to the proper trail and for road bikes you may want to take this route as it's a bit less dangerous. After the SEPTA bus station follow RIDGE AVENUE straight into East Falls. I believe there is a bike lane here. Be careful of the entrance ramp to City Line Avenue and Rte. 76 as it attracts a lot of cars and trucks. Stay on RIDGE AVENUE and pass the traffic light at SCHOOL HOUSE LANE. Then pass another busy City Line Avenue Rte. 76 on ramp off ramp intersection. Continue straight to the next traffic light which is FALLS BRIDGE and make a right. At the next traffic light you will see KELLY DRIVE and a bike trail on the opposite side from where you are. Make a left on this trail and it will take you to the ART MUSEUM. Be careful on this bike trail. When it's busy in the summer or weekend there are lots of joggers, walkers, kids, baby strollers, fisherman, rowers, scullers, tanners, rock climbers, inline skaters and generally a lot of people with headphones so loud they couldn't here your bell or "on you left" if you were amplified. If you cross the FALLS BRIDGE and make a left at the end you will be on MLK DRIVE or WEST RIVER DRIVE. There is a bike trail over there too. You could also be rewarded two ways. The bike trail is usually less crowded and they close the road to cars and trucks on the weekends from 7AM to 5PM from April to October so you can ride on all four lanes. This trail will also lead you to the ART MUSEUM.

Have fun out there.