Explore the best rated trails in Columbia, PA. Whether you're looking for an easy walking trail or a bike trail like the Chester Valley Trail and Big Woods Trail. With more than 84 trails covering 463 miles you're bound to find a perfect trail for you. Click on any trail below to find trail descriptions, trail maps, photos, and reviews.
Love this trail. Crushed stone, flat, maintained. Plenty of benches to stop and rest.
The 3 stars is for the first 6 miles or so out of Turkey Hill. The trail goes along the river and is in good shape and nice views. Once you get off the river the trail gets really boring. Nothing to look at. Even the towns have no connections to the trail. From about miles 20 onward the trail quickly deteriorates to the point where it should not even be listed as a trail. Zero Stars here. It is just at best an unmaintained access road for people working on the power lines. Sometimes it is not even that good. If you are looking for a nice first few miles this is fine.
This crushed gravel trail is excellent for runners. Path is wide and there are not a lot of sharp turns. Asphalt is only for short sections.
It's nice to be able to ride all the way through again but Too bad they had to build this hideous concrete and steel bridge though, instead of finding the person who burned the old one and hanging them from the trestle as an example.
We rode this trail on a Monday in early December when the temp. was in the low to mid 40s. We rode past the gate at the end of the parking lot and onto a wide path with a fine stone surface. After about a half of a mile the trail surface changed to a more coarse stone surface. The is one short steep section near the end of the trail. The scenery is very nice, even with leaves on the trees.
Its been 5 years since we last did this trail and not much has changed. Starting at the Brentwood parking lot the trail descends on a paved surface that has many stones, up to 2" to 3" in size, from a road running parallel to the trail, making the decent less fun and more stressful. The trail turns right at the bottom of the hill and becomes a wide path covered with fine stone. It doesn't last long and soon the trail surface is a mix of mid size stone and gravel. The trail improves for a short time near the education building but not for long. There are several intersections that are not marked as which way to turn and the trail, while paved, is in need of repair. After crossing a road and climbing a short but quite steep hill the trail resembles more a mountain bike trail, little more than a dirt single track. After a short (a block or 2) on road the trail again is more like a mountain bike trail. Just before it reached the end there was a 12 inch rock in the middle of a narrow section of trail. The only reason for giving the 2 star rating is the pleasant scenery along most of the trail.
A portion of the trail, from the Root Beer Barrel parking lot to the Eighth Street parking lot is closed until Jan. 13, 2023 due to electric lines being repaired.
Love this trail. Druid Hill Park is very scenic (and will only get better as the Druid Hill Reservoir project completes hopefully next year). It's great to be able to ride all the way down to the Baltimore Visitor Center and get something to eat in the inner harbor without having to deal with major traffic.
Two things to make note of. Be prepared for some fairly decent climbs heading south to north. And it's good to have the TrailLink app installed on your phone if you haven't done the trail before and don't know the turns. There are markings on the path and sidewalks, but they're starting to fade and in the fall, leaves cover a lot of them.
Little too extreme for electric bikers who prefer the rails-to-trials. We went in both directions from the visitor center, but turned around when the trail turned rough or a little too steep. We did see mountain bikers out having a good time.
Started at Stonecliffe Action Park to Blue Marsh Lake and back. Trail was groomed well and mostly flat with small inclines until closer to the lake. Great scenery with creek and marked historical areas. Covered bridge was an added bonus.
This trail was great!!! Transported my bike on the Amtrak bus from Philly to Reading and then rode the SRT back to Philly, staying the night at the Doberstein Campsite. Very enjoyable trip, highly recommend it.
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