Find the top rated birding trails in Back Mountain, whether you're looking for an easy short birding trail or a long birding trail, you'll find what you're looking for. Click on a birding trail below to find trail descriptions, trail maps, photos, and reviews.
With more gaps being closed every year, the 40-year goal of constructing a continuous, multi-use trail that will run the length of the Schuylkill River from the coal country of the Poconos southeast to the marshes of South Philly is close to being a reality.
As of mid-2019, over 71 miles of trail have been built, enough to classify the system as the unified Schuylkill River Trail, as opposed to a series of stand-alone greenways regarded as separate projects.
Rather than rehash the description above, I'll just note that, like other long-distance greenways, the Schuylkill River Trail has a lot to offer for hikers, cyclists, parents pushing young kids in strollers and roller and inline skating on the paved sections. Most of the trail follows old rail corridors or canal towpaths, ensuring a level trip with few slopes, as well as numerous reminders of the river's history as a major transportation route, a roll that can still be seen today by its close proximity to major highways like Routes 61, 422 and I-76 and active rail lines that freight trains often rumble along. Although most of the mills and other factories that used the coal and lumber shipped down the river for raw materials and sent finished product to the port of Philadelphia are now gone, their legacy also lives on whether as ruined hulks, historical markers or as repurposed apartment houses or office buildings. Some of the many historical sites on or near the trail include the vintage car museum and Yuengling brewery in Pottsville, an old canal tunnel turned rock cut south of Landingville, the railroad museum in Hamburg, Daniel Boone's birthplace near Douglassville, Morlatton Village, a Swedish village that was one of the firstthe Phoenix Iron Works museum in the old foundry in Phoenixville, a restored segment of canal in Mont Clare, Valley Forge National Historical Park, an old movie studio just east of Valley Forge, the Philadelphia Art Museum and Bartram's Garden, the oldest botanical gardens in the US, along with many others.
As one would also expect, the trail passes through a wide array of landscapes on its route. From the lush, remote forests of Schuylkill County, to the rural farmlands of Berks County, to the more suburban Montgomery and Chester counties and finally heavily urban Philadelphia, as well as smaller cities Reading and Pottstown and numerous towns along the route, the trail offers users a microcosm of Pennsylvania.
The trail is paved with crushed stone on most of its rural and remote segments from its northwest terminus outside Pottsville to the eastern end of a restored canal near Oaks, and asphalt in Reading, Pottstown and on most of the stretch from Oaks to its current southeast end at Bartram's Garden in South Philly. No review of the trail would be complete without mentioning the Schuylkill Banks Boardwalk segment, which extends over the river itself in Center City Philadelphia.
Although most of its surface is smooth and user-friendly, some of the shorter segments, including the one that parallels Route 61 just south of Pottsville and a little-used one near Felix Dam Park in the north Reading suburbs, are in need of improvement. The westernmost segment of the Thun segment of the trail from Route 183 to Reading Community College, although paved with asphalt, also needs repaired and better overall maintenance. The subpar status of these sections of trail. along with vandalism in parts of Reading and the fact that some of the remaining gaps in the trail are not easily detoured, prevents me from giving the trail a 4 or 5 star rating.
Fortunately, efforts continue to close these gaps and it looks like the trail may be completed in the next decade or so. Plans are currently under way to complete the long-stalled restoration of an old RR trestle south of Auburn in the next year or two, a pedestrian bridge over a steep gap over Route 724 east of Monocacy is currently in the planning stage, a trail bridge spanning the Schuylkill River next to the new Route 422 bridge east of Pottsville has been completed in anticipation of constructing the "missing link" between Pottstown and Parker Ford in 2020 and work is currently under way on the repurposing of an old RR swinging bridge over the river in South Philadelphia, which will connect the Greys Ferry Crescent and Bartram's Mile sections to one another.
In addition to bringing the Schuylkill River's status as a transportation corridor into the 21st century by connecting numerous towns and cities, the trail has also helped revitalize the economy of a region that was hard hit by the decline of steel, coal mining and other heavy industries in the last few decades. With connections to the East Coast Greenway and future Schuylkill-Susquehanna Passage and 9/11 trails, it has the potential to be an eastern PA counterpart to the Great Allegheny Passage.
I biked this trail eastward from RT54 to its eastern terminus at RT42 on 6/22/2019. This is NOT a flat trail as both Google and some other reviews describe. It is a roller coaster of a trail. There are places that I slowed down to 8MPH ascending the hills and then hit over 22MPH descending the hills. At approximately mile 4.1, I encountered the western edge of the McWilliams Reservoir and paralleled this for a while to its eastern edge. Near the eastern end of the trail, I encountered Kline's Reservoir. Absolutely gorgeous! If you are one that likes to have an easier return trip versus the outbound ride, then I suggest you start from RT54; the western end. I averaged 12.19 MPH on the outbound trip and averaged 12.87 MPH overall; i.e. I moved a lot faster on my eastbound return trip. The surface of the trail is NOT your typical crushed limestone but rather a very hard pressed stone & dirt trail. There were times that one was biking right next to the edge of the reservoirs. Worth the trip. If you don't have the time to do the entire trail but want to catch the awesome vistas, I suggest that you start at the eastern end @RT42 and travel westward about 3.69 miles to the western bank of the McWilliams Reservoir.
Overall a very positive experience! The trail is quite diverse. We started at the Black Diamond Trailhead near Glen Summit and finally got off at Morrisville with a few interruptions.
Section 1- Glen Summit to Jim Thorpe beautiful downhill easy ride with very nice mostly compacted gravel trails. Jim Thorpe should be renamed Jim Thorne because they are a thorn to get around. Trail closes at bridge and resumes on other side of wastewater treatment plant (WWTP). The town provides no access to connect the trail. We actually drove down to Lehighton and backtracked the trail from Lehighton to the WWTP.
Section 2- Lehighton to Northhampton. This trail was very nice mostly compacted gravel with a few side bar road sections which were low traffic and fairly safe. Trail was well marked and have regular mileage markers. In Lehighton we parked at the Lehigh Canal Park. From there the trail runs along Bridge St. a short section to get across the River. At the T-intersection of Bridge st. the trail loops down and under to the right. Trail sign shows two directions here but down and under is correct. We got off the trail at Northhampton at the Hokendaqua Creek and resumed at Canal Park at East Allentown, we did not try to forge a path through the neighborhoods. To be honest area seemed quite scary.
Section 3 - Canal Park to Delaware St. Park at Easton - This trail was highly varied and sometimes hard to follow as it intertwines with numerous other trails. Surface varied from gravel to dual lane towpath too paved to single path almost mountain bike course. Hybrid bike was perfect for all would not attempt portions on a street bike. The Palmer townships sections were like paved superhighway compared to some sections.
Section 4 - Easton to Morrisville - This trail was also highly varied from wide compacted gravel to narrow single lane gravel or dirt. Trail at times was poorly marked, especially at the Friend of Delaware Canal property on the south side of New Hope. Here the trails ends abruptly at the top of a stairs which would have been a killer if we didn't get stopped. From here you need to walk bikes down the stairs and along the brick sidewalk along mainstreet for about 500 feet, then try to cross mainstreet to enter what looks like an alley which then returns to towpath.
This section abuts many high end properties with buildings right-up-to the trail. Also has many low clearance bridges requiring either dismounting or ducking real low.
Many beautiful sections along the river early on the trail, once the high-end properties start, not much to see.
This section had very few if any mileage markers to speak of
Several small quaint little towns along the way offering many services, access is somewhat limited.
Access to Washington's Crossing Historic Park was nice.
Overall we rode for three days as we had a pick-up ride at the end of each section.
Aside, you can shunt over to the NJ side via a pedestrian/ bike bridge at Lumberville. Trail on the Jersey side was wide and well compacted gravel for most sections except in the towns where it was similar to the PA side. You can cross back to PA at either Bridge St. in Stockton, NJ or Bridge St. in Lambertville, NJ.
Happy trails.
Trail is in great shape. The only Negative was that their was no signage to help you traverse the incomplete section in Allentown.
My friend and I rode round-trip from White Haven to the abandoned railroad tunnel near Great Onoko, 44 miles. It was virtually uninterrupted. The surface is crushed gravel and easy to ride for the most part. For several miles before the tunnel, there are patches of loose gravel so be careful in this section. This part of the trail follows the Lehigh River for most of the way. You can hear the screams of the rafters riding the whitewater. There are many small waterfalls along the way. The abandoned tunnel is worth a walk-through. If you start at the southern trailhead in White Haven, be prepared to start with a lot of people, as this is the location where the bike train and shuttle buses drop off one-way riders. There is a strip mall located at the trailhead if you need snacks or drinks for your ride.
Canal trails are some of the best riding. They are long with few interruptions and non-stop water views. My friend and I rode the segment from Morrisville to New Hope. We parked in the parking lot for the Morrisville Little League on North Delmorr Avenue. The trail is at the end of Hillside Avenue, which is right across the street from the parking lot. It was really easy access. This segment passes several locks and the town of Yardley. There's a part of the trail that has the canal on the left and the Delaware River on the right. There are ducks, geese, herons, and turtles along the way. At New Hope, the trail goes onto the road for a small segment, which is where we stopped. If you continue past this point, the trail shortly comes to an end at the river. The surface is crushed stone for the most part and easily ridable with any kind of tire. This distance for this segment is 30 miles roundtrip.
I love walking my dog on the trail in Jermyn, PA but I wish there were benches along the way. The dog likes to rest and so do I.
Wanted to let traillink users know that the bike train ride/shuttle on the Lehigh Gorge section of D&L 2019 schedule is set. 1 weekend a month May-Nov, Saturday and Sunday. For pricing, dates, times, etc. go to Pocono Biking.com website. Enjoy your ride.
Paul
Well maintained, wide and easy to use if you want a good long distance trail.
A great day of x-c skiing on the D & L from Rockport north and back. Trail is in Great shape
The only section I have not ridden on this trail is the 10 mile section from Mtn. Top south to White Haven but I'm told it's rough and single track - best for a mountain bike. There's a little strip mall at the trail head in White Haven, pizza, ice cream, drinks, bike rentals and restrooms all available. The 26 miles section from White Haven to Jim Thorpe is smooth, compact gravel with sections of shade, making it an enjoyable ride for any style bike. Quite scenic with numerous water falls. Restroom and water is available in Rockport, about the half-way point of this section. 1 star deduction for the following: tourist crowds on the weekends that don't know bike etiquette, it's a little rough for about the 1st mile south of White Haven and there's a soft spot or two as you approach Glen Onoko right after your cross over the railroad tracks. Follow the trail into Jim Thorpe, you have plenty of places to get something to eat and drink. The newly constructed bridge at the end of the parking lot will eventually connect the gap between JT and Lehighton. Once completed (2019, 2020?) you'll be able to bike about 3 1/2 miles of the eastern section of the trail, cross over the vehicle bridge in Weissport
and re-connect to the trail in Lehighton. Be careful of traffic on the bridge.
The 20 mile section from Lehighton to Northampton is similar to the White Haven to JT section, compact gravel, smooth, mostly shaded and perfect for any style bike. It's just about 10 miles to Slatington, which has a trailhead with restrooms and places to get drinks and eats. I recommend the hot dogs from the trailer in the parking lot. (The Slate Heritage Trail connects to the D&L in Slatington and offers an additional 6 mile round trip ride if so desired.) Continuing south the trail reaches Northampton. Take the left and ride across the bridge, then an immediate right and it's about 1 1/2 mile to a park and the end of this section.
NOTE: From Northampton and Allentown there's about a 7 mile gap that can be ridden on roads and streets also open to vehicle traffic. Use caution when riding on roads.
The trail starts again at Canal Park in Allentown and is now a towpath vs. a rail trail. The 18-20 mile section from Allentown to Easton can be bumpy, single track or tire tracks and there's one or two sections that can be very narrow. That said, I've had no issues riding this section with my hybrid bike. Predominantly shaded with a few places to stop and rest, but water and food may not be readily available without wandering off the path and into one of the towns along the way.
Once reaching Easton, the trail continues south along the Delaware for about 51-52 miles to Morrisville. Much of this section is a towpath, can be single track or tire tracks for much of the ride, but it's smoother than the towpath from Allentown to Easton. There's a couple of places along the way for refreshments and rest areas between Easton and Upper Black Eddy and be sure to make time to visit New Hope and Washington Crossing Park before finishing the ride in Morrisville.
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