Find the top rated birding trails in Colonial Park, 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.
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We rode the Douglassville to Pottstown section of the trail yesterday. Most of the trail was in shade which was welcome in the heat. The Berks County portion is hard gravel and easy to ride. When you cross into Montgomery County the trail is macadam, but as a previous writer mentioned, it is marred by numerous raised sections, probably due to tree roots. This is the reason for a 4 star rating. When we ended our ride in Pottstown park, I was excited to discover a Little Lending Library and picked out a book to read. The Douglassville trailhead is located in Old Morlatton Village. Not only is this a quiet trailhead, but there are several historic buildings with descriptive placards to read.
We started at City Island and knew it was a 20 mile loop. We are comfortable with that distance but are used to rail trails. (My husband and I love biking rail trails.)This definitely is not a rail trail. To us,it seemed like lots of hills and biking upgrade.Also had to bike on some busy roads. If you enjoy a challenge and don’t mind biking on roads, you will be OK. Do not recommend for families.Signage must have been improved since some earlier reviews. The only place we were confused was close to the farm show buildings where you need to use the pedestrian underpass.
If you start in Quarryvile and go west, the trail surface is smooth crushed stone and very well maintained. Unfortunately, the trestle at Martic Forge is closed, so you can’t get to the Susquehanna until it’s repaired. From Quarryville east, the trail is a mess. Large stone ballast, mud, weeds, steep slopes at road crossings, and just generally poor conditions. Definitely not road bike friendly. In my case, I was riding a gravel bike, and still had difficulty.
I really enjoy this trail. multiple parking areas makes it easy to do in sections. the crossing at 743 is hazardous, particularly when the road is busy, rush hour, etc. also lacks facilities and benches.
New macadam surface from Conshohocken to Spring Mills, removing san area of washboarding, and indications of imminent resurfacing from Conshohocken to near Norrristown, so from Valley Forge to near Manayunk it is a very smooth ride. (site doesn't seem to offer an chance to edit a review.)
It would be great if the borough would fix this up but it really doesn’t look like it’s going to happen. Before i actually ran on it i was very excited i found a trail so close to my new home bc this is all i really like to run on but after my first trip i found that there really isn’t much of the trail left at all.
Had a great day on the trail once we finally got there! You need to take Sand Mountain Road off of 322 not Decker Valley Road! There are no signs for the park on Decker Valley Road. Decker Valley is a narrow road barely wide enough for two cars - you need to pull to the side if someone is coming the other direction. There is also active logging and when a logging truck is coming down the road, you have to back up to try to find some place to get off the road. Wasted an hour traveling Decker Valley. Glad the trail was beautiful and peaceful to sooth our nerves after the Decker Valley road!
My wife and I road the entire ten-mile length of the Swatara Rail-Trail (SRT) on Monday, May 28th. Overall the trail is wonderful, with great access, parking lots, and many different trails branching off of it. It is a true rail trail, almost completely flat, and 80% of the trail has a great riding surface for all manner of bicycles. The other 20% is ride-able, but a bit slow, and not good for baby strollers or road bicycles. Hopefully the last bit will receive its final crushed stone topper soon. Don't let that little bit of roughness discourage you, as you can skip it and join the trail at the Waterville bridge by coming in on Old State Road on the other side of the creek.
We entered the Lickdale trail head, and includes a beautiful paved road and creek access. Heading North the first 2.3 miles is a bit rough...clunker-sized ballast stone with dirt and grass in places. It is fine for hybrid and mountain bikes, but a little "slippy". After you reach the first bridge (closed) to the Bear Hole Trail (another gem we just discovered), the surface changes to modern rail trail crushed gravel that is well compacted and easy on the tires or feet. After a bit you reach a second iron bridge (Waterville) and it is a beautiful tribute to the old iron workers of the area. The bridge crosses the Swatara creek to connect Bear Hole and Appalachian trails and also has a parking lot accessed by Old State Road. Just before the Moonshine trail branch, an old, unused highway appears to become a major leg of the SRT. It goes for miles, and is oh so easy to ride, being aging asphalt. Just before the big Northern bend in the river the "Zombie Highway" as we call it, is blocked by a permanent barrier and a short connector appears to take you back to the crushed stone trail. The SRT goes for miles between the river and hillside, and it is very beautiful. We saw a lot of kayakers on the Swattie on Memorial Day. The next feature is the Sand Siding Pedestrian Bridge, which is iron and boardwalk, attached sections allowing the bridge to change direction. The Sand Siding Trailhead, a little further North on the trail, has a nice parking lot. From there to the end of the trail is just scenic beauty and good riding surface, following the creek.
All of the services are at the Lickville end of the trail. Lots' of fast food, gas, and hotels. We loved our day on the SRT and will be returning with friends soon.
This is one of our favorite trails to ride. The winding path along the river with views of eagles and historic sites. The word of caution is because the trail does wind so much and as the kudzu grows so fast, it blocks your view of oncoming riders and walkers. Best solution, slow down, enjoy the wild flowers and remember that lots of others also love this trail every day of the week.
Beautiful and Peaceful Ride. We ride this trail at least 4 times a week. Plenty of places to park. A tons of places to eat on Front Street in Marietta. Definitely gets crowded on nice weekends. 5 stars from us.
May 9, 2018 - A generally well-maintained trail with an easy grade and an amazing history. Not an incredibly interesting ride as with a freight line it does not go through any towns.
Planned to ride this entire trail only to find it all cut up. Parked at Fairview Rd west of Quarryville - bridge to the east closed. Headed west for a few miles before I come to another trail closed sign just west of Sigman Rd - apparently Martic Township is resurfacing their section as well as installing a pipeline and repaving a parking lot at 324 / Red Hill Rd. Went around that only to find the next section closed due to the bridge fire. Rejoined the trail at Colemanville Church Rd to ride out the remainder. The roads are quite pleasant so the detours were not a huge hassle but I really hope some kind of cross-township organization gets formed or else these kinds of chopped up experiences will continue to happen. It would have been great if there was more info available - either at the trail closed sign or a central place online. Took some real digging to get any good info.
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