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This is a nice trail to bike on a hot day. Lots of shade. There is a covered picnic pavilion right after the covered bridge.
The bridge over the Saucon Creek near the Auburn Street trailhead is impressive. A helpful connection for those wanting to go to Bethlehem.
We just moved to the area and live a half hour from the trail head so I wanted to give it a go. July was the 4th wettest month in recorded history for the area so factor that into some of my comments.
FIRST --- FINDING THE TRAILHEAD
I am an RT member and recently received the 2018 version of the Rail-Trails Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York Guidebook. Please ignore the directions in the book unless you are giving them to someone you dislike very much. Here is how to find it: After you get off Interstate 81 at exit 100 make a left to the traffic light. It is marked route 72. Turn left and continue on 72 until it intersects with route 443. Veer to the right onto 443 and continue on 443 until you reach Gold Mine Road on the left (it is like 9 miles or so to the turnoff). There is a wooden PA sign for Swatara Creek RT & Park directly to the right. Once you are on Gold Mine Road continue over the top of the first mountain (there are two!!). As you descend the mountain (I want to say about half way down) there is a gravel road on the left and a PA State Game Sign just past the gravel road (right now weeds almost have it obscured (see my picture, if RT allows it to be posted. Drive back that road. You will see on the right an extensive pile of macadam road that has been taken up and dumped there. Past it you will find the trail head, although there is no sign noting that this is Stony Valley RT. You have made it there!
THE TRAIL
I did my ride this morning after the very rainy July. There are significant wash outs some as deep as a foot and as long as 30-40 yards. There was a tree across the trail (which they will remove) that required some nifty maneuvering to get around since the trail is elevated at this point. The trail is VERY FLAT and CANOPIED its entire length. As a result there were a lot of puddles in the trail and in some cases extended puddles a 1/20th of a mile or so where the water was over the top of my rims with a rocky and muddy bottom. There were many soft spots causing some sliding and skidding. There were a lot of branches on the trail and they have been there for some time. I jumped a number of them and some were rotten and paths ridden through them. All-in-all the trail is very rough but very beautiful. On my way back to the car there was a porcupine on the trail and all he did was bury his head and extend his quills without moving an inch from the center of the trail. Since it is canopied its entire length I do not recommend sun glasses. I wore mine and it was very hard to see some of the debris, water and washouts on the trail.
DISTANCE
The trail book says it is 21 miles long. I rode 17 miles between the two trail heads noted in the book. I started to ride the dirt road past the trail head and it was laden with mega potholes and since I wasn't even sure I was on the right trail I turned around. Next time I will continue along the access road and report of what I find.
EQUIPMENT
I have read some of the reviews and one noted that doing this trail on a road bike can be fun and successful. I strongly suggest that you disregard that review. I have a full suspension mountain bike and I needed every bit of it. I spent more than my share of time out of the saddle and found myself slipping, sliding, bouncing and jumping the entire length of the trail between the trail heads. I would never even try this on a hybrid or gravel bike even if it is dried out let alone a road bike. It is a very bumpy ride...as someone else wrote, rough.
As noted, cell phone coverage is non-existent. I recommend either riding with someone or certainly wearing a RoadID so you have some help if something happens.
REVIEWER
The context for the reviewer is important for understanding the review. I do 10-15 century rides a year on my road bike and ride my mountain bike many times a week a minimum of 35-40 miles. I travel all over the country with my bikes doing centuries, trails and single track. This is a less traveled trail that is quite spectacular but be prepared when you ride it.
My wife and I rode the trail today (28-Jul-2018). It had rained the day before, so the trail was a bit wet. There were muddy spots, but most of the time the trail was just a bit wet. We planned on parking near the Simply Day Spa, but realized that the access to the trail from that parking spot was impossible to access with a bike - it was steep and rocky. And of course wet. So we parked at the East Crisman Road parking, just after the single lane bridge. Next time, just park at the Footbridge Park. But once on the trail, we realized some spots were muddy but manageable. There were times when between E Crisman parking and the airport, the trail narrows and widens. Once at the Blairstown Airport, you have to use Lambert Road for a bit, then into Airport Road. From here, there are no signs to direct you to where the trail is. From there, Airport Road ends and you will see a dirt road before the gates - that's the trail. From here, the trail sort of becomes wide enough for two way bike traffic to just a patch of dirt for you tires. The trails need a lot of maintenance - a lot of low branches, some branches on the road and basically, it just needs some trees cut down. Because of the lack of maintenance and overgrowth, you can hardly see anything on either side of the trail. But it was a good ride, flat trail - my wife and I rode up to Paulinskill Viaduct. Nice structure, with all the graffiti and all.
The trail stopped and started many times. No portion longer than 5 miles, not for the rider that wants to put on mileage.
Rode this train from White Haven to Jim Thorpe on 7/5/18. Shuttle from Blue Mountain Sports in Jim Thorpe was friendly and convenient; we parked our car at the day parking lot near downtown, which is situated at the end of the trail. The trail itself is cinder and crushed stone; we used hybrid bikes which were perfect (I wouldn't recommend a road bike). As advertised it's a slight downhill, but you still have to pedal to get where you're going! Most of the route is shaded and gives you nice views of the river. One caution: the last 30 minutes or so to the southern end (Jim Thorpe) are not shaded and thus took the wind out of our sails at the end a bit. There are other lots you can park in besides the day lot that are a little further up the trail, but I don't know how that would work with the shuttle. All in all, very nice trail and worth the trip.
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.
I have had my eye on this Trail for a few years. The reviews have been excellent and I also have been wanting to scout out the stream for potential paddle. I started on the North End (Green Lane) and headed south. Has so many reviews have captured the trail surface and surrounding terrain varies and is extremely diverse. It is interesting with how often it changes as it goes from deeply wooded sections to hop in a local throws for short stretches. Yes the 12% grade made me walk the bike for a bit. Oh yes, there was one other one. I unknowingly turned onto the Skippack Trail for about 2 mi. If you find yourself biking under a swath of power lines you made the same mistake. I still have to do the lower half of the Perkiomen and there are so many more side trails to explore. I will be back again and again.
Parked at White Haven with objective to bike up Black Diamond portion to northern-most point. We have sturdy hybrid bikes, but after 5 miles decided to turn around and head back south for better trail conditions. Really would have benefited from a mountain bike in that area - the trail is not crushed stone and only two thin car-tire type tracks a good portion of the way. A lot of rocks, ruts, and bumps you cannot see well in the shade of the trees. A family attempted it pulling a toddler carrier and quickly turned around. We then went south from White Haven for the more enjoyable trail. FYI if you don’t pay attention to the elevation, any northern sojourn is up a steady incline so you will tire faster. If you want a more relaxing ride, always head south.
The path is nice, a bit bumpy with roots in the first couple miles, starting from the Home Depot parking lot area. The trail description indicates 7.8 miles but my gps logged about a mile less. The path is graded downhill from the Home Depot and then levels out slightly when it merges with the D&L.
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.)
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