Find the top rated cross country skiing trails in Middletown, whether you're looking for an easy short cross country skiing trail or a long cross country skiing trail, you'll find what you're looking for. Click on a cross country skiing trail below to find trail descriptions, trail maps, photos, and reviews.
The history of Perkiomen Trail railroad corridor extends more than 140 years. Founded shortly after the Civil War, the Perkiomen Railway Company started running from Oaks to Pennsburg in 1868. New...
Located in Media Borough in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, Ridley Creek State Park encompasses over 2,600 acres of woodlands and meadows. The park is only 16 miles from Center City, Philadelphia, but...
Maryland's Susquehanna State Park is recognized for challenging hiking and biking trails, camping facilities, rock outcroppings, boating, a museum and restored historical sites. But none of these...
This 2.4-mile paved trail provides a quiet, scenic escape northwest of Philadelphia, from Encke Park at Radnor-Chester Road to the shopping center at Sugartown Road and Route 30. The trail travels...
The Cynwyd Heritage Trail is a 2-mile linear park and rail-trail that connects Lower Merion Township to the Manayunk Bridge over the Schuylkill River just outside Philadelphia. The bridge ends very...
The Chester County Parks & Recreation Department opened this trail in 1979 on part of a former Pennsylvania Railroad right-of-way. Today the 2.6-mile trail attracts more than 125,000 visitors each...
Caution: On April 12, 2018, a fire severely damaged the Martic Forge Trestle, which runs over Pequea Creek and River Road on the Enola Low Grade Trail. Access to the trail going west from the Route...
Baltimore’s Stony Run Trail follows an old Maryland and Pennsylvania Railroad line through nearly 3 miles of wooded stream valleys and small parks, providing a quiet escape from the hustle and bustle...
The Michael Castle Trail offers a scenic 12-mile route along the north shore of the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal in northern Delaware. The trail is named after the former governor and US...
Camden's Cooper River Park is found on both the north and south shores of Cooper River Lake. The urban park is open daily from dawn to dusk and offers a paved loop path for bikers and pedestrians, as...
Constructed in 2012, the Gravity Trail is one of the newer additions to the extensive network of trails and greenways that criss-cross the Greater Reading metro area. The trail's unusual name comes...
TRAIL ALERT: As of May 2018, The Wissahickon/ Green Ribbon Trail has been closed until further notice due to flooding, mud and debris. Once the water subsides staff will clean up the trail and...
Southeastern Pennsylvania’s Schuylkill River Trail forms the spine of the Schuylkill River National Heritage Area, a five-county expanse between Philadelphia and Pottsville. Built along former...
The Torrey C. Brown Rail Trail is one of the best hiking and biking trails in the Mid-Atlantic region. It allows for nearly 20 miles of flat travel, punctuated by a number of access points and an...
Southeastern Pennsylvania’s Schuylkill River Trail forms the spine of the Schuylkill River National Heritage Area, a five-county expanse between Philadelphia and Pottsville. Built along former...
TRAIL ALERT: As of May 2018, The Wissahickon/ Green Ribbon Trail has been closed until further notice due to flooding, mud and debris. Once the water subsides staff will clean up the trail and...
This 2.4-mile paved trail provides a quiet, scenic escape northwest of Philadelphia, from Encke Park at Radnor-Chester Road to the shopping center at Sugartown Road and Route 30. The trail travels...
The history of Perkiomen Trail railroad corridor extends more than 140 years. Founded shortly after the Civil War, the Perkiomen Railway Company started running from Oaks to Pennsburg in 1868. New...
Camden's Cooper River Park is found on both the north and south shores of Cooper River Lake. The urban park is open daily from dawn to dusk and offers a paved loop path for bikers and pedestrians, as...
The Cynwyd Heritage Trail is a 2-mile linear park and rail-trail that connects Lower Merion Township to the Manayunk Bridge over the Schuylkill River just outside Philadelphia. The bridge ends very...
Caution: On April 12, 2018, a fire severely damaged the Martic Forge Trestle, which runs over Pequea Creek and River Road on the Enola Low Grade Trail. Access to the trail going west from the Route...
Constructed in 2012, the Gravity Trail is one of the newer additions to the extensive network of trails and greenways that criss-cross the Greater Reading metro area. The trail's unusual name comes...
The Elephant Swamp Trail is built on top of the former railroad bed that once ran from Glassboro to Bridgeton, NJ. Elk Township maintains the easement through Elephant Swamp, and the trail passes...
The Torrey C. Brown Rail Trail is one of the best hiking and biking trails in the Mid-Atlantic region. It allows for nearly 20 miles of flat travel, punctuated by a number of access points and an...
Located in Media Borough in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, Ridley Creek State Park encompasses over 2,600 acres of woodlands and meadows. The park is only 16 miles from Center City, Philadelphia, but...
The Michael Castle Trail offers a scenic 12-mile route along the north shore of the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal in northern Delaware. The trail is named after the former governor and US...
Maryland's Susquehanna State Park is recognized for challenging hiking and biking trails, camping facilities, rock outcroppings, boating, a museum and restored historical sites. But none of these...
Baltimore’s Stony Run Trail follows an old Maryland and Pennsylvania Railroad line through nearly 3 miles of wooded stream valleys and small parks, providing a quiet escape from the hustle and bustle...
The Chester County Parks & Recreation Department opened this trail in 1979 on part of a former Pennsylvania Railroad right-of-way. Today the 2.6-mile trail attracts more than 125,000 visitors each...
The Elephant Swamp Trail is built on top of the former railroad bed that once ran from Glassboro to Bridgeton, NJ. Elk Township maintains the easement through Elephant Swamp, and the trail passes...
Camden's Cooper River Park is found on both the north and south shores of Cooper River Lake. The urban park is open daily from dawn to dusk and offers a paved loop path for bikers and pedestrians, as...
TRAIL ALERT: As of May 2018, The Wissahickon/ Green Ribbon Trail has been closed until further notice due to flooding, mud and debris. Once the water subsides staff will clean up the trail and...
Caution: On April 12, 2018, a fire severely damaged the Martic Forge Trestle, which runs over Pequea Creek and River Road on the Enola Low Grade Trail. Access to the trail going west from the Route...
The Cynwyd Heritage Trail is a 2-mile linear park and rail-trail that connects Lower Merion Township to the Manayunk Bridge over the Schuylkill River just outside Philadelphia. The bridge ends very...
The history of Perkiomen Trail railroad corridor extends more than 140 years. Founded shortly after the Civil War, the Perkiomen Railway Company started running from Oaks to Pennsburg in 1868. New...
The Chester County Parks & Recreation Department opened this trail in 1979 on part of a former Pennsylvania Railroad right-of-way. Today the 2.6-mile trail attracts more than 125,000 visitors each...
Maryland's Susquehanna State Park is recognized for challenging hiking and biking trails, camping facilities, rock outcroppings, boating, a museum and restored historical sites. But none of these...
Located in Media Borough in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, Ridley Creek State Park encompasses over 2,600 acres of woodlands and meadows. The park is only 16 miles from Center City, Philadelphia, but...
The Michael Castle Trail offers a scenic 12-mile route along the north shore of the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal in northern Delaware. The trail is named after the former governor and US...
Baltimore’s Stony Run Trail follows an old Maryland and Pennsylvania Railroad line through nearly 3 miles of wooded stream valleys and small parks, providing a quiet escape from the hustle and bustle...
Southeastern Pennsylvania’s Schuylkill River Trail forms the spine of the Schuylkill River National Heritage Area, a five-county expanse between Philadelphia and Pottsville. Built along former...
Constructed in 2012, the Gravity Trail is one of the newer additions to the extensive network of trails and greenways that criss-cross the Greater Reading metro area. The trail's unusual name comes...
The Torrey C. Brown Rail Trail is one of the best hiking and biking trails in the Mid-Atlantic region. It allows for nearly 20 miles of flat travel, punctuated by a number of access points and an...
This 2.4-mile paved trail provides a quiet, scenic escape northwest of Philadelphia, from Encke Park at Radnor-Chester Road to the shopping center at Sugartown Road and Route 30. The trail travels...
The trail from the City of New Castle to the Christiana River is done and open. The bridge over the Christiana River is complete but, not open yet.
Tree roots have put a lot of bumps in the trail but they are working on refinishing parts of it. They have marked the bumps with yellow spray paint. They are worse at the south end so I suggest just keeping your eyes open to avoid the bumps. 5/3/18 Youker
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.
APRIL 30 2018 Bridge at Quarryville over rt 222 almost done, it is Beautiful! Give these trail workers kudos!
wind350 made a comment in Oct. 2013 (see below) and it's still the same. The trail has many joggers, walkers, pets and baby carriages and does not work well for bikers. The roads are ok (you do have to weave around drainage grates) but still no bike lanes and Cuthbert Blvd. has a lot of traffic moving at a pretty good clip.
I love this trail, however, the tree roots coming through the paving are now painful and dangerous. From Sweetbriar to Montgomery the bumps in the asphalt are getting bigger and are painful for bike riders. I would imagine they are a tripping hazard for walkers. There are also sections with lots of tree roots from Montgomery to the Falls Bridge.
Tried riding the trail yesterday (4/30/18), but flooded out and closed for indefinite period of time. Very disappointing.....
With no recent reviews, I was curious what we’d find. We parked at the arboretum and headed south. Through a residential area and into Druid park. We exited the park and things did turn “gritty.” We turned around at the Baltimore Bicycle Works because we didn’t want to brave riding on the road to the end. On our return ride, we explored the wide promenade around Druid Lake and the Rawlings Conservatory. We left the trail in the Woodberry area to find Artifact Coffee for a late lunch and enjoy unique salads and huge cookies. The return trip had significant uphill sections.
Only discovered the trail last week and just rode it on 4/22/2018. I used a gravel/adventure bike with 35mm tires and no shocks. I did the full length, from the Lower Perkiomen Park to the Northern most part at Green Lane and then back. It's a great ride and mostly seems to follow old rail beds. Long stretches of it are flat with only slight changes in elevation. The only exception is a short, steep hill mentioned by a few others and clearly marked as you approach from either direction. At that point the trail deviates from the creek and goes up over a hill. The steepest part is paved and isn't long, probably less than an 1/8 mile.
Surface
The trail surface is inconsistent which is my reasoning for giving it four out of five stars, other reviewers have noted it as well. The trail ranges from nicely paved sections to muddy sections where they seem to be trying to figure out the drainage, to cinders and sometimes what appears to be crushed stone fill. The transitions in the surface can come about suddenly and if you're moving at a good pace they can throw you a bit. Even with 35mm tires there were a number of soft/deep gravel areas where my tires would sink in and throw the bike. I also kept hitting large chunks of rock and fill that would hop my bike a few inches to a side and send big chunks into the brush on along the trail. Weirdly, I noticed people riding road bikes with much narrower, smooth road tires and can't imagine that would be too pleasant and can't recommend trying it.
Crossings/Safety
There are a number of rode crossings as noted by others but only two or so actually had any amount of busy traffic and any major ones had signaling that appeared brand new and adequate. I only found two crossings a little awkward/dangerous. The first is where you have to cross route 29 at a random place along a wall in front of some houses and it isn't an intersection. It wouldn't be a problem except that, even though it's clearly marked as a crossing, there didn't appear to be signaling and drivers don't know what to do. Some stop and wave you on while traffic from the other direction, in the other lane, may not stop or slow down at all. I didn't notice signaling requiring them to yield to the crosswalk.
Be careful there, especially if you have kids. Fortunately it's along a straight piece of road so cars won't come around a blind corner and surprise you.
The second tricky crossing was just below Green Lane at Perkiomenville. There, going north you cross an old, crumbing stone bridge and then have to ride/walk a hundred feet or so down the shoulder of the road and like the first dangerous area, you cross where there's no intersection or signal. Again, just be ready if you have kids.
Continuity
There are a number of areas where it seems like they're still trying to figure out how to connect segments of the trail and although the trail is mostly well marked you will have to cut behind buildings and through alleys to find the connectors at a few places. I actually got confused coming back through Collegeville because I couldn't remember where the trail went and it looked different coming back the opposite way. It wasn't until I saw riders coming the other direction that I noticed a small sign and realized I had to cut through an alley behind a diner along a narrow area with a fence, once on it recognized where I was.
Popularity
I passed a lot of people on my ride and it seems a pretty popular attraction. There were many out for a casual stroll, a run, a ride or a group outing with scouts. All along the trail are smaller parks that make good shaded stops if you need a break and as others mentioned there is a great little park about halfway between Collegeville and Schwenksville. It's just below Graterford and has new, clean restrooms.
Overall the trail weaves through some pretty picturesque areas. Do yourself a favor and stop once in a while and have a look around.
My husband and I just moved to the area. Decided to enjoy the beautiful weather and hit the trail. Let me say, we don’t ride a lot but knew we wanted more than a few miles. WELL....needless to say we rode from one end to the other AND back. ¿¿ Beautiful day, beautiful ride but 40 miles was an over kill for me. My husband loved it of course and wants to go back by himself to see how fast he can ride it in. Great trail, great ride!
If you don't mind a cold weather hike, park at the base of the Conowingo Dam. From November through March, the area below the dam is one of the largest nesting locales for bald eagles in the eastern US and you can watch them as you hike. Look to your side as you head south and you will also see some lengthy depressions in the ground, remnants of a canal constructed there in the early 19th century. I have taken scouts hiking there repeatedly over the years.
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