Find the top rated horseback riding trails in Reading, whether you're looking for an easy short horseback riding trail or a long horseback riding trail, you'll find what you're looking for. Click on a horseback riding trail below to find trail descriptions, trail maps, photos, and reviews.
This is to update a previous post. We recently rode the section that connects to the SRT and it is in need of major repairs. There are areas that were washed out and filled in with much larger stones. There were also places where there were deep loose stones. As a long time mountain bike rider, I was able to handle these obstacles, but I don't recommend this section of trail, except for walkers.
Relatively easy access from our hotel (Philly Downtown Marriott). We rode our travel tandem that we packed along for this trip. Beautiful ending of the fall leaves turning. Lots of trail traffic in town but traffic and scenery improved a lot as we got farther out of town. Old homes in a section of Fairmont Park adjacent to the trail are worth stopping to see. Dams and cascading water also create a serene environment worth stopping to absorb for a while.
We have been biking the Bartram section for years and love it! First time we’ve taken this trail south from bridge near Carpenter entry gate. There were tents under the bridge with the trail getting more and more narrow. We passed a man picking through bags of spilled over garbage. Wonder if there are trail ambassadors or patrols because we weren’t comfortable going further south
I used to ride this trail often a couple decades ago on my hybrid bike - it wasn't too bad back then. I revisited the trail10/2024, entering from the Goldmine Rd end. First, I already knew where the parking was for this trail from years ago, but if I was a first-timer trying to find it, I did not see ANY signs or anything at the location of the Goldmine Rd entrance, saying this was the Stony Valley Rail Trail. Matter of fact, having ridden this trail (end-to-end) dozens of times about 20 yrs ago, even though I knew I was at the right place, I kept questioning myself whether I was. I unloaded my bike which has mountain bike width tires on it & started off on the trail. After about a quarter mile I turned around - NO WAY am I riding 35 miles on this rough surface. I am not an expert on grades of stone, but I think the stones making up the trail are what is known as 2B. That is, they were larger gray limestones about 1.5" or more in diameter. I was looking for a quiet, pleasurable ride to enjoy the changing foliage, not a BONE RATTLING ride that required me to hold on to prevent taking a tumble from every stone I was hitting. In addition to the larger/rough stone surface, the sides of the trail were sloped (I don't know the correct term but I think one reviewer referred to it as camber), to the point that I was afraid of sliding off the side of the trail into the water-filled ditch that made up the shoulder of the trial, if I hit a stone the wrong way. I used to love this trail years ago, now, unfortunately, this trail is off my biking list. As I think another reviewer titled their review - this trail is in the NEVER AGAIN category for me. I loaded up my bike & drove into Lebanon (having just a week earlier ridden the nearby Swatara Rail Trail), & rode the Lebanon Valley Rail Trail from Lebanon to Colebrook (a MUCH MORE pleasurable trail with paved surfaces and hard-packed crushed limestone. Geez, I can't help wondering, did someone (non-profit/volunteer or government organizations that are "hunter-friendly") intentionally RUIN the Stony Creek Trail, by surfacing it with larger stones to keep bikes off ???
I would not recommend. The area wasn’t kept up. Not a lot of nature, at least not that I felt comfortable walking through with my kids. But I found a couple nearby who was doing what looked like excellent car detailing service!
We love the view across the entire trail ;however, it was so bumpy with many parts of the asphalt missing or pushed up from weeds, it took away from the ride.
While profiling the Lehigh Valley trails over the past year, I've noticed that several of them have a particular theme. The Ironton Rail Trail prominently highlights the cement and iron industries that were served by the old RR by taking users past the ruins of several mills and preserving numerous pieces of infrastructure and memorabilia from the RR itself. The D&L Trail, meanwhile, focuses on the role water transportation played in the region's economies as it winds its way past numerous locks and historic buildings that once served the Lehigh and Delaware canals.
Named in honor of a German immigrant who moved to Easton and became a renowned artist, the Karl Stirner Arts Trail celebrates the thriving community he established in the city. The 2.4 mile long trail follows the banks of Bushkill Creek from N. 13th Street to the south end of Lafayette College campus, where it extends into downtown Easton via a concurrency along 3rd Street. Cyclists will appreciate the trail's smooth, asphalt surface, though the shorter, woodchip and earthen nature trail that branches off at about midpoint and passes beneath an abandoned RR bridge is also worth checking out. Caution should also be used on the eastern half of the trail, which mostly follows on-street concurrencies with Bushkill Drive and 3rd Street.
However, the trail is most notable for the numerous sculptures, murals and paintings that line its route. Although several of these works were created by local artists, some came from as far away as California, and one, a gate near the Blue Bridge over Bushkill Creek, was constructed by Stirner himself prior to his death in 2016. Several pieces of infrastructure, including an electrical box and guard fences lining the trail, are also artistically decorated, while the Witness Tree, a giant American Sycamore situated along the trail near the Blue Bridge that has been dated to 1757, is celebrated as a natural work of art. It's also common to see outdoor art classes being conducted. Although the trail, which follows an old RR grade, is level and bicycle friendly, I recommend doing it on foot in order to fully appreciate all it has to offer. Easton's Linear Art Gallery is a fitting tribute to the legacy of one of the region's most influential residents in recent history.
Mostly gravel, some large gravel. North 1/3 is not maintained, large ruts. OK for gravel bikes, not OK for a road bikes. North end just ends in a field. Bear Hole trail or Tomstown Road in FIG is a much better choice
Little more income than what we like in such a short distance. Not much to see along the route did not see river until close to 422.
My husband and I use this trail a lot with our electric bikes. Well maintained but I do have concerns about some of the shallow rooted trees that must be trimmed and/or removed. Amy Marotta
TrailLink is a free service provided by Rails-to-Trails Conservancy (a non-profit) and we need your support!