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Print Friendly MapSaucon Rail Trail connects four communities: Hellertown, Lower Saucon Township, Upper Saucon Township, and Coopersburg. The trail has a slight 1% grade traveling from north to south and is easy for a leisurely stroll or bike ride. Along the way, you'll pass beautiful homes and see tall wooden posts signifying the mileage designations utilized by the original North Penn Railroad (and later by the SEPTA commuter line) on which the trail was built.
Four parks on the route offer parking, restrooms, athletic facilities, and picnic spots: Water Street Park, Grist Mill Park, Upper Saucon Township Community Park, and Southern Lehigh Living Memorial Community Park. There is also a trailhead on Reading Drive, offering parking, a port-a-potty, and a water fountain.
At the north end of the trail, you can park in Hellertown at Grist Mill Park (99 W. Walnut St.), or Water Street Park (90 W. Water St.). Parking is also available at the Reading Drive Trailhead in Lower Saucon Township (off Bingen Road).
On the trail's southern end, you'll find parking lots in Upper Saucon Township Community Park (3231 Preston Lane) and Southern Lehigh Living Memorial Community Park (Landis Street entrance).
i really like the Saucon rail train and have run, walked and biked.
but my experience is not many bikers announce when they are coming up on you. one proper warning would be on you right or on your left.
i have almost ben hit a few times. i think it would be good to promote users to give some kind of heads up especially when they are going fast
maybe a sign at each crossing may help
Great trail to get your exercise on. Now it’s tied in with the Upper Bucks trail so it’s about 25 miles round trip. Scenic and quiet. Pass by the Saucon Valley Country Club, large “starter castles” in Weyhill, and ride as you meander by the Saucon creek. I love this trail and ride it quite often. There’s a slight grade going south that you really don’t notice until you head back north. It’s ever so slight but if you’re riding a bike you’ll feel the difference. Well maintained and clean. Highly recommend the Saucon Rail Trail.
Stretching nearly 7 miles from Bachman Street in Hellertown south through the picturesque Saucon Valley to East Station Ave. in Coopersburg, the Saucon Rail Trail could easily be considered the Jewel of Eastern PA when it comes to multi-use greenways.
The trail is built along the route of the former North Penn RR, which once hauled iron, steel and coal from the mines of Northeastern PA and mills of the Allentown-Bethlehem metropolitan area south to Philadelphia. The line also doubled as a SEPTA commuter line until abandonment in 1984. The RR itself may be long gone, but numerous vestiges, including old telegraph poles and signal towers, one of which has been refurbished, rock cuts and several bridges that have since been repurposed for trail use, attest to the line's original purpose. The fact that the crushed stone trail is wide enough to easily accommodate two or more cyclists or hikers passing each other simultaneously is made possible by the fact that the line was double tracked for most of its length.
Other highlights along the trail include historical stone buildings and homes that are visible along the northern segment of the trail in Hellertown and Lower Saucon Township, palatial mansions of more recent vintage in Upper Saucon Township, quaint barns north of Coopersburg and the Hellertown wetlands.
The trail also passes several parks on its route, including Water Street and Grist Mill parks in Hellertown, Upper Saucon Township Community Park, located just west of the campus of DeSales University and South Lehigh Living Memorial Park in Coopersburg. In addition to providing opportunities for the kids to play or families to eat picnic lunches, these parks also provide convenient points to access the trail and feature their own, internal trail networks.
In addition to being a great, stand alone trail, the Saucon Rail Trail is also envisioned to become a vital link in an intercity greenway that will eventually connect the Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton-Phillipsburg conurbation with the Philly metropolitan area. The Upper Bucks Rail Trail now extends from the southern terminus in Coopersburg south to Veterans Park outside Quakertown, and there are also plans to extend the trail north to Saucon Park in Bethlehem, where it will link to the South Bethlehem Greenway.
New section to Quakertown just opened
Great Trail for a quick ride. 14 miles round-trip. Nice and wide, very well kept gravel surface. Slight grade going from Hellertown to Coopersburg.
We take this trail every Sunday, from Coopersburg ( where we live) to Hellertown, visit the farmers market stands in the park, stop by for a beer and some wings at the hotel and then ride back home. The trail is flat, with packed assault, it passes through Upper Saucon Park, and there is one small section with ruts and rocks, but all in all... A very nice ride
I rode the trail on 5/20/17 starting at Hellertown's Water Street Park to East Landis St. in Coopersburg, and back again (approx 14 miles). Nice flat, wide trail, packed cinder. Lovely spring day with wildflowers in bloom all along the trail. Water Street Park is nice starting point with lots of parking and public restroom. Since there is a slight 1% grade uphill heading south, the return ride heading back north was just a bit easier. I viewed the map online before my ride and noticed you have to ride through Upper Saucon Community Park to pick up the southern section of the trail.
Trip down memory lane. We use to take freight trains over this territory. Sad to see it go. Credit where due to those who have saved it for public use. Very nice, Please expand it to Q-town, and 3rd st in Bethlehem. Thanks, Jim.
We took our bikes in Hellertown and like the parking very much. This was mostly a flat and quite large trail. It was quite travelled by runners, walkers and bikers. The only drawback was that the scenery was trees no water
Great family trail. Easy biking and walking.
We biked this trail for the first time yesterday. It was a nice trail for good exercise / endurance. There was a lot of people running – walking on the trail. Recommend the trail for easy family rides. I did not find this trail challenging.
Great for the novice or family, flat gravel trail, a little confusing at the Community Center but overall nice ride. No rif raf, just family fun.
For about 3 years now this trail has been my go-to place to exercise/mentally recoup. It's a great experience whether you are jogging or riding. I plan to continue coming here for as many years as I possibly can.
This is an easy trail to ride from Coopersburg to Hellertown and back or vice versa. However, the trail is not marked at all when you get to Upper Saucon park and I had to stop to ask people a couple of times where the trail was. Also, the gravel at Upper Saucon park is not packed (very loose and you slide on it) and it makes for a less than enjoyable ride there, but since it's only a small section of the ride, it's bearable.
Nice easy trail to ride however not marked at all when I'm the Saucon Park area. I had to stop several times to ask where the trail went. Note it is a 2% grade going from Hellrtown to Coopersburg.
I just do not give out five stars with that said this is a very nice trail. At the Upper Saucon Township park the signage is not the best but from north to south just look to your lift and you can see the old RR embankment and it will take you back onto the trail. I talked to a couple of locals and the good new is that there are plans to extend the trail into Bethlehem to the north and Quakertown to the south. This is a great family friendly trail as it has great shade, mile markers picnic tables,
benches, restrooms and very good parking. If you live in the ABE. area you need to put this trail on your bucket list.
Just what we needed. The trail is very wide with a nice crushed stone covering. Lots of parking available along the ride and bathrooms. Very gradual incline as you travel south. Had to ask where to go when we got to Upper Saucon Township Community Park, not to bad. If you are heading south follow all the trails to the left, in the parking lot stay to the left. We did a total of 15.5 miles that included Ice cream at The Inside Scoop on RT 309 Yum. Will be doing that more.
Overall a very nice ride. Some very scenic spots. The last mile or two in Hellertown is mostly views of factories and apartments. The riding surface is very good. Signage is definitely needed at the Saucon Park entrance as you could go any number of ways and easily go off the trail. The crossings are well marked and not too frequent.
Started in hellertown found the trail to be scenic and wide. Hoping it will be extended beyond coopersburg. It did take a while to find our way through upper saucon community park. HINT: follow pathway around baseball fields to tunnel under Preston rd., past library along tree line you'll see the trail resuming in the woods. Thought benches along the way were a nice touch.
Nice trail for an easy bike ride. Trail is well kept and clean. Start (northern end) of the trail slightly congested with homes and crossovers because it runs behind/parallel to the town of Hellertown, but that quickly ends and the rest is picturesque with sightings of deer, nice streams, and beautiful homes. Very slight incline going north to south makes for an easy ride back if you start at the northern trailhead. As of this review, the total ride from northern trailhead in the park at Water Street in Hellertown to Passer Road in Coopersburg is about 12 miles round trip. At the southern end the trail is being finished to extend to Station Avenue in Coopersburg to add an additional mile on to it - should be finished very soon. Restrooms (portable including a handicap one)at the new trail entrance at Reading Drive/Bingen Road, which includes a wonderful brand new water fountain with a lower doggie water fountain. Benches along the way to sit and enjoy if you are walking. To add just a little extra fun, turn right at the bottom of the hill going into Upper Saucon Community Park and weave through the woods on the macadam path - it makes a loop so you will be right back where you started. The only drawback to this trail is maneuvering your way through Upper Saucon Community Park to continue on the trail to Coopersburg. You can either cross over Preston Lane or find the macadam path that goes UNDER the road at Preston Lane and comes out just in front of Southern Lehigh Public Library, then go through the two playing fields and look for the entrance to continue on the trail. They have promised to put up better signage in the future.
Very nice, well cared for trail. Easy ride for families, didn't see any road bikes. Lots of walkers with dogs. Not much in the way of scenery other than a few high price homes, this is the first trail I rode that had signs asking to keep noise to a minimum, really!
Just rode the trail today, very level and well kept. Beautiful homes and barns along the way. A lot of old RR signals and remains of buildings to see. Many parks and sports fields closer to Hellertown with a few pavilions. I went to see the trail first without my bike and I wished I had brought it. Defiantly worth checking out. I submitted a few photos. Thanks
Today I made it from South Bethlehem along the Greenway past the official end to a cleared trail that connects to the Saucon Rail Trail, without street biking. Coming from the Saucon Rail Trail, follow the trail past Water Street Park and turn left on the trail about a half mile down. This trail eventually connects to the unfinished South Bethlehem Greenway trail. Be careful of glass under the High Street Bridge. Coming from the other direction, when you reach the "End of Bike Trail" signs, turn left and go down the hill, then right onto the rail trail. Can't wait for them to finish this!
The Saucon Trail is a fairly short and fast trail. Not much in the way of scenery but if you are looking for a nice leisurely trail that doesn't require an entire day, this is it. It also works well if you are looking for a straight forward execise trail, it has a slight grade when heading from Hellertown towards Center Valley but not so much that you struggle the entire time.
We just finished a ride on the newly opened trail in Lower Saucon. What a nice ride along the old Reading Railroad. The trail runs through shady cuts in the hills to crossing several times over the Saucon creek. The surface was gravel but very easy to ride on. Crossing the roads is very well marked for safety. The only down fall is that upper saucon has yet to finish it's part. So lets get upper saucon to finish the job. Someday I hope the trail will link Hellertown to Quakertown.
Scott & Shelley Daniels
This trail is always in use when I go in the evening, not crowded as there is pleanty of room for walkers, joggers, and bikers to pass by each other... very social, extremely pleasant!
I agree with jfreeh's assessment with respect to the privacy fences. That does not, however, diminish the pleasure of riding this trail. Except for the access ramp at the Upper Saucon Park trailhead, this trail is nearly level with nice, fine gravel for the roadbed. The stone becomes a little coarser when you enter Northampton County and Hellertown but it is still an easy ride. For most of the length this trail is very wide, so lots of room to share with other bicyclers and pedestrians.
This trail is relatively new and not as of yet completed.
The surface, which is gravel and crushed stone, is easy to ride, so this would be good for walking, running, biking, baby strollers, and wheelchairs.
The short trail is pretty and level. Good for a beginning biker. At the Upper Saucon Township end of the trail, there are electronic crossing signs with lights/indicators to auto traffic that bikers/runners are near the crossing. The other crossing areas, Hellertown, have non-electric barriers, like saw horses at the road intersections.
I like this trail because it is close to home, easy to access, and is easy to ride.
I do get the impression that many of the local inhabitants that adjoin this trail are not happy that the trail is here. Many new privacy fences now line the properties that touch the trail's edge.
This trail will be even nicer, once it is extended/completed to Quakertown.
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