When we awoke this morning and glimpsed an ultra-beautiful day outside, EV6 and I determined we could not simply roll on with our typical Tuesday morning errands routine.
EV6 has been agitating for a return trip to Morris Arboretum’s Tree Adventure, but I find their admission to be a bit steep for what’s on the grounds – especially when we’re members of the massive Longwood Gardens! Still, I liked her plan of getting outside and being surrounded by trees.
Then, I remembered reading a Philly.com article about the newly-opened Chester Creek trail, a newly rehabbed stretch of old train tracks that’s not far from here. The article unhelpfully didn’t provide a website or an address for the trail, but it linked to The Circuit Trails, a very pretty and mostly useless website that also lists trails without directions or maps, but links to ChesterCreekTrail.org, a site about the trail without directions or a map.
Wow, this internet thing is pretty hard to do!
Luckily, Circuit Trails linked to the actually useful TrailLink, which revealed the mysterious and previously quite secret location of the the Chester Creek Trail! It was about a half hour away, and I didn’t relish the idea of an hour of car time to take EV6 on her first hike, which might spectacularly fail. Luckily, TrailLink makes it easy to search for other trails in your area, and we found a pair less than half that far from our house!
(By the way, the addresses of the two ends of the Chester Creek Trail are North – 439-446 Lenni Rd, Media, PA 19063 and South – 249 Knowlton Rd, Media, PA 19063).
The trail we chose was The Darby Creek Trail, a single mile of completely paved trail running north alongside 476 from where it crosses Route 1. Not only was it short, paved, and nearby, it included another feature that won EV6 over: a playground!
EV6 was so excited by the prospect of a hike plus playground that I think it was the fastest we’ve ever left the house in the morning!
As for the trail, I’d call it more of a pleasant jogging path than a hike, but it’s ideal for practicing with little legs because of the brief length and the even, asphalt-covered ground. That also makes it ideal for kids to practice riding their bikes, especially since there are no interruptions to the trail or sharp curves!
There were a few attractive stopping points at the creekside where families were fishing or dipping their toes. The creek was surprisingly unspoiled for lying just a few yards from the side of a highway (it’s shielded by a high retaining wall), and the white noise of the rushing cars actually added to the feeling of seclusion.
EV6 decided that she ought to use the mile as interval training. After all of her sprinting, by the end of it she was pretty wiped out and begging for her snack of apple sauce. I don’t think it had quite sunk in that we needed to reverse course and re-walk the entire mile to get back to the car! She wouldn’t have made it back if not for the promise of some playground time at the end.
While the walk itself wasn’t so thrilling, its proximity to a ton of our Route 1 errand locations makes it likely we’ll use this for our morning exercise on cool, sunny days like this one in the next few months. Plus, we’ll be back later this week to enjoy a bike ride!
Darby Creek Trail’s address is literally “Darby Creek Trail,” Havertown, PA 19083, but you could also dial in the playground, Merry Place, 600 Glendale Road, 19083.
