Sunday Marsh Creek Ride

Today I rode 9.7 miles to Marsh Creek State Park. The Fantom 29 performed flawlessly.

I usually have my Sunday rides at Springton Manor, but today I want to see if I can add Marsh Creek to the mix. I like to keep my Sunday rides to about 1 hour so I can get it in before church.

I hit the streets for about 2.5 miles to get to the trail entrance on Chalfont Road.

Then I took the quarry trail. Several months ago a huge tree fell on the quarry fence as you can see from the picture on the left.

Then I rode down the old railroad bed down to Lydell Road.

This fence is on Lydell Road. It is called Virginia Worm Wood fence. I built a lot of this style fence when I worked at the Gettysburg National Park when I was a teenager.

I then rode the railroad bed back to Marshall Road. It takes you to this gate which is on Marshall Road near Rt 282. I then took Rt 282 home.

I did a little research about the old railroad bed. It was part of the East Brandywine & Waynesburg Railroad which opened in 1854 to connect Downingtown to Honeybrook Borough along the Brandywine Creek. It was acquired by the Pennsylvania Railroad in 1861 and extended to New Holland (Lancaster County) and eventually to Lancaster City where it joined the Pennsylvania Main Line. It is now abandoned and will one day be part of Struble Trail.

When the Struble Trail is completed, it will travel from Downingtown through Lyndell, Cornog and Glenmoore, passing near Springton Manor Farm and Struble Lake before ending near Honey Brook Borough, for a total length of sixteen (16) miles.

Named for the late County Commissioner (1976-1980) and longtime Executive Director of the Brandywine Valley Association, teacher and conservationist Robert G. Struble, the Struble Trail was created from the rail bed of the former Waynesburg Railroad.