Читать книгу Rail-Trails Pennsylvania. The definitive guide to the state's top multiuse trails онлайн

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The trail uses the corridor of the Chester Valley Branch of the Reading Railroad, which was completed between Bridgeport and Downingtown in the 1850s; the line hauled freight into the late 20th century (passenger traffic ended in 1935). Work by Chester and Montgomery Counties began in 2009 to convert the railbed into a trail. Plans call for extending it westward to Downingtown. A planned extension eastward to Bridgeport, which includes a connection to the ssss1, will create access to Valley Forge National Historical Park to the north and Philadelphia to the south. The Chester Valley Trail is also part of the Circuit Trails, a developing 800-mile urban network of trails in Greater Philadelphia, of which about 350 miles are complete.

Woodlands screen the Chester Valley Trail from adjacent US 202.

The 10- to 12-foot-wide asphalt path, which is open daily, 8 a.m.–sunset, has a slight uphill grade from King of Prussia to Exton. A couple of mild, short hills face travelers in Malvern and just past PA 29. The trail parallels US 202, which you’ll barely notice as you travel through a wooded corridor that opens up to farmland approaching Exton.