Pennypack Trust Preserve

Date of Hike: Sunday. December 21, 2014

Total Distance:  *Approximately 7.25 Miles

Avg speed:  1.96MPH

Avg moving speed:  2.17MPH

Moving Time:  3:14:28

Total Time: 3:35:26

Conditions: Sunny, 35 Degrees

Difficulty:  Easy

*My GPS tracking app decided to freeze during my hike which I didn't catch for a short distance. Once I noticed it, I paused and restarted the app and it regained my GPS position. I'm estimating that I hiked about 1/4 mile before I noticed. 

I haven't been hiking in a while due to plantar fasciitis in my left heel but after a visit to a foot doctor and getting the ok, I took a trip to the Pennypack Trust Preserve. My last hike was at Ralph Stover State Park on October 19th. It felt awesome to get out again and I can safely say that my legs are tired! Since I haven't hiked in two months, I feel like I'm starting over again. It seems I need to regain some of the endurance I've lost since having to take a break from any kind of strenuous activity. 

This hiking adventure was actually at two different parks, the first being Masons Mill Park (about half way down the page) and from there, I crossed over the Pennypack Creek to the preserve. I parked at Mason's Mill Park:

3500 Masons Mill Road
Huntingdon Valley, PA 19006
GPS: 40.159341,-75.08046

I normally don't explore parks such as these but my intention was to take it easy since I'm still hurting from the plantar fasciitis so I decided to take a walk around the ball fields to start. It turned out to be a good decision. I started out heading north, then turned to the west along the border of the park.

Lion water fountain, can't say I've seen one of these before!

 I thought this was pretty cool. A mini village called Safety Town is a short walk from the parking lot. All of the buildings are made of cinder block and are about waist high (for an adult).

This park is actually pretty large with a playground, several tennis courts, a few baseball fields and at the very end, a small football field. This shot was close to the far end of the park looking back towards the parking lot. The pathway that leads around the fields is gravel or crushed stone.

 As you get to the far end of the park, it turns out there are trails leading into the woods. No twisting my arm needed to explore them!

I'm not sure where but eventually, the trail I was on disappeared so I ended up bushwhacking through the woods. Throughout the second half of the hike, I found smaller trails (likely deer trails), then back to wandering until a found another trail. I eventually ended up alongside the Pennypack Creek.

This threw me off a bit. What was a deer stand doing in the middle of the woods at a public park not known for hunting? 

I found a trail but it didn't last long, maybe about 40-50 yards and was back to bushwhacking again. I'm glad the woods in this area weren't too thick and the low lying areas were easy to walk around. Some parts of these woods were relatively soggy. 

Finally made my way back to the ball fields. It's hard to see but right in the middle, you can see a set of overhead night lights for one of the baseball fields. 

This answered my question about why there was a deer stand in the park.

 At this park, there's also a small archery target shooting area...

And a small pond with a few ducks. 

That was it for Masons Mill Park. After that, I crossed over the Pennypack Creek and headed west on the Pennypack Parkway Trail which runs parallel with Masons Mill Park and alongside the Pennypack Creek. My intention was to check out a dam further upstream but after a distance, I decided to wait for another day and turned around. I crossed over Masons Mill Road and headed southeast into the Pennypack Trust Preserve. Once you cross over to the preserve, the name of the trail changes to Pennypack Creek Trail. You can find a trail map of the preserve here (scroll down to the bottom of the page to download the PDF).

Section of the Pennypack Creek Trail

Tall pines alongside the trail

I found this to be pretty interesting. This is what's left of a fallen tree with a knot from the branch still intact. I don't think I've ever seen this before and if I did, just didn't take as much notice to it as I did this time.

This is one of the reasons I turned back from the Pennypack Parkway Trail and headed into the preserve. Since I started hiking in the early spring, I've also taken an interest in the history and landmarks of the places I visit. Although it's not labeled, this is the remains of a building that I walked past on my way to visit other landmarks throughout the preserve. There are 12 in total at the preserve, one of which is the dam I mentioned earlier.

Built in 1840, the Creek Road Bridge is the third oldest extant bridge in Montgomery County, PA and spans 34 feet across the Pennypack Creek.

I crossed over the bridge and continued south towards the next landmark. There's an old railroad that has now been converted into a trail for bikers, hikers, etc.

There's a better view of the bridge from the opposite side of the Pennypack Creek so I took a few more shots.

This is the railroad that has now been converted into a trail for pedestrians. I took this picture looking back towards the bridge I had just crossed since taking pictures facing south was tough due to the sun. It looks like pavement but it's actually a very fine gravel.

Looking across the Pennypack Creek, I believe this is the Webb Walk Springhouse that was used as a natural refrigerator in the 18th century.

This spot is known as Death Gulch. On December 5, 1921, two trains collided head-on creating a fire which resulted in 27 deaths and 70 injuries. At the time, rail cars were still made of wood. After this accident, wood framed cars were banned from being used in favor of steel. For more information on this train wreck, click here, here, and here.

The Shelmire Mill Dam, or what's left of it, was used to provide water power to several mills downstream on the Pennypack Creek, including one owned by George Shelmire. After the mills ceased operations in 1860, the dam was was no longer needed and was never rebuilt after a flood had breached it.

This section of the Pennypack Creek is known as "The Falls". When the Reading Railroad tracks were being built in 1878, boulders that were moved into the creek which rerouted and straightened it creating a narrow channel and the rapids you see today.

It's a bit hard to tell but there are cliffs to the east of trail but unfortunately, they're fenced off so there was no way to get to them for a closer shot.

Another section of the former railroad with rocks on either side. No history like the above pictures from when the train wreck occurred. Just figured I'd get some shots of the rocks. The above picture of the cliffs were to the east of these rocks.

This is the Paper Mill Road Bridge which is the second oldest extant bridge in Montgomery County, PA and was built in 1817. By the looks of it from the scaffolding in the water on the opposite side, the bridge is currently undergoing restoration. I would have taken pictures from the opposite side but there were people actively working on the bridge while I was there as well. I crossed over the Pennypack Creek and continued south on the opposite side to my next objective.

I'm not sure what this was but I thought it was pretty neat, likely built when the railroad was in or around 1878.

This section of the preserve is known as The Peak Woods. While there wasn't as much to look at as I thought there would be, the oak trees in this area are said to have been here  since the 1760's.

I took a shot of the tall trees as I was leaving the area.

By this time, I was headed north back towards my car and shot off a few more pictures of the Pennypack Creek.

On my return, I took some more pictures of "The Falls" from the opposite bank which provided a much better view.

Another shot of the Pennypack Creek Trail

This is a church of sorts although there's no mention of it so I'm not sure of its historical significance.

I took one last shot of the Webb Walk Springhouse.

That was it for my adventure. After taking a picture of the spring house, I headed back to the car. For my first time hiking in two months, it was a worthy adventure but at the same time, it was a bit costly. Both of my legs aren't used to the abuse and are sore as well as my foot still nagging me although not nearly as bad as it did in the past. I hadn't intended on going 7 miles but my interest got the better part of me and I kept going to explore more landmarks! The pain was worth the adventure though, and I hope to keep it going!

Happy adventures and happy hiking!!

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