Southeastern PA Hiking: John James Audubon Center at Mill Grove

Date of Hike: Saturday, March 28, 2015

Total Distance: 8.21 Miles

Avg speed: 2.34MPH

Avg moving speed: 3.11MPH

Moving Time: 2:38:22

Total Time: 3:30:36

Conditions: Partly Sunny, 35 degrees

Difficulty: Easy, Moderate

It's been my objective to hike the John James Audubon Center at Mill Grove (also known as the Audubon Wildlife Sanctuary) for about a month and this past Saturday, I finally made it out there. It was a chilly and windy day but as always, the adventure was worth braving the cold. Instead of parking at the Audubon Center, I chose to park at the Station Avenue parking lot alongside route 422 (the same one I parked at when I hiked the north side of Valley Forge).

Approximate address is:
1303 Pawlings Road
Phoenixville, PA 19460
GPS: 40.1141019,-75.4554758

As previously stated, the parking lot is actually on Station Avenue but if you use the above address, you'll be able to see the parking lot easily on your approach. If you want to park at the Audubon Center the address is:

1201 Pawlings Road
Audubon, PA 19403
GPS: 40.1239068,-75.4424842

Ironically, even though the above address is on their their website, when you plug it into Google Maps, it places a marker a short distance from the entrance to the Audubon Center. Trail maps are provided at the center but if you'd like to print one before you go, you can get one here.

The Audubon Loop Trail is 4.5 miles long and wraps around the perimeter of the Audubon Center, crosses over the Perkiomen Creek, then through the Lower Perkiomen Valley Park. A section of this trail is also part of the Perkiomen Trail which is 20 miles long and runs from Oaks, PA to the Green Lane Park in Green Lane, PA.

From the parking lot on Station Avenue, I crossed over 422 heading in a northeast direction. The first leg of the journey is right alongside Pawlings Road so there isn't much to look at other than buildings or highway. Looking across the street, the first building you'll see is Saint Gabriel's Hall. Originally called the Philadelphia Protectory, this building was opened in 1898 and is home to troubled boys between the ages of 10 to 18. It was renamed to Saint Gabriel's on July 6, 1962.

As beautiful as this building is, I've driven past it probably hundreds of times over the years but never took a picture of it because I knew what this place was/is. For some reason, I never liked the idea of taking a picture of a place where troubled children are being placed due to behavioral/drug related problems.

On the same side of the road towards the back of a field, several crosses are in the ground similar to a graveyard although I don't think that's what this is. Unfortunately, I can't find any information on what it's about and will update if I do.

The Mitchell Program is a part of the troubled teens (ages 13-18) program of Saint Gabriel's Hall where skills are taught to these teens including horticultural, animal care, and competency skills.

Llamas at the Mitchell Program Farm Community

The 4.5 mile Audubon Loop Trail is paved so the moment I had an opportunity to jump off and explore natural trails, I took it. Just after you pass the Mitchell Farm is where the Audubon Center property begins. I took a turn to the northwest and headed towards the trees in the back of this meadow. This section is called Lucy's Trail.

Most of the trails at the Audubon Center are in pretty good condition. During this time of year, they're a bit on the soggy side but that's to be expected after the rain we had earlier in the week. It is spring after all!

Trail Marker on Lucy's Trail

Lucy's Trail splitting off in two different directions

Despite the lack of color during the winter and spring, there are benefits to going hiking other than being outside and enjoying Mother Nature. Not having leaves and greenery on the trees allows you to see much further into the woods than you'd be able to during the summer. I have no idea what this contraption is but it looks like some sort of machine gun stand. I'm still trying to figure it out and once again, will update if I do.

Sadly, there was also a lot of trash out in these woods, much of it being glass bottles like you see in this picture. They looked to be pretty old so I'm guessing they were dumped by previous generations of litterbugs. I picked some of it up until I realized I didn't have a bag (or bags) big enough to haul it all out.

A woodpecker was hard at work on this tree!

It seems to be a bit on the strange side that in the middle of the woods there would be a patch of what looked like bamboo but there it was.

Some sort of evergreen ivy plant was growing on this tree. It's not often you see green this time of year so I took a shot of it looking straight up.

A short distance down the trail, I noticed this chimney about 30-40 feet in the woods so I decided to check it out.

This motor made by Delco-Light is/was a generator (also known as "plants") for producing electricity before power lines were run to rural homes. In 1930, only 10% of the rural population of the US had electric power. One of President Roosevelt's "New Deal" programs during the depression was the creation of the Rural Electric Administration (REA) in 1935 and in 1936, the Rural Electrification Act was passed by Congress.

The REA's job was to run power lines to all rural homes and by the beginning of WWII, close to 50% of rural residents had electricity. During WWII, Delco-Light converted all of their production to the war effort and by the end of the war, the REA had completed their job of providing electric power to rural America which led to a drastic drop in the demand for the Delco-Light plants. In its prime, Delco-Light plants provided electricity to one million farms throughout the US.

Delco-Light began producing generators in 1916. Due to the efforts of the REA and providing electricity to rural America, the last Delco-Light plant was produced in 1947. I'm in the process of trying to dig up some more information about this generator and if I do, once again, I'll update with what I find out.

Once I was done taking pictures of the generator, I checked out the remains of this building. There wasn't much left but a few concrete staircases with small patios on either side, a hole in the middle from what used to be a basement, and this chimney.

Remains of the basement entrance.

As I was taking pictures of the above remains, I turned around to see yet another chimney. There wasn't much left other than the chimney of this one.

I noticed a lot of what looked like coal on the ground in front of this chimney but as I turned around, I spotted what was left of this charred tree. I'm not sure if this is coincidence or not and there seemed to be a lot more coals than what could have been produced by a single skinny tree. This was the only tree in the area that was charred.

Turning back towards the trail, I shot of a few more pictures of the chimney. In the background is the Perkiomen Creek and dam.

Remains of an old bench

I made my way back to the trail and continued in a northeasterly direction towards the main part of the Audubon Center.

As you begin to approach the Audubon Center, there was a chimney swift tower created specifically for the purpose of providing a new home for them.

I like how all the branches were scattered all over the place

At this point, I was getting pretty close to the main road that leads up to the parking lot of the Audubon Center. Like a lot of other sections, this part of the trail (Wildflower Trail) was pretty soggy.

Along the main entrance roadway and in the fields nearby, there are a five of these bird sculptures throughout the area (I missed one somewhere). These sculptures are of North American birds that were driven to extinction. Created by Todd McGrain, each of them are made of bronze, stand over 6 feet tall, and weigh approximately 700 pounds. The sculptures are part of a traveling exhibit and have been at the Audubon Center for almost a year. If you'd like to get a look at them, they will be there until sometime this month (April).

Looking at my above tracks, you can see that I changed directions numerous times throughout my hike, this was one of the reasons, along with finding ruins of homes with chimneys!

Heath Hen

Labrador Duck

Parking lot entrance for the Audubon Center. Sorry pet owners,no pets allowed.

Carolina Parakeet

Passenger Pigeon

I'm not really sure what this is supposed to be but giving this is a wildlife sanctuary that shows a particular specialty in birds, this may very well be a home created for barn swallows or other types of birds.

I love how the stone walls were built here and the old shed how it was covered in some sort on vines. The building to the left is I believe a barn that was possibly built sometime in the 1800's.

Wind sail on the top of the barn

What I didn't take a picture of and probably should have was the house on these grounds that John James Audubon lived in from 1803-1808. The house itself was built in 1762 and changed hands several times until Samuel Wetherill purchased it in 1813. The house remained in the Wetherill family until 1951 when it was sold to Montgomery County. The home has since been converted into a three story museum. Currently, the museum is closed because it's undergoing renovations but if you're interested and when it re-opens, as of right now the cost of admission is $5.

John James Audubon came to Mill Grove from France in 1803. Before his arrival in the US, he already had a particular interest in birds and had been making crude drawings of his findings. While at Mill Grove, he spent a great deal of time hunting, sketching, collecting specimens, and exploring the hills around the Perkiomen Creek and Schuylkill River. During this time, he also further increased his skills as an artist and became a pioneer in portraying birds and other wildlife in their natural settings. If you'd like to see some of his artwork, Audubon created a book of paintings called Birds of America.

For more information about John James Audubon, click here and here.

On the opposite side of the museum, there's a hill leading down to the Perkiomen Creek. I walked down the hill and went in the direction of the dam first.

At the bottom of the hill and closer to the dam is this small stone bridge. I crossed over it but didn't go much further.

Spring is slowly approaching! Now, if the weather would warm up a few degrees...

Looking at the stream from the small stone bridge

I doubled back and walked alongside the Perkiomen Creek until I got to this old building. Inside it was a large Chrysler engine that looks like it was used to pump water to the home at one time. Although I am curious, I didn't do any research on this engine or when it might have been built since I didn't look close enough to see if there was any usable information that could be used to trace its history. Perhaps next time.

After looking into the "engine room" I was on my way back into the woods and took one last shot looking back to where I had just been. Not too far from here, there's a Birding by Canoe program where you can explore the Perkiomen in groups of 10-21 people (10 is the minimum) for two hours at any time of your choice. Provided are the oars, canoes, binoculars and a guide at a cost of $300.

Heading back into the woods!

The next set of ruins I found was this old spring house. Unfortunately, there's no additional information about it.

I walked inside the spring house to the opposite wall to get a shot of the staircase leading out.

I crossed over these bridges then headed up a hill towards the Perkiomen Creek . Along the way, I took one last shot of the spring house. This area is called Lucy's Trail.

Looking upstream from one of the bridges.

I went in the opposite direction of this bridge

View from Lucy's Trail looking down towards the spring house

Lucy's Trail with the Perkiomen Creek in the background

This was about the steepest part of the trail and it was a relatively small hill, the rock in the background is called Lover's Rock.

Somewhere in here was where things got a little bit on the confusing side. A few pictures up, you'll note that there was a trail marker and there's another in the below picture as well. Unfortunately, with a few exceptions, the trail markers throughout the sanctuary are all pretty much the same color so they don't correspond with what's on the trail map, and they also don't provide much help with directionality. Normally when there's a turn in a trail, you'll see two hash marks pointing in that direction.

There are also some trails that aren't marked on the trail map, one of which runs directly alongside Mill Run (small tributary flowing into the Perkiomen). The trails are easy to see but they also shoot off in several different directions so getting to the one you want can prove to be a bit of a challenge.

Instead of turning where I was supposed to, I followed the trail I was on until I reached the Audubon Loop Trail and these old copper mine ruins. While the mines were still in service, this chimney was part of what remains of a steam pumping house that kept groundwater out of the mines. By the mid 1800's, the mines were no longer profitable and were closed in 1855.

Since I had reached the Audubon Loop Trail sooner than I wanted to, I turned back towards the sanctuary to continue my exploring. The trail I took was running alongside the Audubon Loop Trail for a distance until I reached a bird watch and again turned back towards the sanctuary. I also got a little bit mixed up here as well and turned around a few times before finding the trail I wanted to be on.

I had to skirt around this puddle, it was too wet for me to want to walk through.

I finally figured out where I was again and headed back into the woods

Shortly after, I finished exploring the sanctuary (for now) and returned to the Audubon Loop Trail. As I was walking along the trail, I looked to my left to see several deer about 30-40 feet away. They actually stayed put long enough for me to shoot off a number of pictures.

After taking pictures of the deer (they finally ran off), I followed the Audubon Loop Trail northward until I made my way to the edge of the sanctuary and Egypt Road.

Looking downstream on Mine Run

Bridge over Mine Run

At this point, I was taking pictures looking back since Egypt Road is pretty close and I didn't want it in my pictures.

The Audubon Loop Trail crosses over the Perkiomen Creek on Egypt Road. The water was a little bit on the muddy side from the rain we had earlier in the week.

Once you cross the Perkiomen Creek, you're no longer within the property of the sanctuary and are in Lower Perkiomen Valley Park. From here, it was the beginning of returning to my car.

Map of the Perkiomen Trail

This section of trail is a combination of Audubon Loop and Perkiomen Trails.

The moment I saw a trail that wasn't paved, I turned off the pavement to have a look. It also brought me a little closer to the creek.

This is an unfortunate story. On August 3, 2005, a few teenagers were attempting to swim across the Perkiomen Creek and sadly, one of them, a 16 year old by the name of Paul Hunter, drowned while attempting to do so. It's a shame such a young kid with his life in front of him drowns while swimming. From the information I found and other than the depth of the water at the time which was about 12 feet, the current in this part of the creek is not dangerous and no signs were posted to prohibit swimming.

Approaching the dam. Being so close and hearing the sound it makes reminds you of the awesome power of water, especially when a river is slightly flooded as it was when I was there.

Continuing down the Perkiomen/Audubon Loop Trails

I was getting close to being finished with my hike for the day. The road/bridge you see is Station Avenue where the Audubon Loop Trail crosses over the Perkiomen Creek back to the parking lot.

The trail turning to the right is the one I was going to take but for the moment, I walked past it and to the other side of the Station Avenue bridge. I shot off a few more pictures and turned to head back to the trail that leads across the bridge.

The Schuylkill River Trail is also in this area

One last shot of the Station Avenue bridge

Station Avenue bridge crossing over the Perkiomen Creek

Looking upstream on the muddy Perkiomen Creek with 422 in the background

Looking across the bridge and downstream on the Perkiomen Creek, too bad there was a fence in the way!

I'm not really sure what this was at one time but it looks to me like something that held power lines.

Ok, so I took one more picture of the bridge!

Almost back to the car. If any of you read my blog post about the north side of Valley Forge, you may recognize this spot since it was my starting point, only I was going in the other direction and there was snow on the ground.

Parking lot is just up the hill!

One last picture before calling it quits for the day.

That was it for my hike at the John James Audubon Center at Mill Grove (and Lower Perkiomen Valley Park). Giving its proximity to Valley Forge, this place is also relatively rich with historical information (some of which I have yet to find out) so it was well worth the trip, as most hikes are regardless of historical facts. I do plan to return once the museum re-opens but it won't be anytime soon since there's plenty more to explore in the area. Very nice place, the trails were in decent condition (no fault of theirs, rain doesn't stop for anyone), and quite a bit to see regardless of the season.

I hope you enjoyed the tour and until next time, happy adventures and happy hiking!

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