Hike #526 11/21/10
The group at the edge of a quarry in French Creek State Park
11/21/10 Birdsboro PA area loop with Jillane Becker, Jason Itell, Nilam Shah, Ron Phelps, and Wyatt Hassler
Getting all dressed up for the hike in Pottstown PA
My next hike would bring us to Birdsboro PA, to hike a loop route in Berks County to connect with previous Horseshoe Trail and other hikes in the area.
Jillane and I, who were staying with her mom in Mt. Olive at the time, decided to head down to the area the night before and get a hotel room in nearby Pottstown PA, to be close to the beginning point.
After meeting at a little mini mart in the middle of Birdsboro, we shuttled cars to a parking area along Armorcrast Road.
We walked along a path directly from the parking area out along the Schuykill River. I had thought this might have been part of the Schuykill Navigation Canal system at one point, because the Hay Creek was to our right in a widened area that seemed unnatural. I still don't know what exactly it was.
Old woods road path between Schuykill River and Hay Creek in Birdsboro PA
We followed this path to where the Hay Creek hit the Schuykill but then had to turn back because there was no way across. We passed the cars and then walked along Armorcrast Road heading east. This road section was the route of the Schuykill River Trail, as was marked by signs in the area. It headed directly to an abandoned building. I soon was able to determine that what we were on before actually wasn't the former canal, because it was right to the right, or south of the road we were now walking.
Abandoned industry, Birdsboro PA
Abandoned industry, Birdsboro PA
We headed straight for an old factory of some sort, but just before we reached it the trail took us past a little parking area and then along some of the old Schuykill Canal towpath. Where it was not so obvious that it was the canal before, at this point it was very obvious. The trail didn't stay along it for long, as it turned off to the right heading up hill a bit.
Former Schuykill Canal in Birdsboro PA
Schuykill River Trail, Birdsboro PA
The trail ascended to an abandoned railroad right of way and then turned left following it to the east. This was the "Thun Trail" section of the Schuykill River Trail. We didn't follow this section any longer, instead turning right following a section of the same old rail bed not utilized by the trail.
Abandoned rail line in Birdsboro PA
We skirted back yards to the left, and then came to where there must have at one time been an underpass that was filled in. We climbed steeply up to cross East Main Street in Birdsboro. Across the way we could see where the rail line would have continued through a cut that was filled in. There was a funeral home I believe on the left as we crossed with a giant tree in the yard we just had to stop to climb.
Giant tree in Birdsboro PA
Climbing in Birdsboro
Climbing, Birdsboro PA
Climbing a tree, Birdsboro PA
Climbing, Birdsboro PA
Climbing, Birdsboro PA
Climbing, Birdsboro PA
Climbing, Birdsboro PA
Climbing, Birdsboro PA
Climbing, Birdsboro PA
Factory view from Main Street, Birdsboro PA
Old rail route through Birdsboro PA
I think we walked Center Street and First Street, descending into the residential section of the town of Birdsboro. We passed an abutment of where the railroad used to make a crossing, and we could see some fill, but this section had been pretty well obliterated. It joined up with another trackage section that was still in use heading south from Birdsboro to a quarry area. We joined this active line at the old Birdsboro train station.
Birdsboro Railroad station
Birdsboro station
Looking at the old station, it was obvious that it was not sitting on it's original location. It's base was now made up of like a cinder block, not the original stone that such a station would most certainly be placed on. It also made little sense to be sitting where it was so far away from the existing tracks. Even if there was a siding for it, I couldn't see it being practical. It was probably moved from the obliterated section or from away from the active line.
Birdsboro Station
Birdsboro Station.
We walked all around the building to check it out. It looked like sections facing the roads were done up and restored quite nicely while the other sides were a bit run down. At least it was good to see efforts gone into trying to restore this historic structure.
Birdsboro Station
Business in Birdsboro PA
We headed south on the tracks parallel with Hay Creek Road and passed by some businesses that had some rather obvious signage not to park trucks on the railroad tracks. Certainly our own home towns would have some of these oddities we don't notice, but it's always fun to see new and interesting little towns from an outsider's perspective.
Birdsboro PA
We didn't notice it at first, but there was a nice trail section parallel with the tracks down below us to the left along the Hay Creek. We didn't walk it, instead opting for the railroad tracks which stayed parallel with Hay Creek Road above us. While walking this section of tracks we found some bags of clothing and stuff that had probably fallen off of a truck or something. I think Jillane got something good out of it but I don't remember what.
Railroad tracks heading south from Birdsboro PA
We continued south, and the railroad bed had a sort of quarry dust pathway across the center of the ties. Usually the railroad ties are quite a trip hazard, but on this one we were able to easily walk the width of a foot path along the center of the tracks. We joked that an old guy we saw walking the tracks pulled pockets full from a nearby quarry every day in order to make his walk easier.
Old play ground in Birdsboro PA
Old playground in Birdsboro PA along Hay Creek
After crossing Hay Creek Road followed by Cocalico Road, as well as the creek itself, we began to parallel a park to the right side. This park took up the land between the Hay Creek and the railroad tracks with Hay Creek Road now on our left. Jillane was immediately drawn to it because it had one of those old playgrounds that was not forced into lameness as a result of liability concerns. It had old pipes to climb through, high curving metal sliding board, and more.
Playground, Birdsboro PA
Playground, Birdsboro PA
Playground, Birdsboro PA
Playground, Birdsboro PA
Sliding board in a park in Birdsboro PA
Jillane called me down to her to check out the old playground. She is always able to pick out the great little nuances of old playground construction and how it was so much better than the crummy new stuff. We walked through a bit of the playground, and I found a big pumpkin to smash.
Interesting ladder on the slide, Birdsboro PA
We got back onto the tracks and then crossed Hay Creek Road yet again, and the gorge the rail line and creek passed through became much deeper and narrower. The rail line was on a shelf along the left side of the creek, and we stopped so I could smash up the pumpkin I'd been carrying. We continued along the rail line until we came to the north side of a quarry area.
Railroad heading south from Birdsboro PA toward a quarry.
There were signs everywhere warning not to continue because there was blasting going on. We ignored this for a bit and just continued until the rail bed opened up and there were rail cars parked on it. We bushwhacked off of the grade from here and down to the creek where we found a good place to cross.
Abandoned Hay Creek Road
We soon reached the abandoned section of Hay Creek Road. Just to the north of here the road was cut off because of a missing bridge over the Hay Creek. We continued south along the road abandonment which continued to parallel the railroad tracks.
Abandoned Hay Creek Road south of Birdsboro
The railroad tracks to the left soon became abandoned, as they were only used as a spur to reach that quarry above us. We continued along and saw where some of the road had collapsed into the creek to the right. Some effort had been made to keep it open to pedestrian traffic. I later found out that the site was a Berks County Park known as "Birdsboro Waters".
Abandoned Hay Creek Road
We continued until we came to where there was another bridge missing for the road over Hay Creek. Also, to the left there was a bridge missing for the former railroad line. We could easily have walked across the water, but it would have meant getting our feet wet, and at this time it was getting a bit too cold for that to be enjoyable. Above us to the right we could see an abandoned concrete building.
Abandoned building from abandoned Hay Creek Road
Jillane walked to the right while I was trying to see how we could go about getting across and came across something awesome: a cable bridge. This cable bridge was not a swinging bridge or anything with a deck at all, it was two simple wires crossing the river attached to trees. We were able to carefully edge our way across the creek on this without getting wet.
Cable crossing of Hay Creek, Birdsboro Waters
Cable crossing of Hay Creek, Birdsboro Waters
Cable crossing of Hay Creek, Birdsboro Waters
Cable Crossing of Hay Creek, Birdsboro Waters
After crossing, we turned right for a bit and checked out the abandoned concrete building we were able to see before. It had an open garage area straight ahead which didn't have much to it, but to the left we could head up along a pathway that took us into the building's upper level. I met a young couple here that I talked to for some time about abandoned buildings and such.
Abandoned concrete building, Birdsboro Waters
Abandoned concrete building, Birdsboro Waters
Abandoned concrete building, Birdsboro Waters
Abandoned concrete building, Birdsboro Waters
The others went ahead of me for a bit out to an abandoned quarry area that is a popular spot with climbers. I made my way over and saw that they were along one of the old roads following the south edge of the quarry walls. We reassembled and headed back.
Abandoned quarry, Birdsboro Waters
Concrete building, Birdsboro Waters.
After passing by the edge of the concrete building again we followed the old road back down to former Hay Creek Road, and on the way we passed some interesting outhouses, or restrooms, whatever you want to call them. They were open for use of the public, but they were unlike any other public restroom I'd ever seen.
Restrooms in Birdsboro Waters
Restroom in Birdsboro Waters
Restroom in Birdsboro Waters
Hay Creek at Birdsboro Waters
We continued back to Hay Creek Road; we saw where the old rail line once crossed the creek on a trestle here. I walked up to the fill on the former south side and fought through some weeds. The road continued parallel with it to the east, so everyone else walked that. I then crossed another connector road back to the main road and we got on the railroad bed heading south.
Rail bed in Birdsboro Waters
The right of way was good and clear, my favorite kind with a simple black cinder dirt bed wide enough for two people to walk side by side. We continued south on a shelf close to the Hay Creek, and we soon passed by what appeared to be the ruins of a dam that once spanned the creek, or some sort of berm.
Berm on the Hay Creek
Rail bed in Birdsboro Waters
Birdsboro Waters
There were also grades breaking off of the rail bed, which looked like they might have been secondary spur railroads, maybe narrow gauge quarry rail lines. I'm really not sure, but they were substantial looking enough, and we could even see the remains of bridge sites.
Washoued out rail bed along hay Creek
Ropes in place to get hikers across the washout on the rail bed along Hay Creek
Washed out rail bed along Hay Creek, Birdsboro Waters
Hay Creek where it washed out the old rail bed at Birdsboro Waters
Where Hay Creek washed out the rail bed in Birdsboro Waters
We soon came to a point where the railroad bed ahead was badly washed out. Everyone except Jason and I left the rail bed. There was a parallel road or right of way of some sort above us to the right. Jason and I opted to try to continue following the badly washed out rail bed ahead. Someone had tied clothes lines to the saplings along the embankment above the washout to keep hikers from falling down into the stream, so we made use of this and were able to cross the washout with really no problem. It was actually more interesting than anything else trying to navigate this section.
Base of what was probably an ore car along the old rail bed south of Birdsboro PA
We continued along the railroad bed heading along the Hay Creek further south. It remained in pretty good shape, and eventually crossed a driveway leading up to a house to the right. We continued on through without incident. We could see a few houses across the creek to our left, as now Hay Creek Road was an open road again. The narrow gorge began to open up into a wider valley, and as we neared farm lands there was an old root cellar of some sort to the right of the trail.
Some sort of root cellar a ways south of Birdsboro
In an old root cellar of some kind
We headed over to check it out, which was pretty cool. Pretty soon the rail bed opened up and was being used as a farm access road. We hurried on by, and it led us out to Rock Hollow Road. Jillane and I had gotten pretty far ahead of the others, and not wanting to draw attention to ourselves we just crossed the road and continued.
Rail bed near Rock Hollow Road
The other side was very badly overgrown. We paralleled the rail bed to the left along a fenced in field in order to get through. There were some very curious adorable cows out in the field that all just ran over toward us to see what we were all about. We continued along this field section and were able to regain the railroad bed once we were back into the woods.
The rail bed took us to a spot where it was badly washed out, where a creek must have passed beneath it but whatever pipe or bridge once was at the site was now gone. Jillane and I were again very far ahead, and we descended, then ascended the other side and made our way out to White Bear Road to wait for the others to catch up.
Once everyone had caught up we took a bit of a break together for snacks before moving on. The rail bed ahead was clear, and it was a short stretch from White Bear Road to cross Hay Creek Road next to a house. Again, we hurried by.
On the other side of Hay Creek Road was another clearly posted area, but we chose to ignore it and scurry away from the road. A driveway below us was in clear sight to the right, so if anyone wanted to cause us any problems we would surely be seen. We passed a home pretty close by and a lake below us to the right on a nice section of rail bed. We then continued to move away from the home and past a firing range to the east of us. There was no one in sight here, so we were alright.
Old rail bed just north of Scarlet Mills PA
Old school bus along the abandoned rail bed at Scarlet Mills.
We continued from atop a fill into a cut, and soon reached the old farm overpass that is the route of the Horseshoe Trail where I had last left off in this area. On the previous trip, we followed the Horseshoe Trail to here, then this same rail bed south to Elverson. This time we'd retrace our steps along the Horseshoe Trail back to the south.
Horseshoe Trail bridge crossing over the abandoned railroad at Scarlet Mills PA
We climbed up to the farm road and the Horseshoe Trail and followed it southbound, heading up hill first through a somewhat overgrown field and then into some woods up to Mullen Hollow Road passing a view along the way. We then turned left and right back into the woods and slowly moved away from development.
View from the Horseshoe Trail, Scarlet Mills PA
We continued gradually ascending until the trail leveled off, then it descended past the old building near an empty pond, and skirted the edge of a hillside out to an old woods road, one of the blazed trails of Birdsboro Waters. We continued up hill on the Horseshoe Trail and passed a few other connector trails before leaving the Birdsboro Waters property and descending on to the firing range north of French Creek State Park. We took a little break here near the pond at that site.
Pond at the firing range north of French Creek State Park, Horseshoe Trail PA
We waited here for a bit and were soon joined by our old friend Wyatt Hassler, who had not hiked with us in some time. He showed up wearing a blazer similar to the one I was wearing, which was rather funny. It was strange to see him driving his own car out to meet up with us, since I'd known him since he was 13. Together, we continued on the Horseshoe Trail into the Six Penny Creek vicinity of French Creek State Park.
Lenape Trail in French Creek State Park
We stayed on the Horseshoe Trail until we reached Scotts Run Road and then turned left onto the Lenape Trail. This led us out to near the camp ground area within the state park where we took a break. I believe I went in and took a shower which was certainly nice, and always is.
Me in the restroom shower facilities at French Creek State Park
We then made our way along the camp ground roads to the northwest to the south part of the Six Penny Trail. We followed this trail gradually down, switch backing toward the creek valley. Most everyone but me was taking short cuts because the trail had been rerouted from it's original rutted course. We continued to the bottom of the hill and turned right along the woods road leading out to Rt 345, Chestnut Road.
View from the top of a quarry at French Creek State Park
We crossed the road and followed another woods road into a section of the park that was marked off with "No Trespassing" signs. The woods road led us to the rock ledge, a vertical cliff at the edge of an abandoned quarry with fantastic views northeast toward the Schuykill Valley and Monocacy Hill beyond.
Quarry in French Creek State Park
Quarry in French Creek State Park
Quarry in French Creek State Park
Quarry in French Creek State Park
Quarry in French Creek State Park
After admiring the fantastic view, we turned right and descended along the edge to the lower end of the quarry. We came to a woods road that circled this old quarry and followed it out to the south end where the quarry could be walked into, and there were ruins of old buildings.
Old building ruins near the abandoned quarry
Abandoned quarry building
Where a road went into the area, we found the abandoned rail spur that once serviced it. We were able to follow it clearly past one of the abandoned quarry buildings high above what must have been a creek outlet near the quarry. The right of way remained clear through an open area and then entered woods.
Abandoned railroad spur to the old quarry
The right of way was now not really used we could see. No ATV path followed it, we just went into a cut, and then onto a large fill over a creek. We didn't try to keep following the right of way much longer because it appeared to come much too close to someone's house. They had trailers and other junk all parked on it, so we descended off of the fill and then up to the height of the land to the right.
Abandoned railroad spur north of the quarry and French Creek State Park
Abandoned quarry spur rail line
Turning off of the railroad bed to avoid private land
There wasn't much undergrowth, but we still continued on to a utility right of way and used it to take us east to Shed Road. We then turned left and followed the road down hill.
The rail bed soon came out of a residential area on the left and crossed Shed Road. It very closely paralleled it to the right barely into a couple of yards. It wasn't really worth trying to walk it until near the intersection with Crusher Road. Here, the rail bed had one clear section and then crossed Crusher Road where it was used as a private driveway.
Former quarry spur rail line now a private driveway
There was a nice fill the right of way crossed, with a cool trestle over a creek now utilized by the driveway, but we weren't going to try to do it. We turned right continuing on Shed Road/Crusher Road (whatever it is) out to Rt 724. Wyatt kept trying to jump on my back being silly; he had joined us acting very subdued, but was now acting more like the Wyatt I knew.
At the next intersection, Wyatt took the opportunity to goof on religion a bit as always, then we turned left and reached the Thun Trail section of the Schuykill River Trail where apparently there used to be a road bridge.
Praise the Lord
The trail was paved and provided extremely easy walking. We soon passed the site where the quarry spur rejoined that former main line, and it was apparent it would have been tough trying to follow it because it was so overgrown. It was also getting dark now. We crossed a driveway in this area and I was surprised to see the amount of bollards used to block vehicle access.
Schuykill River/Thun Trail
We soon crossed Rt 724 again, and there was some heavy construction going on across. We couldn't even tell where the Schuykill River Trail was supposed to go. The maps showed that it continued on the railroad bed, but this looked rather obliterated at this point, like it was made to be a trail and then closed. We walked across the construction site and soon reached the former Schuykill Canal towpath and opted to walk that for a while instead.
A bridge crossed over the canal eventually and we crossed to regain the Schuykill River Trail. This simply led us out to where we were earlier in the day, on the trail section that took us back down to the canal and then to Armorcast Road. We walked back along the road past the abandoned factory as the full moon rose above it.
The moon shines over birdsboro
It didn't take us long to get back to our cars to finish another great hike.
Jillane, Wyatt, and I went out to eat at Subway. It's amazing there are so few good places to eat in such a pretty well developed area.
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