Chester Creek Trail

Rail Trail in Delaware County, Pennsylvania

About the Chester Creek Trail

The Chester Creek Trail is a rail-trail in central Delaware County, Pennsylvania, Southeastern Pennsylvania.  The trail follows Chester Creek along the Civil War-era Chester Creek Branch line of the Pennsylvania Railroad.

When complete, the trail will run from the former SEPTA Wawa R3 station to Upland, PA. The middle section of the trail, consisting of 2.8 miles through Middletown and Aston townships, was the first to be completed in late 2016.  An official ribbon cutting ceremony was held on April 8, 2017 for Phase I.  Engineering design work  for the next phase, which will bring the trail further into Aston township, began in early 2019. 

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Latest News

Trail News:

March 20, 2019

On February 23, 2019 the Chester Creek Trail had the honor of hosting the @TheCircuitTrails, Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia, Bike Delaware County, and Delaware County Councilperson Kevin Madden for a hike on the next section of the trail, currently in the engineering design stage. This beautiful trail section will extend the trail to Bridgewater Road and features both beautiful water views and easy access to many surrounding communities. We appreciate the support of Delaware County and Aston Township for this and subsequent trail extensions, along with our wonderful co-sponsors.  #onthecircuit 

Delaware County Council has awarded the contract for the engineering work to be done on the Chester Creek Trail, Phase II to Wilson Engineering, the same firm that handled Phase I. When Phase II is complete (there are several steps before we get there!) the trail will run to Bridgewater Road in Aston.  Here is a link to more information on Aston Township’s website.

Announcement regarding septa Wawa construction near Lenni road

February 22, 2019

The Chester Creek Trail will remain open for use. However, the trail will not be accessible from Lenni Road. Lungren Road will be the closest trail access point during the Lenni Road grade crossing construction. Trail users are reminded
that no parking is allowed on the SEPTA owned property on Lenni Road – this is for public safety and the safety of crews working in and around the area. SEPTA Police will be monitoring the area and ticketing cars, if necessary.  More information about this project can be found here:

Elwyn-to-Wawa Service Restoration Project_August 2018 Project Update

Elwyn-to-Wawa Service Restoration Project_Fact Sheet (1)

History

The first known human inhabitants of the area where the Chester Creek Trail is located today were the Lenni-Lenape people, who were pushed out of the area by European settlers.  The region was granted to William Penn in 1681 by King Charles II, and townships were organized in the following years. Middletown Township was established in 1686 or 1687. The town of Northley was established in what is now Aston Township in 1682 and Aston was incorporated as a township in 1688.  Delaware County was separated from Chester County and became a county in its own right in 1789. Chester, a bustling center of commerce on the Delaware River, was the county seat until 1850, when a new and more centrally-located town called Media was built to replace it.

Learn More

The Chester Creek Trail is a proud member of the Circuit,  a 750-mile network of bicycle and pedestrian trails connecting people to jobs, communities, and parks in the Greater Philadelphia Region.  For more information, visit: http://www.circuittrails.org/

Support & Donate

Donate

Your membership helps maintain the Chester Creek Trail today as well as contributing towards future miles of connected trails in our community.

Please “like” us on Facebook, share the news about the trail’s progress, join us at upcoming volunteer events, and support your trail financially. While federal, state, and foundation money is often available for design and construction, Friends of Chester Creek will continue to assist with maintenance and other administrative costs. For example, in 2014, we incurred over $13,000 in engineering and legal bills during the final approval phases, and there are no grants available for these kinds of expenses.

If you prefer to send a contribution by mail, checks can be made out to “Friends of the Chester Creek Branch” and mailed to:  PO Box 2313, Aston, PA 19014.”

Friends of the Chester Creek branch is a registered 501c3 Charitable Organization.

Volunteer

Lend your support by signing up for our volunteer database. Tributes or other contributions are also very welcome, just indicate details in the contact form.

Special Thanks

We gratefully acknowledge the following special donations:
 
In memory of Steve Cosgrove by friends at Dunwoody Village in support of the Chester Creek trail.
 
In memory of Michael Fusco by Brenda and Frank Lamanna
Volunteer Form
Physical Membership Form

T-Shirts and Hats For Sale:

If interested, send an email to info@chestercreektrail.org with your name, phone number, and desired item/size, and we’ll contact you.

  • T-Shirts: $15
  • Long Sleeve Shirts: $25
  • Hats: $15

Happy Trails

The Chester Creek Branch

Location and Parking

The Chester Creek Trail is located in the heart of Delaware County, Pennsylvania in Middletown and Aston Townships.  The currently constructed Phase I is 2.8 miles in length and follows the bed of the former Chester Creek Railroad between Lenni Road and Creek Road in a roughly NW-SE direction.  The trail parallels and crosses Chester Creek multiple times with many water views as well as woods, cliffs, open farmland, and glimpses of the residential and industrial areas neighboring the trail.

Parking along the trail is extremely limited and may be unavailable at peak hours.  Additional parking will be included with subsequent phases of the trail, which are in the planning and design stages; updates will be provided as more information becomes available.  

Two parking areas are currently available:

  1. Knowlton Road, north of the intersection with Creek Road. Coordinates are 39.8768262,-75.4167702,222; use 249 W. Knowlton Rd, Media, PA 19063 with Google Maps.  Paved, 10 parking spots including one handicap spot.
  2. Informal parking made available by Middletown Township, on Mt. Alverno Road north of Route 452 (Pennell Road).  Coordinates are 39.8814655,-75.4269466; use 649 Mt. Alverno Road, Media PA 19063 with Google Maps. Approximately 20 parking spots on unpaved gravel, not fully handicap accessible.

The parking area on Lenni Road is no longer available as it is SEPTA property and being actively used for construction operations on the Wawa extension.   When complete in late 2021, the Wawa Station will have a 600-car lot.

Contact

For the most recent updates follow us on Facebook!

Chester Creek Trail Facebook

Send us an email: info@chestercreektrail.org

Email any of the board members (emails in Board and Governance Page)

Send us snail mail: Friends of the Chester Creek Branch, PO Box 2313, Aston, PA 19014

Call 610-565-1863 (email is preferred)  Please, only for time-sensitive matters, and not after 9pm