Rail Trail in Delaware County, Pennsylvania
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.
The Friends of the Chester Creek Branch Annual Meeting will be held at 7pm on Monday, August 26 at the Aston Community Center, 257 Concord Rd, Aston, Pennsylvania 19014.
We’ll have guest speakers to discuss trail expansion and other exciting new developments. Meeting notice with more details can be found here.
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.
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.
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/
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 continues to assist with maintenance and trail improvements. In the past two years, your support has enabled us to install over $30,000 worth of trail improvements, including benches, landscaping, a bike repair station, and dog waste bag stations. With your help, we’ll continue making improvements on the existing and new sections of trail.
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.
Lend your support by signing up for our volunteer database. Tributes or other contributions are very welcome, just indicate details in the contact form. FOCCB is eligible to receive matching gifts, too.
If interested, send an email to info@chestercreektrail.org with your name, phone number, and desired item/size, and we’ll contact you.
Happy Trails
The Chester Creek Branch
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:
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.
For the most recent updates follow us on 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