View Full Version : Horseshoe trail in PA ??
TheYoungOne
09-21-2010, 16:03
Anyone ever do the horseshoe trail in PA. I understand its a trail that leads from Valley Forge PA (outside of Philadelphia) and goes all the way Hershey PA, where it connects to the AT.
Its this trail worth a multi day trip, and can you camp along it?
Mother Natures Son
09-21-2010, 17:08
Yes you can hike it all the way but it's not a great hike. You see, it has seen little use over the years and the horses general tend to tear the trail up. I've been in sections that were so ripped up from the horses it looked someone bombed the sh** out it! No joke.
GoldenBear
09-21-2010, 17:38
I've hiked substantial parts of it in day trips.
> Its this trail worth a multi day trip
Depends what you mean by "worth." The trail has been, from day one, explicitly for both hikers and horse riders. In addition, a large fraction of it goes through populated areas. When these two are combined, there is very little in the way of interesting scenery, and very little wildlife you couldn't get in any county park. If there is anything approaching "wilderness," I've missed it.
> and can you camp along it?
For the most part, no. A few private and public campgrounds exist within walking distance of some parts of the trail. Other than that, camping along the trail is both illegal and (often) ill-advised.
Thinking of stealth camping? On most of the trail, it's impossible unless you have a cloak of invisibility.
Lest anyone thinking I'm bashing the trail, let the record show I've hiked over 100 of its 140 miles. I wouldn't do so if I didn't enjoy doing so. But I want to make clear it is NOT like the AT.
TheYoungOne
09-21-2010, 19:00
I see, so I'll keep that in mind. Good for a day hike here and there, but not a trail you would want to take a few days off to hike.
camojack
09-22-2010, 01:14
There are some places where you can camp along the Horse-Shoe Trail, but as has been mentioned, much of it (in Chester County at any rate) is in residential areas.
Personally, I've only ever ridden a horse on that trail...never hiked it at all. :o
stranger
09-22-2010, 01:21
PA has so many other amazing hikes out there that are foot travel only:
- Susquehannock Trail
- Black Forest Trail
- Loyalsock Trail
- Quehana Trail
- Laurel Highlands Trail
- Midstate Trail
- Baker Trail
Etc...............
I would not want to hike the Horse Shoe Trail from what I've seen and heard
TheYoungOne
09-22-2010, 11:26
Its a shame because there is another trail coming out of the Philadelphia area that leads to the AT, the Mason Dixon Trail. That leads from Chadds Ford PA at Brandywine State Park down into Delaware and Maryland to the Susquehanna, then along the banks of the Susquehanna, back into PA to the AT south of where the Horseshoe links with the AT. It would have made a nice circut for me.
The M-DT has some very scenic spots along the Susquehanna River Gorge but in general is less backpackable than the H-ST. I did hear recently (maybe a news story?) about a student at Shippensburg walking from there to Philly on the H-ST but can't remember the link or recall the means of support.
I've started several threads with links to information provided by the maintaining organization and newspaper articles.
Several hiking clubs in southeastern Pennsylvania hike there on occasion. Participating in their hikes would no doubt serve to provide an introduction.
Strategic
10-23-2010, 19:11
I posted this a while back, but it's pretty far back in the pages by now, so I'll link it here. I developed a Google Earth track for the H-ST a couple of years ago by day-hiking most of it. Here's the original thread (http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/showthread.php?t=41265).
I have been trying to figure out for years if it's possible to thru-hike the H-ST, but it still seems dicey unless you're willing to stealth in what is certainly an illegal manner. I'd love to try and find if landowners along the way at critical points could be persuaded to allow camping on their land (maybe with advance notice to keep down casual campers who aren't actually hiking the trail) but haven't had the time to even try that nor to try and work with the H-STC to answer that question. If anyone knows more on that it would be a great thing, since this is still a pretty endangered trail (despite great work in recent years by the H-STC to preserve and improve it) and anything that could get more people to pay attention and use it would be a help.
Wise Old Owl
10-23-2010, 21:13
The trail is a sad cry from what it was years ago, it was rumored to go from Philadelphia to the AT. Today the start at Valley Forge up at Mount Misery is very disappointing. Home Owners have built twenty foot deer fences right up to the trail and in someplaces its less than two feet wide. Builders and urban crawl have all but killed the trail in the Chester County area. Several times builders have purchased the land plunked houses on both sides and paved the trail into a road, a circle, and named their crap creations after the trail. Homeowners say screw the right away and post plastic notices every five feet to stay away sometimes right over the blazes. The trail has been frequently relocated around these problems, most of the time right back on the backroads, and there the trail is very dangerous. In one stupid incident A elementary school was placed (built) on or bordered the trail at Charlestown Road and then the School District placed signs of NO Horses or Dogs directly on the trail.
http://i250.photobucket.com/albums/gg275/MarkSwarbrick/DSCF3399.jpg
http://i250.photobucket.com/albums/gg275/MarkSwarbrick/DSCF3404.jpg
To Pick up the trail and have a good experience go out to route 23 Knauertown park at Warrick Park and pick up the trail as it winds back to St Peters. Start at 40 D 10' 07.56 “N --- 75D 43'14.47” W and track west through the parks. Be careful some blazes go in different directions and the reality is its an animal trail.
camojack
10-24-2010, 19:22
All right, that's it! Let's plan a thru hike of the Horseshoe Trail; Valley Forge is a mere 4 miles from "La Casa de Camo". :eek:
(My rambling estate)
oso loco
10-24-2010, 20:53
All right, that's it! Let's plan a thru hike of the Horseshoe Trail; Valley Forge is a mere 4 miles from "La Casa de Camo". :eek:
(My rambling estate)
We section hiked the HST in the early 90's. Never had any desire to go back and do it again.
Wise Old Owl
10-24-2010, 21:11
We section hiked the HST in the early 90's. Never had any desire to go back and do it again.
I didn't realize camo jack was a neighbor and Oso you summed it up perfectly.
Wise Old Owl
10-24-2010, 21:14
My concern is that what went wrong with the HS trail can still happen to the AT, think about all the sections that have been relocated to date.
camojack
10-25-2010, 00:26
We section hiked the HST in the early 90's. Never had any desire to go back and do it again.
Now I just want to do it out of spite for the encroachers. :-?
(Is that a word? :confused:)
I didn't realize camo jack was a neighbor and Oso you summed it up perfectly.
My locale is on display... :rolleyes: