 |
Haverford Heritage Trail |
 |
 |
|
Come experience the natural beauty and heritage of our community!
Step into history along a fourteen-mile loop trail on paths and existing roads, past many historic and recreational sites.
The Haverford Heritage Trail highlights many (though certainly not all!) historic sites in Haverford Township. Follow the trail loop on foot or on bicycle as it winds through the township and its history. Over thirty sites are numbered starting at the Grange Estate in the southeast part of Haverford, but you can start anywhere and cover as much or as little as you want. Fifteen parks are also included.
Small marker signs, bearing the Heritage Trail logo shown above, are placed along the route to help you stay on track. Look for them on street sign and traffic sign posts, and on trees along off-road trails.
In addition to the main trail route, several "option" routes cover additional sites. Option trails exist for Beechwood Amusement Park, Haverford College, Steel Road (on-road option for bicyclists) and the Narbeth estate.
Note: At the present time, some trail portions do not yet offer a continuous route. Specifically, the creekside trail segments along Darby Creek above and below West Chester Pike do not connect with each other. You can start at Site 25 (Lawrence Cabin Original Site), or at Merry Place or Steel Field in southwest Haverford Township, and go counterclockwise on the trail map from there.
 |
A detailed interactive trail map, including an individual screen for each site with images and descriptions, has been created to help people navigate the Heritage Trail. It is designed to be accessible "in the field" using web-enabled smart phones, tablets or laptops. In this way, users can conduct their own personal, customized guided tours while out on the trail. This on-line guide gives street addresses and GPS coordinates for each site, for use with automobile and trail GPS devices. Parking information is provided to enable you to determine where you can start or end a partial exploration of the trail. The “Arcadia Book Page” entries provided for each historic site indicate what pages, if any, cover the site in the book Haverford Township, Images of America by the Haverford Township Historical Society (Arcadia Publishing, 2003). This photo-filled book is available through the Historical Society. |
Creation of the Haverford Heritage Trail has been a joint project of the Haverford Township Historical Society ( www.haverfordhistoricalsociety.org) and the Friends of Haverford Trails. Jaden Sargeant of Llanerch Boy Scout Troop 434 directed and led the creation and placement of the trail marker signs as his Eagle Scout project. Materials for the signs were purchased with funds from the Northwest Civic Association. Dan Sherwin of Troop 434 later handled clearing and beautifying of the Powder Mill Park historic marker site and the macadam path past it at Manoa Road and Karakung Drive. Members of Phi Kappa Sigma at both the University of Pennsylvania and Temple University aided the cause with work service days. Our thanks go to all for making the trail a reality.
Explore, exercise and enjoy the Haverford Heritage Trail!
Click the image above to watch a YouTube video of the ribbon-cutting ceremony on June 10, 2012.