I wanted to go for a long hike on the Horse-Shoe trail this weekend, but sometimes life gets in the way. To keep it simple, we took Theo to the East Brandywine Trail. It’s an easy trail, but it is well maintained and offers more difficult paths if you choose.
The trail runs along the east side of the Brandywine river between West Chester and Downingtown. It’s an easy trail to get to with good parking on either end of the trail. On the south end, the trail goes through the M. John Johnson Nature Center. The north end goes through the Brandywine Meadows Preserve and in the middle is the Harmony Hill Nature Area.
The main trail is paved, but there are many dirt trails used by mountain bikers. The paved trail is mostly flat, and it’s a little hilly on the side trails. The southern half of the trail is covered by trees. The north has long sections in the sun. There are benches and picnic tables to take a rest, and there are trash receptacles along the trail. You won’t see much (if any) garbage on the ground.
Along the way is the Gibson-Harmony Hill covered bridge. The bridge is on Harmony Hill Rd. It was damaged in 2021 by a flood, but it has been re-opened for traffic. The traffic across the bridge is one way (going west).
If you build up a terrible thirst while hiking and you crave a delicious brew, you can stop by Victory Brewing in Downingtown or Iron Hill Brewery in West Chester.
Chester County has many well maintained trails to choose from. The East Brandywine Trail is one of our go-to trails when free time on the weekend is limited.
