Review of Ridley Creek State Park's Backpacking Trails

Ridley Creek State Park is a very well maintained, beautiful park with areas to suit just about everyone's needs. First I will Introduce you to the hiking trails for the backpack enthusiasts out there. There is a full twelve miles of designated hiking trails. These trails are beautiful I used to walk them, it seems forever ago. There is so much to see, it's almost like you couldn't see the same thing twice. Some days I hadn't even realized how far I had gone because the sights of the wildlife and historical sites were so enthralling.

Pennsylvania has an amazing 300,000 acres of park with an estimated thirty five million visitors a year. I am proud to say that in the nation, on October 14, Pennsylvania park system was ranked number one! There is a gold medal given out every two years. This medal is the highest honor a park system can receive. It is not just based on how the park looks, but on long range planning, citizen support and many other things. What better place to go backpacking than in a park which is within a system that ranked number one in the entire nation?

There is twelve miles of hiking trails, split into four different trails. I would say it falls in the medium range of ease. You will encounter fallen trees, rocks, etc. on the trails. If an easier hike is needed, or you would like to hike with a stroller there is five miles of paved trail as well. You can pick up a trail map in the office, or download and print it out here.

During your hike, you can pop in to see the beautiful 18th century village that still stands. There is also the Colonial Pennsylvania Plantation. For this there is a fee however, and no winter tours. All information needed about this can be obtained by calling: 610-566-1725. The official address for the park (there's two) are as follows:

Ridley Creek State Park
1023 Sycamore Mills Rd.
Media, PA 19063-4398
610-892-3900
Manager: Roger McChesney

If you are using GPS, use the following address:
351 Gradyville Road
Newtown Square, PA 19073

There is no fee or permits needed to enter the park, and the hiking trails are open year round. If you would like to end your hike with a picnic, besides the plenty of open space, there are designated picnic areas which come equipped with charcoal grills and pavilions with picnic tables, restrooms and playgrounds which are handicapped accessible. If going with a large group, these can be reserved up to eleven months ahead of time for a fee. There is no fee if you don't want or need to reserve space.

There is so much more to see and tell about this wonderful park than backpacking, but I fear I would take up one hundred pages doing do! For information on some of the wonderful activities offered by Ridley Creek State Park, please visit Ridley Creek Programs.

http://www.dcnr.state.pa.us/stateParks/parks/ridleycreek.aspx#trails
http://www.paparksandforests.org/downloads/Gold%20Award.pdf