22 March 09: Silver Mine Park
First walk of spring! Scanned the street map and found Silver Mine Park in Pequea Township.
Parked at the first lot on Silver Mine Road after turning off 324. This leads to the “Hike & Bike Trail” which ends up at a large loop around the pavillion (and right along Pequea Creek). Before completing the loop there is another path that parallels the one leading up to this loop but about 20 feet lower. After quite a distance this leads to another parking lot (from the map, the last inside the park) right on Silver Mine Road. Here I found a “trail guide” box that actually had maps…the one at the start of the pavillion loop was empty. Right at this parking lot is access to one of what appears to be a number of “real” trails. This is the “Red Trail” which partially follows the paved path but about half of it goes into a wooded area, skirting the baseball and soccer fields and connecting with a paved path around the pond south of Silver Mine Rd. (According to the map, there’s another pond on the other side of Silver Mine Rd.) From the pond there’s a path (really a dirt vehicle road) that reconnects with the main path not far from the parking lot I started out from. Other than being out of breath starting the Red Trail (the beginning is quite steep), I really enjoyed this walk.
The map indicates a total of 5.8 miles of trails. There are the Geology, Pond, and White Tail Deer Trails on the other side of Silver Mine Road, as well as Boy Scout Trail on the side I visited today. The map also shows a “Poplar Grove Trail” but I can’t quite figure out where it is.
My pedometer reading was a puny 1.3 miles, which can’t possible be anywhere close to correct. I certainly hope to get back to this park in the near future.