We absolutely loved hiking here. The Ollie's playground for kids was the cutest thing and so much…read morefun. It was clean and quiet and overall, a really nice trail.

ChesLen is relatively HUGE compared to other Natural Lands preserves. 1282 acres of Wyethesque…read morelandscapes everywhere you turn! Ironically, for the size of this place, it had one of the smallest parking lots I've seen at any of the other Natural Lands preserves I've visited. A rain storm cut my visit short, but I did get close to an hour of the meadow trail. If you visit on a sunny day, be ready for extreme sun exposure because there is very little tree shade along the trails I walked. Also, the mowed meadow terrain is lumpy and uneven in spots, and I'd have appreciated my hiking boots over the sneakers I wore, for ankle support. Again, I can't speak for the full 1282 acres, but the ambiance closest to the parking lot and trailhead, is pretty but lacks the variety and depth of character that many other Natural Lands preserves possess. It's kind of just plain old field. I appreciate plain old field, but having been to other preserves, I prefer the ones with woods and clearings, stream crossings, hills and valleys, etc. But, if you want to paint a Wyeth scene, this is certainly your place! It is a popular occurrence at Natural Lands preserves for locals to visit with their dogs off leash (in discordance with preserve rules). This preserve was no exception. In fact, it is so casually disregarded, Natural Lands was recently looking to hire someone, specifically, to visit all of the preserves and enforce the leash rule. As a dog mom, I understand the desire to not have to fuss with leash tugging, and be able to watch their furry joy running "free," but these rules are in place for everyone's safety, including your own (and your dog's). ChesLen is great for hiking boot walks, dogs on leash, and birding or butterfly watching. It is not accessible for handicapped people, strollers, bikes, etc. Babies have to be carried (as in backpacks) if in attendance. While more rugged in a countrified way, the land itself is peaceful and serene, and fun to photograph or paint!

Binky Lee Preserve in Chester Springs is a very picturesque and peaceful preserve. Like all Natural…read moreLands properties, it is very clean (free of litter), and trails are well maintained. The parking lot is paved, but is a little cramped, and can fill up easily because it's not very big, and this seems to be a more popular preserve. Other visitors here were friendly and many had dogs, but everyone respected leash rules and picked up after their dog. There are a number of inclines, so while the meadow is normally easy walking, the areas where it gets hilly are too steep to recommend this for disabled people (other NL preserves are good for that). This was, however, an easy enough walk for kids and dogs. You are perched up on a hillside, when you reach the apex of the meadow, and the views are very cool of nearby "mountains" of Chester Springs. down the hill, there is a wooded area with some bridges and an old stone springhouse, etc. as bucolic scenery. It is a very picturesque preserve, great for photos.

This place is a hidden little gem, great for walking your dog and trying out a new place to enjoy…read more It doesn't have a proper path, it feels a bit more like a hike than a trail walk, but certainly worth the time to just get to know a bit more of our beautiful Chester county landscape!

Terrific trail! I've been going to my YMCA for a number of years, and I've seen this trail attached…read moreto the parking lot but have never actually taken the time to explore it. Today, when I pulled up, I saw way more people than usual on the trail. I thought to myself, "I'm here early. I got time. Let's check it out." Glad I did! It was about 1.25 miles down to West Chester Pike, so roughly a 2.5 mile loop from the YMCA. Great little paved path to get a warm-up walk/jog in. It is flat and paved the whole way, so it is handicapped accessible. Lots of doggo walking and bike riding. I recommend it!

Great walk, nicely shaded by the beautiful trees, slight incline and nice paved surface. Perfect to…read morepush a strollers. One con lots of bicycles speeding through. Very pretty.series of benches at the beginning and the end, ironically none in the middle when you need to sit down, Saw one garbage truck drive through.

My main use of the Haverford Reserve Trails is for walking the dog. The trails provide a change of…read morepac E for the dog, some good exercise and lots of interesting smells. This is a leashed trail by rule, you will occasionally run into an off leash dog which is usually no big deal, but a bit of a hassle nonetheless. Parking is simple, the trails are safe and is a close by destination to get the dog outside!

Easy and beautiful trails with great scenery. Once you've passed the blue route, the noise of…read morenature takes over. Deer, chipmunks and squirrels are frolicking around. Disc golf course can be "human loud" on the weekends.

NOTE: Google gives the address of "Spring Water Ln" for this preserve, however, the only access I…read moreknow of is off of 252 (explained below). I am not sure exactly when this land opened as a preserve, although by the new empty bulletin board, and lack of parking lot or signage, I am guessing it is pretty recent. I learned of Newtown Meadow Preserve only because I saw it listed as a location for twilight meditations through Newtown Square Friends Meeting. Ohhh, that's what that long driveway between Episcopal and Liseter is! This preserve is a 50-acre parcel that I guess was a conciliatory part of the agreement when the grotesquely large development of Liseter was approved. At the entrance, and at various points from the meadow trail, you can see the sprawl of townhomes, but deeper into the property, that view does fade into nature. The views of Episcopal, thankfully, fade too. (The trail that circles the perimeter of the Liseter development, does segue with the preserve, allowing residents easy access to it.) The preserve's trail is indicated simply by mowed lawn, amidst the tall wild grasses. There are small portions of gravel in places where terrain is difficult to navigate without it, or near any small bridge, etc. There is boardwalk area over wetland spots. Otherwise, this is a meadow walk on grass. I did not see any preserve rules, but I would assume bikes are not allowed. This is a field atmosphere, for sure, with very little tree cover, so be aware in the summer months, that you will be hiking in direct sun. While it's a bunch of meadows, they are hilly meadows, and you will be climbing some decent inclines. During bug season, there are BUGS! It would be nice if future plans included the release of nematodes or a bat house to control bug population. As mentioned above, the entrance I used was the long driveway directly off of Route 252 / Newtown Street Road, between Liseter and Episcopal. It gets tricky how to access it. - First, you cannot make a left into the driveway if you are headed north on 252. - Headed north, you will have to proceed to the circle at St. David's Rd, making your way around to the left, then under the overpass, then back onto 252 south. BEFORE your lane merges with 252, the driveway will be on your right. - Headed south on 252, you need to hang right at the split by Episcopal, down to the traffic light at St. David's Rd, and then proceed forward as though merging back onto 252. Again, as above, BEFORE your lane merges with 252, the driveway is on the right. - I recommend going slowly after the light at Episcopal. The driveway is EASY TO MISS if you are not familiar with the area. I have taken photos to show what you're looking for. Again, no signage as of the time of this review. - If you are familiar with the historic octagonal schoolhouse, the driveway is a smidge past that. There is currently no parking lot for the preserve. The road just dead ends, with preserve entrance on the left, and an access road for Episcopal on the right. I parked on the grass near the preserve trailhead, which is hard to see from the road, because it's behind a hedge of trees. As mentioned on the township's website, this land is part of the Ridley Creek State Park watershed, and is important to bird wildlife. The township plans to remove invasive species, with the aid of Simone Collins Landscape Architects. So, while open and available for use, this preserve is still in transition. Hopefully a parking lot and signage will happen in short order. NOTE: When exiting the preserve onto 252, you cannot make a left. If headed north, you'll have to turn around farther down the road. Not-so-fun Fact: This preserve is on the former John DuPont "Foxcatcher Farm" estate, where he resisted arrest after murdering Olympian, Dave Schultz, in 1996.

Crum woods is a lovely area to take a stroll; walk or hike through! I saw bicyclists; families…read morewalking their dogs and swimmers in the creek! Crum Woods has something for everyone! I enjoyed coming upon the outdoor amphitheater during my exploration..but I will see this be prepared for the different elevations on your walk! Be prepared and be agile! Overall, it is a great area to enjoy nature!

This probably belongs in "hiking" and "parks" and "pets" if there is such thing…read more.. We were looking for good places to take the dog where she could run around (preferably off leash) in grass or leaves or something. There's a website, believe it or not, for hiking with your dog, and this spot was in the top ten. I was semi-familiar with Swarthmore as a college, but had no idea they had all of this random land quasi-on-campus that was available for public use. Bonus: apparently it's Swarthmore spring break. Empty campus + lots of available visitor parking + relatively empty woods = dog in overjoyed exhaustion. There seem to be plenty of visitor-access parking lots around, we basically found the first one on campus and wandered over to the Scott Amphitheater. Our limited information indicated that there would be some kind of network of trails in that general region and that once we hit said trails it was kosher to let the dog off leash as long as she was under "voice control." As we made our way toward what looked like the beginning of a trail, we met a very nice woman and her very nice collie. The collie was on leash, but had clearly just enjoyed a nice dog-exhausting walk. We wandered a few yards down the trail and let her loose: bliss. There isn't really a single trail to a destination or a loop or anything like that. We took several forks, backtracked, wandered down what might have been a trail or might have been just random leaves having fallen in a semi-path, etc. There's plenty of space to explore and the trails range from 100% level and easy going to a bit more rocky and climby oriented. I didn't see any maps or other signs of civilization/development, but we followed various trails to what I think might have been the edge of Scott Arboretum. (Five different specimens of twelve different kinds of holly -- all labeled -- tipped us off.) Near that area is a pretty big meadow/clearing with some random stone-henge-looking arrangements that made a good place to stop and play fetch for a bit. The review we read on the dog hiking site seemed to indicate drinking fountains and dog bowls, but I didn't see anything like that, so if it's hot and/or you plan to be out for a while, bring water (your dog will be fine though, as there's a fairly clean looking stream/creek right alongside many of the paths). We ran into five or six other dogs -- all off leash -- during the approx. three hours we wandered around. Everyone was super-friendly and their dogs were excited to enjoy some random play as well. It's a bit of a hike from Philly (too bad Septa won't allow dogs), but worth it for some non-dog-park variety, I think.

Nice park with kids play area, easy hiking trail, and creek access for my 5 year old!read more

There is no better off the leash dog park period. Great walk also the area is totally beautifulread more

When I heard my library had the Brandywine Museum and Conservancy pass available, I contacted the…read moreconservancy office to ask if preserves are accessible with this pass. Happily, they are, and I was finally able to explore this place without trespassing (which I don't do). This is right around the corner from my home, and fills the gap of wilderness between developments along the Easttown Township, and Newtown Township border. The entrance is off of Waterloo Rd., down a gravel driveway, to a parking lot. There are three trail loops, which connect, and can form a larger perimeter loop, if you want the full tour. I did that full circumference of the property, merging the outer paths of all three trails from their map. My pedometer said it was about 2mi for that outer loop. I discovered two bridges along Darby creek, some woods, and a lot of meadow. It is a serene and picturesque preserve. Over Labor Day Weekend, after some rain, I felt that cold air coming up from the ground, that dissipates into humidity in the warm upper air. It's an interesting and connecting feeling with nature, that is a lot more pronounced when seasons change. Years ago, I was a guest on some of the land closer to the St. Davids Rd end of the preserve, when it used to be farmed, before most of it became a development, so knowing that history, why there are a lot of clearings, it surprised me to find some random tree species, like Walnut, Catapala, and Paw Paw, but maybe that is more because my nearby property is covered in Tulip Poplars, and little else. Point is, this variety of tree species was a fun surprise, and I am sure there are a lot I missed, and will find in subsequent visits. Waterloo Mills is open until dusk, and I went around sunset, which made some beautiful colors in the sky. No one else was there, and this time of evening, I saw a lot of activity from rabbits and deer. If you visit after a rain, there are a couple of lower lying areas that got a little squishy, so hiking or rain boots are recommended when wet, but otherwise, this trail is very walkable in sneakers. I much appreciate that the paths are very wide, keeping me and my little one safe from ticks, and offering plenty of space for my toddler to play around as we walked. There were definitely mosquitoes, though. Despite bug lotion all over us, the mosquitoes were still everywhere. If you keep moving they won't bother you, but if you pause for anything (a photo, a deep breath, etc.) you will be eaten! So in warm months, beware. I did notice a lot of bird houses, which I'd hope helps, but I think they need some bat houses to really combat the mosquito issue (and/or nematodes). Dogs are not allowed at this preserve. While I understand many reasons behind such decisions (protection of wildlife and terrain, and liability, are probably the biggest), I cannot give a full 5 stars because dogs are part of my family, and it can't be a full family walk without them. That said, I do understand how unscrupulous and downright abusive many dog owners have been in recent years at preserves, parks, and other places that do allow dogs. For example, dog families have allowed them off leash, when not permitted; they have failed to clean up waste; and I have even been to a number of parks (from NJ to FL) where dogs are expressly NOT allowed, and people bring them anyway. So I fully understand why this rule happens, but as someone who makes the effort to follow rules, who leashes/cleans after my dogs, etc., I wish things could be different. All in all, this is a very well maintained, completely litter free preserve, that is protecting some valuable greenspace near my home, and I am so grateful to Brandywine Conservancy for doing so! Join Brandywine River Museum, or check out your library passes to give them a visit!