Escape to the Country

In accordance with the new plan, I headed out west today, inland into Pennsylvania. Tim, my host last night, rode with me along the Schuylkill River (that’s pronounced SKOO-kle) through Manayunk, which feels like a different town but is technically still part of Philadelphia.

Then I kept on down the Schuylkill River Trail until turning to cross into King Of Prussia. I ran into the Aldi and got as much food as I thought I could eat and squeeze into my bags. I was very hungry at that point and I ate an entire 2-pound carton of grapes and half a pound of salami.

After eating and resting by the side of the trail, I followed the Chester Valley Trail in its entirety. It’s a nicely paved trail that runs mostly parallel to US-202, a fact that you can never quite forget even when you have trees on both sides.

The trail runs out in a small town named Exton so I switched to quieter country roads, which are a bit hillier, and do more zigging and zagging, but are still a good riding surface. Later in the afternoon I stopped in a town called Downingtown, which has a beautiful park. I got a coffee and settled on a campsite.

The campsite was about 13 miles away, but there weren’t really any closer options (I knew it would be a long day because all of the campgrounds were a ways away from my main route and didn’t get too close to Philly). So I got back on country roads to Coatesville then turned up out of the valley on quieter and much hillier roads. It ended up being quite a bit of climbing but I got to the campground.

It’s a nice campground. Doesn’t seem to get many tent campers (just RVs) but they do have a couple tent spots, which is where I’ve been put. I set up my tent and ate as much food as I could. There’s plenty of facilities here, so I’ve refilled all my water and I even took a shower.

Route Map

Gallery