In these uncertain times, we must find ways not just to keep mentally and physically active. We’re also tasked with staying “locationally” active.
Avoiding Cabin Fever has become our new reality. Thankfully our love of Nature-Hiking has allowed us to stay fit and get us out of the house. Trails like this we would classify more as “day hiking”.
We at Journey Moore Often are very fortunate to be surrounded by a lot of open space. As a result, parks and hiking locations (both known and unknown) have sprung up around us. The Chrome Barrens Serpentine Preserve is one such place. The Chrome Preserve is a quiet out of the way location off the beaten trail (pun intended).
We found it by typing “hiking near <insert your location here>” in Google Maps.
The Preserve
The 200+ acres are maintained by the Nature Conservancy and Elk Township in Chester County, PA. It is part of an open space preservation effort and has only been in existence since 2013.
Chrome Barrens Serpentine Preserve is home to some globally rare species. You can find them being tallied on the iNaturalist website.
The preserve is split up into three distinct sections, the main preserve, the lower preserve, and Pal’s Trail. The main and lower preserve are east of Barren’s Road, Pal’s Trail is on the west side of Barren Road. Pal’s Trail is easy to find if you know it exists. It starts directly across from the designated parking area (see parking description below). There’s a vehicle gate with a small path to walk around it.
The only reason we found out about Pal’s Trail was thanks to a pair of horseback riders we met while hiking Chrome Trail. One of the riders was introduced as “Pal”. He helps maintain the trails.
The entire preserve has areas for horseback riding, bicycles (non-motorized mountain bikes), and hiking. All all encouraged. There’s even a “geocache” location where you can find something that’s been deliberately hidden in the preserve at coordinates N39 44.350, W075 56.802. Geocaching can be quite a fun hobby if you love getting out in nature and enjoy the thrill of the hunt.
As with other similar preserves of this size and in this area, hunting is allowed to those who submit an application and are approved. So if you visit during hunting season, be sure to wear a hunter’s orange gear.
Chrome Trail
As part of the research for this post, we did ultimately find a map of the Upper Chrome trails. It took quite a bit of searching.
With no map available when we were there, we started down the trail with yellow markings, roughly heading southeast. We thought we may be able to find the lower part of the preserve from there. Ultimately we discovered it was a loop trail. Like a big circle.
Part of the trail emptied out into a beautiful meadow.
There were a surprising number of confluences throughout the lower elevations near Jordan Run.
In addition to the marked trail, we found side trails that we explored. Some were marked, some were small and led to a creek bed. Most trails were easily navigable, but once the undergrowth is established, they may be challenging.
On the north side of Jordan Run was an Amish farm. They happened to be harvesting when we were there.
Evidence of wildlife was fairly obvious.
Listening to water is one of Gary’s favorite aspects of nature. The babbling brooks we found while we were hiking the yellow trail were more numerous than a normal hike.
Chrome Trail is roughly 2 miles long with some elevation change. It’s not particularly difficult, but there are some minor challenges (see Helpful Suggestions below).
Near the end of this trail, we discovered it was called the Chrome Trail. The sign was facing away from the trail head, towards the parking area.
Laurel Trail
This trail had white markings and like other smaller preserves, shared parts of its trail with the Chrome Trail. We didn’t traverse this trail when we went, but only because we were headed in a different direction.
Pal’s Trail
Pal’s Trail It is a “lollipop” trail, having a fairly large loop. It started at the farm gate across the access road.
The total hike was around one and a half miles with slight inclines.
There were some muddy areas, and similar to the Chrome trail, a lot of spring crossings.
We had to wonder if the interesting flora that we didn’t see on the east side of Barren Road were part of the rare species on the preserve.
Considering the layout of the trail, it was well signed so that a hiker could easily determine their route.
From a level of difficulty perspective (of 1 through 5, 5 being most difficult), we’d rate this trail at about a 1.5.
Parking
This preserve is not the easiest to find. It’s on small road, and there are no signs to indicate you’ve found it. Between Google Maps and a Yelp review we were able to find the parking area. But this wasn’t where we thought we were going. We had downloaded a trail map for the Lower Chrome Serpentine Barrens Preserve.
The parking area was about a half mile north of that part of the lower preserve. There’s no sign on the street, so you need to keep a look out. It’s shortly after the abandoned airfield.
The lower preserve has limited access and was locked the day we visited. It doesn’t appear to have been maintained as of yet this year.
Helpful Suggestions
There are a seemingly unending number of spring/small stream crossings. Waterproof shoes (boots would be better) will prove useful getting through the mud and water.
While not totally required, those whose footing is less sure may want to utilize Trekking poles to assist with balance in with crossings and some of the spur trails.
Bug repellent will mostly likely be a must in the summer months. As we went in the spring bugs were not a factor. However, with the amount of standing water throughout the entire preserve, mosquitos will definitely be an issue when warmer.