Today’s Sunday Field Trip was to Valley Forge National Park, site of Washington’s winter encampment, where I got a taste of the winter of 1778. It was a tad cold. Unlike the Wissahickon, which is protected and not so windy, this site is completely exposed to the elements, and by elements I mean 20mph winds out of the northwest. Valley Forge has paved or semi-paved bike trails all around the perimeter of the old encampment, making up about 5 miles, I guess, as well as a wooded trail that follows Valley Creek. There is also access to the Schuylkill River trail and the Horseshoe Trail (which eventually links with the Appalachian Trail.) Today I just ran around the Valley Forge portion, sort of randomly, as I didn’t have a map or GPS. I ended up doing about 10 miles by following a figure 8 sort of route. Here’s my somewhat random route, and here’s my list of reasons to do this run:
Good all-around visibility makes it really hard to get lost (and easy to see the British coming.)
Many safe parking options for starting at various places
Ample sparkly-clean restrooms
Interesting scenery, including cannons and monuments.
Log cabins to get out of the wind!
An interesting Visitor’s Center with snacks and hot coffee and cheery volunteers.
And of course, pictures.
I'm Running As Fast As I Can 