Connect Edgmont Hike: Okehocking Preserve

Watch the sun rise over the gorgeous Okehocking Preserve.

Saturday October 22nd at 7:15AM

The Hike

Back by popular demand.. a sunrise hike! Please join Connect Edgmont for an early morning walk at Okehocking Preserve. We’ll meet at the Route 3 parking lot just before dawn, then watch the sun rise over the preserve as we hike together. After the hike, we suggest heading to the Country Deli in Edgmont for breakfast.

We’ll hike up and down large hills and walk on dirt trails and mowed grass paths. The hike will start at daybreak, so please note we’ll be walking in lower light conditions until the sun is fully up. Sturdy walking shoes are recommended. Children and leashed dogs are welcome.

This hike is 3.3 miles long. There will be an option to cut the hike short at approximately 1.5 miles and return to the parking lot on your own if a shorter route is desired. (See map below for details.)

Please note we are requesting all participants sign an Activity Waiver for this and future community hikes. Printed copies will be available at the start of the hike. Thank you!

The History

Did you know Okehocking Preserve was once part of the first Native American Reservation in Pennsylvania? In 1701, after being increasingly crowded out of their lands in Edgmont Township and surrounding areas, a local band of Lenni Lenape known as the Okehocking petitioned William Penn to set aside land that would belong exclusively to them. By 1703 Penn had moved the Okehocking people to a 500-acre parcel in Willistown Township, just north of the Edgmont Township line.

Source: *Edgmont, The Story of a Township*, Jane Levis Carter (1976)

The Preserve

The 180 acre Okehocking Preserve is located immediately north of the Edgmont Township border in neighboring Willistown Township. The Preserve “contains meadows, uplands, wetlands, Ridley Creek riparian areas, and mature woods, and provides passive recreation and about 7 miles of mown and wooded natural surface trails. […] The Preserve is protected from residential and commercial development by conservation easement held by the Willistown Conservation Trust.” ⁽¹⁾

Okehocking is owned and maintained by Willistown Township. It was purchased through funding from the Willistown Township Open Space Fund along with County and State grant programs. Please visit Willistown Township’s page to learn more about the preserve.

Time and Place:

Saturday October 22nd at 7:15AM with a *RAIN DATE* on Sunday October 23rd
Okehocking Preserve, 5316 West Chester Pike, Newtown Square, PA 19073
The parking lot is located between Delchester Rd. and Garrett Mill Rd. on the north side of Route 3 (Google Map Link)
Suggested breakfast after the hike: The Country Deli, 1176 Middletown Rd, Media, PA 19063

(We don’t usually set Rain Dates, but since the whole point of this hike is to watch the sun rise, we may postpone to Sunday if there is rain expected Saturday morning. We’ll update this page and Facebook in the event of a change.)