Connect Edgmont Hike: Okehocking Sunrise

Watch the sun come up over the gorgeous Okehocking Preserve.

Saturday, June 22nd at 5:30AM

Join Connect Edgmont for a sunrise hike at Okehocking Preserve! We’ll meet at the Delchester Road parking lot just before dawn, then watch the sun come up over the preserve as we walk together. After the hike, we suggest heading to the Country Deli in Edgmont for breakfast.

We’ll hike up and down steep hills and walk on dirt trails and mowed grass paths. The hike starts 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.)

All participants must sign an Activity Waiver. Printed copies will be available at the start of the hike.

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, June 22 at 5:30AM with a *RAIN DATE* on Sunday, June 23.
Okehocking Preserve, 996 Delchester Road, Newtown Square, PA 19073 (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 sunrise, we may postpone to Sunday if rain is expected Saturday morning. Facebook and this event page will be updated in the event of a change.