Natural Lands' Stroud Preserve — Attraction in East Bradford Township

This place is one of the best kept outdoor secrets of the West Chester area. It is only about two or three miles out of town off of Route 162. You take the last left hand turn before the bridge that goes over the Brandywine River, (N. Creek Rd.) and it's about a quarter of a mile on the right. It's a beautiful 574 acre Nature Preserve. There's a great deal of things to see and do there. There are walking trails galore, up giant hills and down into valleys, through many densely wooded areas, and there are even several streams that start within the property, and empty into the Brandywine River. If you have an adventurous spirit and a little bit of patience, you can even follow these streams to their source, a tiny hole in the ground where water is just coming up to the surface. You may have to traverse through some pretty dense vegetation to get to that tiny hole coming out of the ground that initiates these streams. People come to ride their horses there, walk or jog there, walk their dogs, and sometimes people come to various nature studies on the plants and trees found there, and Painters sometimes come to paint various scenes that they see on the property. When you exit your car in the parking lot and head towards the Preserve, there is a very sturdy bridge that goes over the east branch of the Brandywine River. Some people come just to fish off of this bridge. Of course it is catch-and-release only. If you know where to look, you can even find several small ponds very deep within the woods. There used to be a fairly decent sized pond, about 4-5 acres in size, that used to be a big attraction for many people. This pond was drained about 5 years ago because of a study that was performed to determine the health of the water in the pond, determining it was highly polluted from a bacterial perspective. It was the hundreds of Canadian Geese that used to land on the pond at night and make their "Daily deposits" into the water, which caused this bacterial type pollution. A great deal of people used to come and fish this pond, or just walk around it looking for all the indigenous wildlife which includes Snapping Turtles, Snakes, various Amphibians, and lots of different types of birds as well. It was a sad day for many people after the pond was drained, because it was such a big attraction for them. Some parts of the Preserve are leased to local farmers who grow either corn or soybeans using a strip farming technique. Other areas of the Preserve are used by the farmers to just let the grass grow, which is then cut, bailed, and sold to local mushroom farmers to mix it with other substances, including animal manure, to create the soil that the mushrooms grow in. For those who may not be aware, Chester County is the mushroom growing capital of the country. There is an interesting story behind this grass growing in many areas of the Preserve. Because this is a nature preserve, they like to create areas for the indeginious animals to live, thrive, and propagate. Also, there are four species of birds, including the Red-winged Blackbird, that build their nests ON THE GROUND within these grassy areas, and raise their young there in their ground-bound nests. Because of this, the farmers are not allowed to make their first cutting of these grasses until mid July. This is to ensure that the four species of birds have had the time to get their young fledged. Go check it out sometime, take your dog for a walk, but don't forget to pick up after him or her when it's time to do their "solid" business. Because this is a Nature Preserve and not a Park, there are no bathroom facilities or trash receptacles. Be respectful of the land and leave no trash behind. Blaze your own trail, and see where it leads you. You may just be...

Our family was surprisingly disappointed.... it seemed to us that although there were a ton of dog walkers , the dog walkers were all on the same trail ( the main paved trail ) . We would have preferred to explore trails that were off the beaten path and not muddy but many trails are prohibited in allowing dogs ! Also, I didn't like seeing the huge power lines as it really took the beauty away . I found it to be overly crowded on the trail we were on ! Perhaps it was just bad timing . In addition ; I didn't see any public restrooms . I have no need to return. There are many other wonderful local...

BEWARE that when we tried to go to the preserve today (4/17/25) the stretch of Creek Rd with the parking area is closed, and the detour does not take you to another access point. We drove around in circles following the signs and there doesn’t appear to be another way in except on foot. The last time I was here it was great, but today we couldn’t even get in. So I’m sure the place is fine, but you can’t get there by car right now. I wish there were notices posted somewhere stating there’s no vehicle access. We wasted half the day trying...