Horsham Township Trail System
Horsham Trail System
The Horsham Trail System has become an important part of what makes Horsham Township such an enjoyable place to live, work, and raise a family. The goal of the trail system is to establish a bicycle and pedestrian network to serve the residents. Another goal of our trail system is to facilitate non-vehicular movement and provide ready access to locations such as parks, schools, the library, neighborhoods, retail centers, and business parks.
Horsham Township contains a unique network of trails. The trails afford residents countless opportunities for outdoor recreation and enjoyment. The Trail System preserves part of our rural atmosphere, fosters physical and mental health, and protects home values. The trails link various parts of the township and provide alternative means of transportation enhancing our sense of community and well-being. In short, the trail system makes Horsham Township a better place to live and work.
According to residential studies conducted in 1991 and 2003, trails of various types are more popular than any other recreation facility. The Township will strive to establish a well-integrated community-wide system in which trails work hand-in-hand with sidewalks as well as streets and roads that are safe for pedestrians and bicyclists.
(from Horsham Township Trail Map and Guide 3/2009)
Horsham Township - Power Line Trail to Extend through College Settlement
When the Horsham Township Council recently approved a trail license agreement between it and the Henry J. & Willemina B. Kuhn Day Camp, it did more than give a green light to a 1,500-foot ribbon of asphalt through the woods. It set in motion a plan two years in the making that will, for the first time, connect more than a thousand Horsham Township residents to trails and green spaces.
“This trail will connect the six or seven hundred homes in the Horsham Towne development, that don’t have any open space at all, to the Powerline Trail, Lukens Park and Everybody’s Playground,” said Assistant Township Manager William Walker. Eventually, Walker said, Horsham Towne residents will be able to reach the wider Montgomery County trail system right from their doorsteps.
The planned trail is part of a two-year project to improve Horsham’s trail system using a $1.4 million open space grant from Montgomery County and $310,000 of Horsham Township funds. Walker said the new trail extension is expected to cost about $130,000. The new section will run from Horsham Towne off Horsham and Dresher roads, through the Kuhn Day Camp off Witmer Road and connect to the Powerline Trail, which runs between Dresher and Babylon roads. Construction of the 10-foot-wide trail is expected to be finished in spring of 2010. The project will include a flashing pedestrian warning signal on Witmer Road.
The agreement to allow the trail to cross the camp property automatically renews every five years for 20 years, said Frank R. Gerome, executive director of the Kuhn Day Camp and The College Settlement Camp, both operated on 235 acres by The College Settlement of Philadelphia, which serves disadvantaged youth. “We have a very good agreement thanks to the great relationship between Horsham Township and The College Settlement,” he added.
Gerome said The College Settlement’s board of trustees supports the trail because it matches the organization’s overall goals.
“We’re in the fields of social service and environmental education,” he said. “Enabling this trail to happen really fits with our mission. The board feels like this is a joint venture that benefits everyone.”
Walker said the connector trail will be one of the finishing touches on what he called “the finest trail system in Montgomery County.”
“We think trails are important to making our township livable,” said Walker. “We want people to be able to get on a trail and go anywhere in the township or connect to the county trail system and eventually go to places like Valley Forge or Philadelphia. Having a walkable and connectable community is a benefit for alternative transportation, the environment and property values.”
Trail Map