All The Dirt On Dirt Roads

This column originally appeared on Sunday, Nov. 25, 2007


Why would you think that I would just flat out tell you where he penultimate Chester County dirt road is?

Why would you think that after discovering it by accident on recent misty morning I would give up its location without so much as a second thought?

Why would you think that I would immediately spill the beans when the people who live and frolic on this rut-strewn cart-way have obviously gone to some lengths to keep their wilderness wonderland private?

Is that what you think of me?

Well, if that's the case then all I will tell you is that I was driving along a local highway on that misty morning, not truly paying attention to the road ahead, when off to the side I noticed a set of joggers running through a wooded area I had always thought as just a mess of native Chester County underbrush. The fallen foliage had made their presence clear; had they been running their route in mid-summer, they would have been hidden.

Being the curious sort, I made my way to the area I thought their hidden road would emerge. And there it was: a glorious stretch of prime country back road, with enough character to populate any Brandywine Valley picture postcard.

I knew it was designed to meet the requirements of Frost's a "less travelled road" for a number of reasons. First, the potholes marking the path were deep enough to hold cauldrons, and I remembered from my cub reporter days the folks who live up in the Mount Misery area of Tredyffrin begging the supervisors not to pave their roads, so that the tourist traffic would be kept to a low boil.

Second, dirt roads in Chester County mean, "Oops, you're off the beaten track." They don't put up new auto dealerships and banks and lifestyle malls on dirt roads around here.

And third - as Maxwell Smart might say -- was the sign on the post and rail fence that read "Posted: Private Property" within 10 feet of the road's beginning.

I knew the road was mean to be private because of its quiet, simple beauty. On the one side of the road was an outcropping of Wissahickon Schist, plopped there as if waiting for a passing watercolorist to notice it. On the other side sat a ruin of an old stone farmhouse, which I imagined had housed runaway slaves in their journey on the Underground Railroad And meandering all along the way the sight of the Brandywine Creek itself. The affect of the mist in the autumn trees made me appreciate its twists and turns all the more.

I say this is the penultimate dirt road in Chester County because I know you are wondering where the ultimate dirt road is. And just to get you off my back, I'm going to tell you.

Blackhorse Road, Chester Springs, West Vincent. Just don't speed.