Horse-Shoe Trail Eastern Terminus

The marker here marks the eastern end of the Horse-Shoe Trail, one of Pennsylvania's most distinctive long-distance footpaths. Established by the Horse-Shoe Trail Club in nineteen thirty-five, the trail runs about one hundred forty miles from this point near Valley Forge all the way northwest to the Appalachian Trail on Stony Mountain, passing through five counties: Chester, Berks, Lancaster, Lebanon, and Dauphin. The trail was conceived as a horseback riding route as much as a hiking trail, reflecting an era when equestrian recreation in the Pennsylvania countryside was still common. Valley Forge anchors the eastern end for good reason: the surrounding landscape of rolling hills and historic farmland makes it a natural gateway into the heart of the Pennsylvania Dutch region and the state's long ridge-and-valley terrain.