This tour covers the northern and eastern parts of Chester County. It is a long tour, but a particularly rich one, with three of the five best must-see bridges in the Philadelphia area (in our opinion). These unique bridges will be indicated with strong emphasis.
Route: From Philadelphia, take Interstate Highway 76, the Schuylkill Expressway, west to Interchange 26. Execute this hair-raising exit (thanks, PennDOT) to Federal Route 202, and take the first exit at Pennsylvania Route 252. Turn left, and go south on Devon State Road, jogging just a little to the left and continuing south on Waterloo Road to Route 252.
Turn left, and then turn right at The Square Tavern, Delaware County's tourism office and a historical landmark, onto Goshen Road. Bartram's Bridge will be on the left.
Continue west on Goshen Road, which changes its name to Strasburg Road, and then merges with Route 3. Turn right on Federal Route 322 and bypass West Chester to Harmony Hill Road, and turn right through the Harmony Hill covered bridge there.
Continue east on Harmony Hill Road to a left on Brandywine Road to another left on Copeland followed by a right on Boot Road. Then turn left on Route 100, and continue on Route 100 past the Turnpike, and then take a right at Byers Road and a left at the first intersection, Larkin Bridge will be straight ahead.
If you are tired of bridge-finding for today, you might double back to the Turnpike entrance and return to Philadelphia via Interstate 76, and return and finish the tour another day. Otherwise ...
Retrace your steps to Route 100 and continue north. Turn right on Flowing Springs, following it with a left at the Y and a jog to the left to Birchrunville. Turn left on Hollow Road to Hall's Sheeder Bridge. Continue through the bridge to the first right on Pughtown, left on French Creek Road, back across the creek to a right on Hoffnecker Road followed by a quick right on Lucas Road, then another right on Seven Stars Road to Kennedy Bridge. Seven Stars continues southeast to merge with Kimberton Road. Kimberton Road joins the four-lane Route 113 followed by a very quick left on Rapp's Dam Road to Rapp's Dam Covered Bridge.
Continue through the bridge to Route 23, taking a right. Follow Rt. 23 into Valley Forge National Historical Park, across the bridge at Valley Creek, and right on Rt. 252. Knox Bridge will be on your right.
Continue on Rt. 252 to a left on Rt. 202 to Interstate highway 76 back to Philadelphia.
Food and services: This route offers plenty of opportunities for food and associated services, ranging from the full range of chain restaurants on Rt. 100 and Rt. 23 to old stagecoach inns such as Ludwig's and the Lion's Share. No-one could try them all and we have not found one that we would recommend as being better than average. (We're still trying). If you want a break from the road and like Indian food, West Chester is a pleasant, picturesque small city with a good Indian restaurant, the Star of India.
