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Explore the Watershed

Camp Woods

    Trail Head

    End of Mason Dr, Blue Bell, PA 19422

    Length

    1.5 Miles

    Difficulty

    Moderate

    Amenities

    Leashed dogs, Parking, Historic Site, Equestrian Trail

Trail Overview


This 49-acre preserve is remarkable for its towering trees (some nearly 100 feet tall) and centuries-old history; George Washington’s army camped here during the Revolutionary War. A visit to Camp Woods allows you to step into nature and step back in time.  

 

There are two options for entering Camp Woods:

 

1) Begin your journey at Armentrout Preserve. Follow the trail nearest Morris Road as it crosses a private driveway and enters Camp Woods.

 

2) Take Lewis Lane to Miles Drive to Mason Drive in Whitpain Township. Access to Camp Woods is marked by a sign at the edge of the woods. From the end of Mason Drive, walk straight back to the sign. The property owner has granted a crossing for the purpose of public access to Camp Woods. Please be mindful that you are walking on private property. 

 

Once in Camp Woods, you’ll enjoy a 1.5-mile natural, unpaved trail system used by walkers and equestrians. Follow the Mayapple trail through the forested portion of the preserve - where tulip poplar, American beech, and oak trees grow tall - then connect to the Honeysuckle trail to walk through thickets of young trees and patchy meadows, and alongside a small groundwater wetland.

 

Many wildlife and insect species thrive at Camp Woods, including forest birds like pileated woodpeckers, wood thrushes, and red-shouldered hawks, as well red roxes (keep an eye out for their dens in the forest), and amphibians and reptiles, like red-backed salamanders and eastern box turtles.

 

During your visit, don’t miss our deer exclosure, found just off of the Mayapple trail, in which native plants grow abundantly, safely fenced-off from grazing deer. This area demonstrates what a healthy forest should and would look like, in the absense of over-browsing herbivores.

Download Trail Map
Trail Details

  • Parking

    Park curbside at the end of Mason Drive. Follow the path of the dead-end road toward the preserve sign to reach the trail head

  • Google Maps

    Directions

  • Before You Go

    General Trail Rules & Information

  • Other Info

    Connect to Armentrout Preserve via connector path from the preserve’s Northeast corner along Morris Road.

Connecting Trail Networks

In 2022, Wissahickon Trails and our public and private partners preserved a key piece of land that connects 2 trail networks and their associated open space with Camp Woods. This 10-acre property on Lewis Lane in Whitpain Township expands our Camp Woods preserve to 48 acres and is part of the historical landscape of Dawesfield, a house of local historic significance that sits on a neighboring property. This property provides connectivity between our Armentrout and Camp Woods preserves on the north side of Lewis Lane with Briar Hill Preserve and Whitpain’s Prophecy Creek Park on the south side of Lewis Lane creating a network of approximately 7 miles of trails. Learn more >>

Tom Voteri
Detailed Accessibility Information about the Trails at Camp Woods Below

Download a printer-friendly PDF with trail descriptions.

Mayapple Trail

  • Surface: Grass; mostly hard-packed dirt, which can be slick when wet; series of five wooden stepping stones through very muddy section.

  • Distance:  0.5 mile lollipop.

  • Gradient: The northwest and southeast segments are mostly flat; the northeast and southwest segments have a 5-10% slope. The trail slopes downhill from the northwest to the south east.

  • Width: Average: 30”

  • Cross slope: Minimal

  • Benches: Zero

  • Shade: Complete in the warmer months.

  • Obstacles: Occasional exposed roots up to 2” high. Rocky open drain that crosses the trail diagonally just downhill from the intersection with the Armentrout Preserve to Camp Woods Connector. Five 17” diameter, 5 ½ high stable wooden stepping stones that cross a very muddy section of trail just downhill from the deer exclosure.

  • Drainage Issues: Channeling near the rocky open drain just downhill from the intersection with the Armentrout Preserve to Camp Woods Connector.

Freya McGregori

Honeysuckle Trail

  • Surface: Hard-packed dirt, which can be slick when wet. Five potentially muddy sections (see below).

  • Distance:  0.5 mile lollipop.

  • Gradient: A 15-20% slope at the beginning of the ‘stick’ of the lollipop from Camp Woods, and a short 12% section just after the southwest intersection with the Honeysuckle Trail. Otherwise, less than 5% throughout.

  • Width:  8”

  • Cross slope: Minimal

  • Benches: Zero

  • Shade: Almost complete in the warmer months.

  • Obstacles:A 22” diameter, 5” deep pothole is located at the intersection of the ‘stick’ and the loop, as well as a 16” wide and 10” deep channel. There is more than 20” available to travel around both of these but watch your step! One 5” high, 2” wide exposed root. Five 5-20’ long sections of the trail in various places are prone to being particularly muddy after rain. 

  • Drainage Issues: Five muddy sections

Freya McGregori

Sweetgum Trail

  • Surface: Hard-packed dirt, which can be slick when wet.

  • Distance:  0.1 miles each way.

  • Gradient: Less than 5%, sloping downhill from the southwest intersection with the Honeysuckle Trail.

  • Width:  40”

  • Cross slope: Minimal

  • Benches: Zero

  • Shade: Almost complete in the warmer months.

  • Obstacles: None 

  • Drainage Issues: Small muddy patch near southwest intersection with Honeysuckle Trail.

Freya McGregori

Camp Woods to Hughes Family Preserve Connector

  • Surface: Mown grass, with some very small dips and rises; hard-packed dirt with some exposed roots no taller than 2.”

  • Distance:  0.25 miles one way.

  • Gradient: 5-8%, sloping downhill from Camp Woods to the Hughes Family Preserve, except for a very short section of 25% on the northwest side of Lewis Lane.

  • Width: 40-70”

  • Cross slope: Minimal

  • Benches: One small wooden bench at the start of the trail in the meadow (two trees on either side provide some shade).

  • Shade: Some near bench, otherwise mostly none..

  • Obstacles: This trail crosses Lewis Lane, an asphalt road with no crosswalk. 

  • Drainage Issues: Small muddy patch near southwest intersection with Honeysuckle Trail.

Freya McGregori

Trail History

A Link to the Revolutionary War

These woods were purchased by Abraham Dawes in 1713. During the Revolutionary War, the Continental Army camped here for 16 days and buried their dead nearby. Because of its history, trees have been preserved at Camp Woods since the Revolutionary War. In a wonderful act of generosity, Abraham Dawes' descendants donated the land to Wissahickon Trails in 1990.

Jamie Stewarti