David English and Twin Ponds Cut-Off Trail

Location: White Clay Creek State Park, Newark, Delaware
Season Visited: Spring
Trail Length: David English Trail is 2.4 miles long. If you make it a shorter loop from the park office by taking the Twin Ponds Cut-Off Trail, I estimate the hike to be about 1.6 miles. The cut-off trail itself is 0.4 miles. You can see the layout of the trail (and other trails in the park) on this map.
Time to Hike: Hiking the full David English Trail took us about 2 hours, going at a toddler's pace some of the way. Doing the short loop via the cut-off trail when said toddler was a small baby took us 1.5 hours.
Difficulty Level: Moderately easy.

I have written before about trails in White Clay Creek State Park. This post is actually two posts in one, as I have hiked this trail twice now. The first time was in May 2017 when my son was three months old. The first part of this post and the accompanying pictures are from that hike. The goal that day was to hike the entire David English Trail, but the baby was not having it and we ended up taking the cut-off trail to make a shorter loop back to our car. The second time was a couple of weeks ago, the beginning of April, with a much more adventurous 14-month-old! This park is close and pretty and has easy hikes - perfect for a new mom or families with young children. The David English Trail in particular is a good choice because you can decide at the halfway point whether you want the hike to be short or a bit longer depending on how your family is feeling. Be warned: on a warm April day you will have to get out of the way of a LOT of bikers.

Both times, in addition to my son, I went with my husband and sister to the hike, which starts at a trailhead at the following coordinates, near a park office:

One nice thing about the White Clay Creek trail markers is that they include coordinates!

As you can see on the map, the trail has three different ways you can go almost immediately. We decided to go left here. This put us directly on the David English Trail, walking on relatively level ground. Going right would also have put us on the David English Trail, but there looked to be an incline, and we decided to go easy on ourselves since this was only my second-ever hike with the baby back in 2017. What followed was a mostly flat dirt trail.

With the newest addition!

My sister is obviously highly enjoying her quality time with nature.

Further on we came to a bench, where I fed the baby and let him chill out of the carrier for a while. At the time I was experiencing quite a bit of difficulty hiking with him because he did not like the carrier under most circumstances. Now that he can sit in a backpack - or walk - he has taken to hiking with joy.

It was only a year ago, but he looks so much smaller than he does now, as you will see!

Here you can see how the trail looks in April from our most recent trip:

There is much less foliage in April. This is the trail just past the parking lot.

Past the bench the trail opens up, coming to a sweet little pond filled with turtles, and where we spotted many small birds. Both times I've been to this pond I've seen eastern bluebirds. After the pond, the trail meanders back into the woods. Near the end it becomes a bit more steep, and you do have to put in a bit of effort, especially if carrying a toddler on your back. It's never difficult, however. In season you can see a lovely magnolia tree blooming near the park office before returning to the parking lot. These pictures are from the April 2018 trip.

My sister and dog.

Baby boy loves hanging out in the Osprey carrier.

Conked out.

I was very happy to be able to complete the trail this time around. A successful hike with my son has definitely renewed my confidence as I begin to hike more often with him. I can't wait to share more of our adventures with you.

Millstone and Twin Valley Trails

Location: White Clay Creek State Park, Newark, Delaware
Season Visited: Spring
Trail Length: 1.3 and 3.9 miles respectively, or 5.2 miles combined.
Time to Hike: Millstone Trail takes only about half an hour to hike while Twin Valley Trail takes about two and a half hours.
Difficulty Level: Millstone Trail: 1.  Twin Valley Trail: 3.

White Clay Creek State Park is a lovely state park in Delaware that features mature forests, rolling farmlands, and some interesting historical landmarks.  On the border between Delaware and Pennsylvania, the park houses part of the Mason-Dixon Trail along with plenty of recreational activities besides hiking.

I, of course, go for the hiking.  While certainly no national park, White Clay Creek has very pleasant trails less than an hour from my home.  Twin Valley Trail in particular is a hike on par with many good hikes in more popular places.

Unfortunately, White Clay Creek's trail labelling system is only a few points short of awful.  The park uses posts marked with colored arrows instead of blazes, which would be fine if the website mentioned which trails correspond to which arrows... but it doesn't.  This is the real reason why I am reviewing two trails in this post: while trying to find Twin Valley Trail I accidentally hiked all of Millstone Trail first.  So you know, Twin Valley Trail follows the yellow arrows.  Of course, sometimes these don't show up where they should.

So, let's begin with the pleasant and easy Millstone Trail.  Millstone Trail is named for Millstone Pond, pictured here.

To get there, park at the New London Road parking area.  Look left of the the bathrooms and you'll see a trail going into the woods next to a field.  This is where you want to begin.

The beginning of the trail.

Follow this until you come to a left turn in front of a field.  It really doesn't matter whether you take the field trail or the dirt trail because you'll end up in the same place, which is a right turn at the corner of field and woods.  Follow the tree line all the way down to a sign for Millstone Pond.

You'll want to go left at this fork-type thing.

This trail takes you back into the woods, over some board walks, and past a really fun rock formation by the pond.

Sean and Cleo on the rocks.

Walk through the woods for a while and you'll come to some lovely fields perfect for birding along with another pond.  Look out for snapper turtles!

Cattail Pond.

The trail then leads you back to the parking lot where you started.

And that is Millstone Trail.  Short, sweet, and to the point!  Now onto the longer and more challenging Twin Valley Trail, which is the longest in the park with the obvious exception of the Mason-Dixon Trail.

This trail starts the same way, but instead of going all the way to the Millstone Pond sign you stop short at a small trail before that one that is unlabelled except for a post.  This leads you down through a weird overgrown exercise course with many forks and such.  Just try to make it to the bridge over the little creek and you'll be okay.

Part of the exercise course by the bridge.

You'll pass through some of the same things you did if you hiked Millstone Trail, but eventually you'll come to the wooded trail that you'll be staying on for the rest of the hike.  Just remember to follow the yellow arrows!

The interesting buildings and historical landmarks come near the beginning.  An old cellar and the border stone marking the line between Delaware and Pennsylvania are the features.  Stand in two places at once!

The border marker is in a small clearing by a road.  Head back into the woods and hike for a while through the hilly forest.  You'll come to bridges over creeks and at one point will have to walk a small piece down the road, but if you follow the arrows you'll be lead safely on a pretty, and pretty interesting, hike.  At one point you'll even come across an old abandoned car!  I can only speculate about how it got there in the middle of the woods.

Beautiful tall trees. 

After all of these things, you will finally emerge from the woods into some gorgeous farmland.  Follow the cut-grass trail and end up at the parking lot where you started.

All in all, hiking in White Clay Creek State Park is definitely worth it.  I plan to go back and hike the Bryan's Field Trail to see the starting point of the Mason-Dixon line.  If you live in South Jersey, Delaware, or south-eastern Pennsylvania and want to get outside for the day, this is a good way to do it!  Enjoy your hike, and keep wandering.