A New Preserve to Explore

A sweeping view of hayfields at the ChesLen Preserve

On the Sunday afternoon before Memorial Day (May 26), Kali and I took advantage of the unusually clear, cool day to visit the relatively new 1,300-acre ChesLen Preserve located in central Chester County, Pennsylvania's "horse country."  ChesLen (so named because it is located in CHESter County and was donated by a philanthropist whose surname begins with LEN) encompasses fields, woodlands, wetlands, stream valleys, and a small section of a rare plant community that developed on soils underlain by serpentinite, an unusual rock formed under the ocean and that contains near-toxic levels of chromium and other metals.

We parked in a small lot near the southern end of the preserve and began our 3-mile loop walk by entering fields that gradually transitioned into woodlands.  The woods, relatively young second-growth forest full of the invasive plants that typify all second-growth woods in the northern Piedmont, offered pleasant walking.  While the preserve's excellent trail map only showed one trail threading through the woods, Kali and I found ourselves wandering on what was actually a spiderweb of trails throughout the forest.  We finally descended straight downhill on one of the paths to reach a pleasant, wooded tributary of the West Branch of Brandywine Creek.

Brandywine Creek tributary

Polywogs in a placid channel alongside the main stream

Directly across the stream we happened upon a scenic old fieldstone culvert bearing a trail (probably the remnants of an old farm road) over a rivulet.

Fieldstone culvert

After we crossed the stream, we walked through riparian woodlands for a short distance, then ascended the other side of the stream valley through expansive, open grasslands.  With clear, blue skies, a cool breeze, and expansive views, it was glorious; we felt like breaking into a song from the Sound of Music.

Kali ascending the hill through grasslands

Prior to becoming a preserve owned by the regional Natural Lands Trust (NLT) conservancy, ChesLen had been a private working farm.  To maintain the fields and prevent invasion by the non-native pasture-snatchers (e.g., multiflora rose, autumn olive, honeysuckle), NLT plans to continue to manage the fields through agricultural leases for the foreseeable future.

Because CheLen will become one of the NLT's signature preserves (both for its size and the diversity of habitats it protects), the conservancy recently completed a new visitor contact/public events/land stewardship center on a knoll overlooking the fields.  It's a classy facility reflective of the importance of the preserve.  The new facility will be dedicated in June.

New visitor contact/public events/stewardship center

A bit "raw," but impressive nonetheless

After a close-up visit to the new facility, Kali and I continued our walk through more meadows full of buttercups (Ranunculus spp.)

Buttercups along the trail

Fleabane (Erigeron spp.) hosting two native bees

The trail finally turned away from the fields and entered the valley created by the rivulet we saw flowing under the fieldstone bridge earlier in our walk.  We quickly found ourselves back at the stream we had crossed earlier.  We crossed the stream and re-entered the woods where we had lost our way at the beginning of the hike, finally finding the elusive trail junction where we should have turned.

May-apple (Podophyllum peltatum) with fruit on the streambank

Kali picking her way across the stream on natural stepping stones

ChesLen is a nice place, even if the vast majority of it is still devoted to active agriculture.  Our walk only covered a very small part of the trail system and there's plenty of interesting habitat to explore.  I just wish it weren't such a long drive (1.25 hours) from home.