Brandywine Valley

The du Pont valley, on the Delaware side only: from Trolley Square in Wilmington the route rides Kennett Pike (DE-52) through Greenville and past Winterthur to Centreville, cuts east before the Pennsylvania line, comes back south by Montchanin Road and Rockland, and returns along the Brandywine past Hagley. It's short on purpose, 15 miles, because it stays in Delaware: the classic loop of this valley keeps going north into Pennsylvania by Chadds Ford. The creek roads are narrow, with no shoulder, and on weekends there's visitor traffic around Winterthur and Hagley.

Kennett Pike (DE-52) and Montchanin Road (DE-100) make up the Brandywine Valley National Scenic Byway, designated in 2005. The route leaves Trolley Square on Kennett Pike, passes Greenville and the entrance to Winterthur, the estate Henry Francis du Pont opened in 1951 as a museum of American decorative arts, with about 60 acres of gardens, and reaches the village of Centreville. Before the Pennsylvania line it cuts east, then comes back south on the creek roads toward Rockland, narrow and shaded, with old mill buildings by the water.

The last stretch follows the Brandywine down to Hagley, where Éleuthère Irénée du Pont built black powder mills on the creek in 1802; the museum opened in 1957 and has free parking by its visitor center. The route is only 15 miles because it stays in Delaware: the loop riders usually do here keeps going north into Pennsylvania, by Chadds Ford, and comes back on Pennsylvania roads. Expect visitor traffic at Winterthur and Hagley on weekends, and branches or gravel on the creek roads after rain.