Your Huntingdon Valley Summer, Rewritten: What's New, What's Back, and What to Do This Weekend

If you have lived in Lower Moreland for more than a few years, you have probably built a summer weekend rhythm that quietly assumed you would leave the township for most of it. Ambler for dinner. Chestnut Hill for a walk. The city for anything after 8 p.m. That rhythm is out of date. Between the Pennypack Trail's crushed-stone spine, the return of a familiar brewpub on Huntingdon Pike, and a run of summer evenings on the Bryn Athyn hilltop, the best two-mile stretch of your weekend is closer to your driveway than you think.

Here is what has changed, what has stayed, and how to string it together.

The Return on Huntingdon Pike

The most concrete piece of news for local diners this year is at 785 Huntingdon Pike. The former Iron Hill Brewery & Restaurant at 785 Huntingdon Pike in Huntingdon Valley (Lower Moreland Township) is expected to open by June 30 under new ownership, part of a broader comeback for the brand. The reopenings follow a Chapter 7 bankruptcy filing and the immediate closure of their 16 locations in the fall. In November 2025, Jeff Crivello, the former CEO of Famous Dave's, announced plans to take over 10 Iron Hill Brewery & Restaurant locations.

If you were among the people who used Iron Hill as a default for a Tuesday burger or a post-soccer table for eight, the shorthand still works. And for the beer-curious, the new ownership has signaled it knows the room: according to Breweriesinpa.com, ownership is preparing a special release beer titled "Unfinished Business" to commemorate the comeback.

The Iron Hill return matters less as a single restaurant than as a hinge. Lower Moreland's dining lineup already includes a stronger bench than most residents think about at once:

• La Strada Italian Restaurant, 2519 Huntingdon Pike, in the Valley Court Yard. La Strada Italian Restaurant has been serving the residents of Huntingdon Valley and beyond since 2015. The menu has stayed intentionally consistent under owner Michael Rinzo.
• Tin Pan Alley Tavern, the wraparound-porch stalwart, serving house-smoked BBQ on site with indoor and outdoor seating.
• La Voglia Mediterranean, The Cage in Huntingdon Valley, Cafe Carmela, Ginger, and Osteria Saporino, which round out the local top-ten by resident-review count.
• Osteria Saporino, in particular, is a family-run Italian BYOB with an open kitchen, large patio seating for al-fresco dining and a cozy private room, which is the kind of detail that matters in July.

Take one of them off your "someday" list this month. The bench is deeper than the reputation.

The Trail You Underuse

The single most under-leveraged asset in Lower Moreland is the Pennypack Trail. Most residents know it exists. Fewer know the shape of it, and fewer still use the specific access point that makes a weekday evening walk actually easy.

The trail runs 6.2 miles from Rockledge north to the County Line Road border with Bucks County in Huntingdon Valley, along the former alignment of SEPTA's Fox Chase-Newtown Line. It is flat, wide, and shaded. It is also, from a Lower Moreland resident's perspective, effectively three trails in one, depending on where you park.

Here are the three trailheads worth committing to memory:

Parking is available at three locations: The Lorimer Park lot at 183 Moredon Road, and trail lots at 800 Welsh Road and 1750 Byberry Road; all are in Huntingdon Valley, PA 19006.

The Welsh Road lot is the one that changes your week. From there, there are two very pleasant 5-mile walks (2.5 miles out, then back) on this trail, between Rockledge and Byberry Road. Park at the midway point at the intersection of Terwood and Welsh Roads in Huntingdon Valley. A walk south drops you into the wooded creek corridor by Lorimer Park. A walk north lands you in Bryn Athyn, which is convenient because that is where the rest of your weekend lives.

For weekends when the family wants more than a rail-trail, the Pennypack Ecological Restoration Trust picks up where the paved path leaves off. PERT holds eleven miles of woodland, meadow and creekside trails for hikers of all levels across more than 850 acres of preserved open space, with parking on Creek Road at Terwood.

The Hilltop Most Residents Save for Guests

Ask a Lower Moreland homeowner when they last walked the Bryn Athyn Historic District, and the answer is often "when my in-laws visited." That is a mistake, especially in summer, when the district programs its most resident-friendly hours.

The three buildings worth knowing by name:

Glencairn Museum. A castle-like former Pitcairn family home turned museum of religious art. Tuesday through Sunday, 1:00 to 4:30 pm, with $15 adults, $12 students and seniors, free for members and children 4 and under for guided tours. Self-guided first-floor access runs $5.

Cairnwood Estate. Gilded Age house and gardens, sitting next door.

Bryn Athyn Cathedral. Guided tours Tuesday through Thursday at 1:15 and 2:45 pm, unless the building is being used for a private event or service. No tours during religious services. $5 per person; children 12 and under are free.

The event most worth putting on the family calendar is Landmarks in Lights. Tuesday, June 23, 2026, 8:00–10:00 pm. See the Bryn Athyn Historic District in a whole new light as Glencairn Museum, Cairnwood Estate, and Bryn Athyn Cathedral are illuminated against the night sky. The outdoor portion is free, with optional indoor access at each building for a small fee. If you missed the June date, the format repeats, and Glencairn keeps a rotating schedule of summer evening openings for the third Thursday of the month.

A note on how to use this place: the buildings are grand, but the grounds are the point. Bring a camera or don't. Bring kids or don't. The trick is treating it as a walk, not an outing.

Saturday, Assembled

Here is a version of the day that uses only what is inside a 10-minute drive of most Lower Moreland addresses.

9:00 a.m. Coffee and a pastry at Cafe Carmela or Be Well Bakery & Cafe. Both show up consistently on the Huntingdon Valley best-of lists updated through June 2026.

9:30 a.m. Farmers market. The Huntingdon Valley market runs Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., with freshly harvested seasonal produce, as well as goat milk, lotion, soaps, local honey, and handmade and creative items. Bryn Athyn Bounty Farm Market is a second option in the same corridor.

11:00 a.m. Pennypack Trail from the Welsh Road lot. Walk north toward Bryn Athyn. The route enters Lower Moreland Township and heads across the Pennypack Creek again before coming to a grade crossing with SEPTA's West Trenton Line. The trail heads across the Bethayres Swamp before it reaches Pennsylvania Route 63 (Welsh Road). The trail crosses Terwood Road before it heads across the Pennypack Creek on a 165-foot long bridge and then enters Bryn Athyn.

1:30 p.m. Lunch at La Voglia Mediterranean or Osteria Saporino, both walkable to a shaded patio moment.

3:00 p.m. Glencairn or Cairnwood, depending on whether the group wants a museum or a garden.

6:30 p.m. Dinner. Iron Hill for the crowd that wants a table for six and a beer flight, La Strada if the mood is quieter, Tin Pan Alley if you want the porch.

8:30 p.m. Back on the porch at home. You did not get in the car for anything longer than 10 minutes.

Why This Matters if You Own Here

The reason this map is worth drawing is not tourism. It is the shape of a Sunday. Homeowners who feel their neighborhood is "quiet" often mean they have not updated their mental map since they moved in. The Iron Hill return, the trail extensions, the museum's expanded summer hours, and the density of independent restaurants along Huntingdon Pike are not additive. They compound. A neighborhood where you can string together six good hours without a highway feels different to live in, and it feels different to sell, too.

If you are curious how that texture is showing up in what buyers are asking for and what your home is worth in this market, we would be glad to walk you through it. Melissa Avivi & Barri Beckman live and work this corridor every day. When you are ready, request a free home valuation or take a closer look at Lower Moreland Township on our neighborhoods page.