Tucked in the middle of the 61-acre Banffshire Preserve north of Chesterville Road and West of Creek Road in Franklin Township, there lives a village of gnomes.

Their presence there is both whimsical and purposeful, because they form a union with old farm roads and fisher trails, steep slopes and rolling countryside and old forest and stunning vistas that are representative of the greatest gift that living in Chester County provides: the solace of nature.

Acquired by Franklin Township in 2008, the Banffshire Preserve is defined by a circuitous series of four distinctive trails, designated by color - red, green, orange and blue – that give off the quiet moments of following the rays of the sun, the gurgle of the headwater streams that form the middle branch of the White Cay Creek, the freedom to cast a line in the springs, the whispering will to wander past the canopy of tulip tree and beech ferns and the giddy feeling of becoming temporarily lost in the height of the woodlands, only to rely on the hand-curated maps to guide one’s way back home.

A component of the White Clay Creek Watershed and bordered by residential subdivisions to the east and west, the Banffshire Preserve offers hikers and their families a welcome respite from the pressures of modern life, and the promise of moments spent admiring a forever view as leaves crack and crunch beneath a pair of hiking boots, that become the treasured and sacred timebends of a defined life, well lived.