Bethlehem Pike is a historic 42.21 mi (67.93 km) long road in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania that connects Philadelphia and Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. It began as a Native American path called the Minsi Trail which developed into a colonial highway called the King's Road in the 1760s. Most of the route later became part of U.S. Route 309, now Pennsylvania Route 309.

The Bethlehem Pike originated from a Native American pathway known as the Minsi Trail. Named after the Minsi Indians, the trail was routed between the Blue Mountains and the lands to the south.

In December 1740, David Nitschmann and his party went to Bethlehem and Nazareth along the trail. A year later, in 1741, a second party joined the first, traversing the same pathway.

Nicolaus Zinzendorf was included in the second party who visited the pioneers in the cabin along the banks of the Monocacy Creek. On Christmas Eve 1741, Zinzendorf celebrated a famous love-feast service, during which the new settlement was named Bethlehem.

After the founding of Bethlehem, a number of settlements began to rise along the route, causing a constant use of it and the highway to be called King's Road. The first trip made by George Klein was by stage wagon on September 10, 1763. He later made regular trips between Philadelphia and Bethlehem on a weekly basis. He started on Mondays from the Sun Inn in Bethlehem, and returned from the King of Prussia Inn in Philadelphia, on Thursdays. Bethlehem Pike and Germantown Avenue were the first two segments of the King's Highway, the main road carrying passengers and their goods between Philadelphia and the north.

In the northern regions of Philadelphia, the pike intersected the Old York Road. According to a legend, Tamanend, the great Indian chief, presented all lands within the young Germans' vision. Following the gift they received from the natives, they concluded the ritual, the sun rose, and the men named the spot Rising Sun. During the American Revolutionary War, British officers gathered near the southern terminus of the modern day pike. They gathered in the days their army faced the Continental Army at Whitemarsh. Further north along the route in the Whitemarsh Valley is the site where George Washington held Howe at bay, thus becoming famous in history as Church Hill. Before heading to Valley Forge, Washington and his army encamped here on December 11, 1777.

During the revolution, the pike dealt with a busy time period, for Bethlehem was crowded with officers, prisoners, and soldiers from the war. There was great excitement in Bethlehem on September 13, 1777, when the Patriot Army retreated from Philadelphia. Later, a letter had arrived by express courier from David Rittenhouse, announcing that all the military stores, in 700 wagons, were sent north on the Bethlehem Pike. Even the church and state bells were sent over for safekeeping on the pike.

In Quakertown, the wagon carrying the Liberty Bell broke down and the bell had to be unloaded on September 25, 1777. The wagon was repaired, and the bell was sent to Allentown, where it was hidden from the British on Hamilton Street.