Saturday, 6/1 is National Trails Day, but here in Philly we celebrate our park trails all year long! Fairmount Park Conservancy works in partnership with Philadelphia Parks & Recreation to build and help maintain park trails all throughout Fairmount Park. Get to know a few of them below, then check out the 2019 schedule of our guided hikes and trail runs taking place in Fairmount Park and Wissahickon Valley Park. We hope you can join us to experience Philly’s trails!
The Trolley Trail
The Fairmount Park Trolley, which operated in East and West Fairmount Park from 1896 to 1946, provided a unique and memorable way for visitors to access and explore Fairmount Park. With the end of trolley service in 1946, the trolley route gradually vanished, leaving fragments of the site’s former life to be discovered only by intrepid West Fairmount Park explorers. Since 2017, the Conservancy has been working closely with Philadelphia Parks & Recreation and the Belmont Plateau Trails Alliance to develop the Trolley Trail, a 4.5-mile soft surface, multi-purpose loop trail that reimagines the site as a scenic interpretive trail. To date, 1.5 miles of trail have been completed.
Belmont Plateau Trails
The Plateau, as it is affectionately known, comprises several cross country trail loops and has hosted countless youth, high school, college and National Championship meets since the 1960s. Since 2014, support from our teams of Park Champion runners in the Broad Street Run has allowed the Conservancy to make a number of improvements to the trail network, including new signage, erosion control projects, and a maintenance plan.
Boxers’ Trail
When Muhammad Ali wanted to challenge Joe Frazier, he came to the Boxers’ Trail in East Fairmount Park because he knew he could find Frazier there. Even today, young boxers still jog along the trail. The Boxers’ Trail is a 3.8-mile trail with wooded and paved paths that winds through East Fairmount Park, creating unique views overlooking the Schuylkill River and providing access points to both the Schuylkill River and Fairmount Park for neighboring communities. In collaboration with local agency Little Giant Creative (LGC), Fairmount Park Conservancy has planned a series of informative panels to celebrate the Boxers’ Trail, the Philadelphia Parks and Recreation Department’s boxing programs across the city, and the Philadelphia’s rich boxing history. The panels will be installed at the intersection of Dauphin Street and Greenland Drive in East Fairmount Park.
View the full schedule of events here.
Become a member of Fairmount Park Conservancy! Members register for hikes and other events first and for free. Events are $15 for non-members.
