Creating a continuous trail that follows the pathway of the scenic trolley that ran through the woods of West Fairmount Park in the early 20th century.

Since 2017, Fairmount Park Conservancy has been working closely with Philadelphia Parks & Recreation and the Belmont Plateau Trails Alliance to develop the Trolley Trail, a 4-mile soft surface, multi-purpose loop trail that reimagines the site as a scenic interpretive trail. The Trolley Trail seeks to create linkages to the history of West Fairmount Park, following the pathway of the scenic trolley trail that operated in Fairmount Park in the early 20th century, and is designed as a multi-use trail open to walkers, runners, equestrians and bikes. Since the 4-mile loop was completed in 2021, the Conservancy has led additional projects and improvements to enhance the trail experience and create more access points to draw in park users and raise visual awareness of this hidden treasure in West Fairmount Park.

Still to come in 2024: two additional gateways designed by Avid for Ford Road and at the Belmont XC course with support from DCNR, and repairs to the Skew Arch Bridge supported by PHMC and The Cordova Family.


Trolley Trail Route

 
View map of all Fairmount Park trails


Project Objectives

  • Provide a quality experience for all trail users;
  • Provide connectivity between bordering neighborhoods, regional trails and various park amenities;
  • Construct trails with sound, sustainable design principles.
  • Eliminate eroding and fall-line trail segments, and any other unsustainable segments;
  • Eliminate trails that damage or disturb wetlands, streams, or desirable woodland habitat;
  • Assure minimal fragmentation of natural areas and retain undisturbed wildlife habitat for diverse taxa.
  • Accommodate multiple user groups where feasible;
  • Minimize user conflicts;
  • Establish a trail system universally recognized by PPR, FPC and stewardship groups

Background

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, making 14 of its 16 stops in West Fairmount Park.

With the end of trolley service in 1946 and the decline of park trail maintenance in the post World War II era, these various corridors became increasingly illegible and unusable, leaving fragments of the site’s former life to be discovered only by intrepid West Fairmount Park explorers.  With the rise of mountain biking in both the Wissahickon Valley Park and West Park in the 1990s-2000s, a new system of user-created trails emerged but were not fully analyzed by the 2001 Trail Master Plan produced by Fairmount Park’s  Natural Lands Restoration and Environmental  Education Program (NLREEP), Andropogon Associates and Campbell Thomas & Co.

In 2007, Park staff began mapping these newer user-created trails and began working with a park-recognized stewardship group, the Belmont Plateau Trails Alliance (BPTA) to adjust or close trails harmful to park habitats.

In 2014, Philadelphia Parks & Recreation (PPR), Fairmount Park Conservancy (FPC) and PennPraxis released The New Fairmount Park plan—a broad, multi-phased effort to enhance accessibility of park amenities, reduce the physical and perceptual barriers to park use and provide “maps and apps” to allow citizens and visitors to better curate their park experiences.

One of the plan’s recommendations was to establish a “Trolley Trail” to provide “access for the park’s western neighbors by creating a continuous trail that follows the pathway of the scenic trolley that ran through the woods of West Fairmount Park in the early 20th century.” In order to assess the extent of the trolley right-of-way versus user-created mountain bike trails, FPC and PPR staff worked with Steve Thomas of Terra Firma Trails to comprehensively map and assess the entirety of the West Park trail network in 2015-2016.

With Terra Firma’s initial assessment in hand, the Conservancy and PPR consulted with the BPTA as to the establishment of a loop trail which would offer the least conflicts with bikers and cross country runners. BPTA volunteers provided a first draft of a loop which served as a basis for the ultimate route. PPR and Conservancy staff noted where the trolley loop encountered obstructions, steep slopes, degraded infrastructure and engineering hazards, trees and other infrastructure. FPC also convened other important trail stakeholders to determine priorities, reduce user conflicts and communicate project goals and outcomes.

With limited funding, the Conservancy, in partnership with Philadelphia Parks & Recreation and the Belmont Plateau Trails Alliance, initiated work in 2017 to begin incrementally building the Trolley Trail. In the process, rogue trail segments were closed and rerouted to reduce the impact of existing trails on the local ecosystem and ensure the long-term sustainability of the Trolley Trail. Following heightened attention of the trail project in 2018, the Conservancy was able to complete the fundraising for the 4-mile loop trail. The Trolley Trail was completed in 2021, a new gateway to the trail at the Chamounix Picnic Area on Chamounix Drive was established in 2022, and wayfinding and interpretive signage was installed in summer 2023.

The completed Trolley Trail will provide a new quality park experience for trail users, build connections to bordering regional trails and several park amenities, and establish — for the first time in this area of the park — a coherent system recognized by the Conservancy, Parks & Recreation and stewardship groups.  The trail will not only provide a fantastic new recreational amenity, but will also help to greatly improve the surrounding ecosystem by eliminating trails that disturb desirable woodland habitat and correcting erosion issues along previous trail segments, while preserving the existing and well-used single track mountain bike trails.



PRESS


The Trolley Trail project has been generously supported by the PA Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission, the Pennsylvania Historical & Museum Commission, the Cordova Family, the 25th Century Foundation, the Adelberg Estates, the PA Department of Public Health, the Bader Foundation, REI, and the Sierra Club.