Places to run in Philly

Well, you got the river drives, fairmont park, forbidden drive, wisshahickon, places out in the main line. Check with Philadelphia Runner, you'll find lots of friends there and places to run. 3621 Walnut or 16th and Sansom....close!

Awesome info. Thanks very much mainline guy!

Forbidden Dr. in Fairmont Park is your best bet for a soft surface.

Hike and bike trail along the Schuykill river will get you some good mileage.

You can probably jog to the river trail, but make sure you have a good route before you go. Depending on where you are on Walnut, it can be tricky getting down to the trail if you do not know the right way to go. Also, a wrong turn or two on Walnut can send you into some hostile territory. You may be able to hop on the train and get to a good spot for a run and avoid all the mess.

Thanks Roy. Anywhere specific I should be weary of?

12 Steps wrote:

Thanks Roy. Anywhere specific I should be weary of?

I assume you are staying on the west side of the river on Walnut. If so, it is pretty crunchy between the zoo and U Penn.

If you are on the east side of the river, it is pretty easy and safe (save the traffic) to get to the river by way of the museum. But, North Philly is a complete no-go zone. Basically, do not just look at a map and try to find a route to the river without knowing what the neighborhood is like. Get a friend to take you for a drive on some potential running routes.

I have never heard any stories of people getting messed with when running, but that may just be because people know where to run and do not try going into some of the bad parts.

Hm, okay yeah. I'll keep that in mind. I really appreciate it!

Depending on where you are on Walnut, you will probably do most of your running on Kelly Drive which follows the Schuylkill river. If you are on the east side near University City just head over the Walnut bridge to the east side and take some steps down. The path is paved but most has a single track shoulder if you want dirt. There is a popular loop that's around 8.5 miles down Kelly Drive and up West River on the (duh) west side. That's 8.5 from the Art Museum.

About 5 miles down Kelly you can also hop on the Manayunk towpath which is a mix of dirt and paved, this continues for 20+ miles so if you bike it can be nice to ride down to Valley Forge and back.

Fairmont park along the Wissahichon has the best dirt trails, but if you don't have a car you will be looking at a 10mile round trip just to get there. Public trans will get you close however but those trains don't run all that often. Best option is just to bike there and run if you want to change from Kelly drive.

Neighborhoods can change quickly so learn them before venturing off, although Walnut is good along most of it's length until you go west of University City.

You'll probably have to drive there, but the Belmont Plateau is a must. It's kind of an iffy neighborhood, but some beautiful trails big hills. They run a lot of races there, too.

Ghola wrote:

You'll probably have to drive there, but the Belmont Plateau is a must. It's kind of an iffy neighborhood, but some beautiful trails big hills. They run a lot of races there, too.

This.

Belmont Plateau is great, it is a part of Fairmount Park.

if you want a hard workout, take the MFL out to 63rd and market around 11pm, then sprint back east.

but in all seriousness, people make too big a deal of how "unsafe" philly is. these people most likely live in the suburbs and are scared of anyone who isn't white. philly is a majority-minority city (the majority of its inhabitants are racial minorities), so get used to that.

as for higher crime areas in philly:

west philly (west of the schuylkill river): west of 52nd street (i feel safe in west philly, but some feel less safe once you get west of 40th street- west of univ city)

north philly: north of girard ave (unless you're on temple's campus or in fishtown)

south philly: west of broad st and south of washington ave.

camden, nj: pretty much all of it.

but during the morning or daylight hours, you'd be fine running in these areas, perhaps except for camden. just be aware of your surroundings. and as everyone has mentioned, hit up the trail along kelly drive/west river drive. no stoplights to worry about. or bike up to the wissahickon and run there.

philly is a wonderful city. welcome!

There's no bettr place than Valley Green, between the Forbidden Drive main path, and the endless miles of dirt trails. It's a bit of a hike from Walnut, but worth a weekly weekend trip. Kelly and MLK Drive are both nice places to run a bit closer.

Precious Roy wrote:it is pretty crunchy between the zoo and U Penn.

this x 1000

good info from you guys

the only thing i disagree with is the neighborhood around Belmont Plateau. That's not a bad neighborhood at all. I wouldn't wander into Wynnewood, which is west of Belmont, but the park area itself and access from center city is fine.

I would also add that the northern area of Fairmont Park [Wissahickon Valley[, which is sort of not really connected to the southern area, is pretty amazing too. from Roxborough all the way up through Valley Green and on to the Philly / Montgomery County border at Wissahickon Ave near Chestnut Hill College. Endless miles of shaded hilly trails and a wide, flat hard-packed trail that runs the length of that section of park.

this is a cycling map but shows access to the park from downtown pretty clearly:

and this one shows the whole region:

What they said, and +1 for Philadelphia Runner.

A few extra pointers from another car-free runner:

On weekend mornings from April-October, all of MLK (West River) Drive in Fairmount Park is closed to automobile traffic until noon. It's the easiest and most scenic way to get out to the Belmont Plateau without crossing through too much iffiness on the way over.

An old standby is the loop from the front of Art Museum out to the Falls Bridge, across the bridge, and back, around 8.4 miles. Run up Rocky Steps as needed.

If you want some fairly flat, packed-gravel trail with no cars, try the newly resurfaced Manayunk Towpath. Catch a bus that stops at the Wissahickon Transportation Center (like the 9, which runs down Walnut Street in Center City), the run along Main Street to the start of the Towpath from the WTC (about a mile). The first part is a bit narrow and winding, but once you get past the Green Street Bridge, it really opens up.

You can trail run on the trails that branch off Forbidden Drive along the Wissahickon (again, take a bus out to WTC to spare yourself the extra 10-mile out-and-back from the Walnut Street Bridge). From the WTC to the end of the Forbidden Drive gravel path and back is about 13 miles -- and you only cross traffic twice. A shady option for hotter days, but be aware that phone and GPS reception tends to drop out at several spots on the route. Look for the covered bridge as you go, and keep an eye out for the occasional pile of horse manure.

You can use the loop around Lemon Hill in Fairmount Park near Boathouse Row for a bit of hill work.

BTW, the stairway down to the Schuylkill River Trail from Walnut Street is closed right now on the south side of the street for sidewalk construction. (At Philly construction pace, it'll probably stay closed all summer unless we pay off some guys who specialize in concrete shoes.)

And if you're really feeling badass, take the 125 bus out to Valley Forge National Park Visitor Center and run the trail for 20 miles all the way back to the city -- just carry some money so you can hop on a train or a bus if you need to bail along the way.

Fletcher Smith wrote:

Precious Roy wrote:it is pretty crunchy between the zoo and U Penn.

this x 1000

good info from you guys

the only thing i disagree with is the neighborhood around Belmont Plateau. That's not a bad neighborhood at all. I wouldn't wander into Wynnewood, which is west of Belmont, but the park area itself and access from center city is fine.

I think you mean Wynnefield. That's the area right near Belmont, which is a little dicey (but again, nothing terrible at least during the day). Wynnewood is a tiny bit further west and is a great area.

Has anyone run that new Heritage Trail (I think it's called) that starts off Belmont Ave near Manayunk? At least I think it's new. I'd never heard much about it, but recently a few runners I was talking to mentioned it.

P.S. All buses that go to the WTC express from the city stop in front of the east side of the city's hmain train depot, 30th Street Station. From there, you can catch a Westbound 9, 124, or 125 bus. Just take whichever of those turns up first, after you confirm with the driver that the next stop is Wissahickon.

I'm not too familiar with Philly but Fairmont/Belmont Park is really nice. You can run on those hilly, dirt trails for miles and log some great mileage there. Guarantee your legs will get strong with those hills! Also if you're looking to do workouts, the track at St. Joseph's University is easily accessible. I did a workout on the track during a lacrosse game and they didn't care!

Awesome info everyone. Seems like I'll be able to hit a lot of great places this summer!

Let's Go Cena, Cena Sucks! wrote:

I'm not too familiar with Philly but Fairmont/Belmont Park is really nice. You can run on those hilly, dirt trails for miles and log some great mileage there. Guarantee your legs will get strong with those hills! Also if you're looking to do workouts, the track at St. Joseph's University is easily accessible. I did a workout on the track during a lacrosse game and they didn't care!

whoa whoa whoa. never, ever go to the matrix. its home to mt everest and of course matrix-turf. remember- all roads lead to the matrix. trust no one. once you get in the matrix there is no escape, unless of course you manage to make it to osgiliath. but duh everyone knows about the importance of osgiliath in that area