The winter walks are done!
The winter 2025 iteration of Walk Around Philadelphia is complete, and you’re invited to come celebrate with us on March 23rd!
I’m psyched to have completed my 15th complete circumnavigation of the entire city border, but even more psyched about the following:
- 302 total registrations as the walk keeps growing!
- 194 individuals signed up as the community of walkers keeps growing!
- $5,200 in stipends supported participants facing financial hardship
- 8 trail angel intercepts surprised the walkers with snacks along the way
- 2 new circumnavigators have completed the entire 100+ trek around the city
- 1 surprise special-access tour of the restricted Packer Ave Marine Terminal & Southport Auto facilities
- & so more…
Come celebrate with us!
Join us at Cherry Street Pier on Mar 23 to celebrate the completion of the winter Walk Around Philadelphia season and welcome spring with a special concert by OSteel: the Oberlin College Steel Pan ensemble!
Stop by anytime 5-7 to (re)connect with members of the growing community of perimeter-walkers.
Enjoy food & drink available for purchase from Cherry Street Pier vendors.
Make your own letterpress map of the Delaware River watershed & Philadelphia city botder!
Stylish red Walk Around Philadelphia T-shirts & other walk swag will be available too!
OSteel plays ~6pm.
Here’s what it all looked like:
The first weekend’s walk start points worked their way up around the Upper Delaware River:
Day 1 – from Penn’s Landing
This was one of several days where we ran two groups due to the growing interest in the walk.
The walkers all gathered at Cherry Street Pier for an orientation and introductions before splitting up with Group B heading downstream towards the Navy Yard while Group A followed the city’s edge upstream from Bridesburg:
Day 2 – from Bridesburg
Day 2 started really early with a 6am start from Bridesburg, timed in the hopes of both getting a nice sunrise over the Delaware, and making it to Glen Foerd in time to use some of the fanciest bathrooms on the city’s edge before the mansion closed at 1pm.
Of course, I can never guarantee that it won’t be cloudy without much of a sunrise, or that detours or delays might slow us down enough to get to Glen Foerd after closing… but on this time ’round both worked out spectacularly!
We also got to visit our Walk Around Philadelphia wayfinding installation at Lardner’s Point Park!
Day 3 – from Glen Foerd
Day 3 started from Glen Foerd, with again two groups heading in opposite directions.
Big thanks to the folks at Glen Foerd for hosting us at the start with coffee & donuts, and an indoor place to gather with easy bathroom access. This is super helpful, particularly when gathering a larger group!
From here, the groups again parted, with several members of the Glen Foerd staff joining Group B in heading down the Delaware towards Bridesburg, while Group A followed the Poquessing Creek all the way around the Northeastern corner of the city towards Somerton…
This is one of those segments that has potential for significant bushwhacking and navigation challenges…
… but if this kind of adventuring doesn’t feel accessible to you, don’t worry! There are many ways to do Walk Around Philadelphia and we make sure to choose paths that feel accessible to each member of the group. Anyone can veto an option, and then we find another way around!
(See the Guidelines & FAQ)
The second weekend of the walk then took us across the northern edges of the city, starting with the northernmost point and heading west:
Day 4 – from Somerton
Up near the Somerton Regional Rail station, our printed paper map fails us… it claims that we should be straightforwardly be following County Line Road…
… but we sometimes find ourselves crossing creeks where County Line Road was clearly planned but not actually completed!
We ended this segment at the new 451 Rhawn art gallery space near the Fox Chase Regional Rail Line…
(Thank you Stephen for opening your doors to us!)
… and Lisa completed her 4th segment in a row, meaning that she was 1/3 done with her full circumnavigation of the city.
(In order to celebrate 25 years in Philadelphia, Lisa signed up for all twelve segments of the walk, setting out to complete the entire 100+ mile Walk Around Philadelphia adventure within the span of a single month!)
Day 5 – from Fox Chase
Setting out early from Fox Chase, we found the world glazed over in ice, which which was absolutely gorgeous in Tacony Creek Park (if occasionally a bit treacherous too…)
On my 15th pass around the city’s edge, I found my way into the park via a new access which was also a bit treacherous in a not-pedestrian friendly kind of way, but we made it safely and all the way up Cheltenham Ave to Broad Street…
… in order to enjoy a well-timed lunch at the H-Mart food court. YUM!
Day 6 – from Broad Street
Day 6 also had some challenging bits not designed for pedestrians, as the group opted to follow Manor Road past Hagy’s Mill down from Ridge Ave towards Miquon… a route that I’d only first experienced this past September on my 14th perimeter walk!
One of the many highlights of Day 6…
… was being welcomed with snacks by a surprise trail angel & our friends at the Morris Arboretum & Gardens at the northwestern corner of the city. THANK YOU!
Pro tip for walkers: Admission to the Morris Arboretum & Gardens is significantly cheaper if you walk in, as parking is a limiting factor for them.
…. and if you were counting, Lisa is now halfway done her quest to circumnavigate the entire city on foot!
Day 7 – from Miquon
The third weekend of the winter Walk took us along the western edges of the city, starting with the Schuylkill River section of the border…
River Road is one of the stranger and more magical (and more flood-prone!) little neighborhoods in the city…
from there we followed the Schuylkill River Trail…
… all the way down to Manayunk, where…
… we were again greeted with surprise snacks!
HUGE thanks to fellow perimeter-walkers Katie, Neyda & Stanley who came out with warm beverages and sweet treats to help fuel our walkers.
Do you want to be a Trail Angel? If you have a penchant for hospitality, are comfortable with maps and have a bit of flexible time (a car helps too), drop a line to walk@jjtiziou.net or keep an eye out for the volunteer options when you next sign up for one of our events!
With Neyda & Stanley joining us, we set back out through Manayunk, continuing to feel the pull of the border …
… which led us to the weird secret catwalk behind the Venice Island Performing Arts Center!
Having already walked the city border fourteen times, and attended multiple cultural events at this spot, I had *no idea* that this little walkway was back there!
Rather than braving the not-so-pedestrian-friendly access to the City Ave bridge which would have put us directly on the border, our group elected to take the Pencoyd Bridge to cross the Schuylkill River…
(There are many ways to cross the Schuylkill)
… which brought us to another one of those spots where we seem to be trailblazing ahead of the municipal workers who are building / improving paths for us…
(thanks y’all!)
… and so we found our way through and all the way along the Cynwyd Heritage Trail & followed City Ave all the way to Overbrook!
Day 8 – from Overbrook
STAY TUNED FOR MORE….
reload this post in a few days for the rest of the recap…
We need your help!
Please make a contribution via Walk Around Philadelphia’s fiscal sponsor Fractured Atlas to help me be able to continue developing this project.
