Friends of the Cresheim Trail

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Friends of the Cresheim Trail

The Friends of the Cresheim Trail’s mission is to promote community building and health by creating multi-use trails for recreation and transportation.

The Friends of the Cresheim Trail is a non-profit, volunteer, community initiative working to build a multi-use trail in Philadelphia and Montgomery Counties primarily along an old rail road right-of-way. (See Maps page for details.) Our current focus is on connecting the Cresheim Trail (in the Wissahickon Woods) in Fairmount Park Philadelphia with neighborhoods long separated from the park through the progress of development, county boundaries, roads and the ebb and flow of the region.

10/01/2026

Do you subscribe to the Cresheim Trail newsletter? If so, check your inbox. If not, consider this your invitation.

We send out one, sometimes two newsletters a month with all the CT news you need. Today’s includes *four* events, including two coming up this weekend, the Cresheim Valley Drive cleanup in a couple weeks, and the Fall Foliage Festival after that. The changes of the leaves bring about a busy season for your Friends of the Cresheim Trail, so come out and join us for one or two or all of the above.

Oh - and that tree in the photo? That’s a katsura found on the Outdoor Classroom Connector Tree. Read all about it in the newsletter. Sign up here: https://bit.ly/4sQjw3w

09/28/2026

Friends of the Cresheim Trail and all our partners invite you to the annual fall cleanup of Cresheim Valley Drive, coming Saturday, October 17th.

Every fall, we close the Drive between Germantown Avenue and Allens Lane to pick up trash in the roadway, the shoulders, and the woods. (We do the northern half in May.) It’s a heck of a reason to walk right down the middle of an otherwise busy park road and enjoy the quiet fall scenery.

We salute our friends at the Philadelphia Streets Department of Transportation for helping us close the road, and Philadelphia Parks & Recreation for hauling the trash away. PPR will also use the opportunity of the closure to cut the invasive bamboo encroaching the Drive near Cresheim Road.

Thank you also to all our Northwest Philly partners on this cleanup (and the one we host in spring on the northern half of the Drive): West Mt Airy Neighbors Chestnut Hill PA Chestnut Hill Community Assoc. Rotary Club Of Chestnut Hill

It’s all happening Saturday, October 17th. We’ll meet at 9am at the Cresheim Valley Pergola (corner of Germantown Avenue), which the Rotary Club has maintained and beautified for over 20 years.

09/25/2026

🚧 BOARDWALK UPDATE 🚧

Heads up, trail users: do not be alarmed by the orange traffic cones on the trail. In fact, heed their caution as they mark two problem spots that we are aware of and have a plan to solve.

The two areas are: 1, The main boardwalk in the beech grove, where an elm tree fell and damaged one of the long planks; and 2, The boardwalk under the SEPTA Chestnut Hill West Line, where one of the boards has some rot.

Finding the wood we need to make repairs has been a challenge, but it is on order and we will have it soon. In the meantime, both boardwalks are still passable, just please use caution.

09/24/2026

Happy fall, y’all! We’re heading back to the Friends Loop for some colors from the first full day of autumn, all taken yesterday.

It’s a nice time to visit the Friends Loop and the Quarry Rock Garden, following a fresh trim and some TLC from the weekend’s workday. Enter through Mermaid Park in Chestnut Hill (between Mermaid Inn and the flower shop) and look right or left for the trail posts. Shoutout to the pros who shop at Chestnut Hill Farmers Market Farmers Market and Pitruco Pizza pizza before/after taking a lap on the Loop. We’ll be back there in November for a big fall planting, so stay tuned for that.

And while we’re talking about fall colors, we hope you’ve saved the date for the Cresheim Trail Fall Foliage Festival, coming Saturday, October 24th, 1–3pm. For that matter, the Cresheim Valley Drive cleanup (the week before, Sat 10/17) is always a good time for leaf peeping, especially when you’re walking down the middle of the Drive without any cars. Lots of options, lots of colors.

More on all of the above to come. Swipe through for some September scenes from the Friends Loop, including our pals at Chestnut Hill Friends Quaker Meeting & Skyspace - who have two access points to the trail.

09/21/2026

A super huge shout of gratitude goes out to the 22 volunteers who came out on Saturday for an end-of-summer volunteer workday on the Friends Loop and in the Quarry Rock Garden.

We gave the trail itself a big ol’ trim, widening the corridor and opening up sightlines; we removed a good bit of invasive vegetation, including lots of stiltgrass and devil’s walking stick (aralia elata), the famous prickly plant. (The japanese knotweed within the rock garden will be treated this week by Philadelphia Parks & Recreation’s natural lands team and will be removed next month ahead of November’s planting.) We hauled out six bags of trash, and Bill took the brush cutter across the road to clear the sunny trails on the Upper Loop and Rail Trail south of Germantown Ave, just in time for peak goldenrod viewing.

Many thanks to the many folks who came out — and to Chestnut Hill Friends Meeting, who opened their parking lot to volunteers.

The next planned volunteer outing is coming Saturday, October 17th — our annual fall cleanup of the south half of Cresheim Valley Drive. Save the date and stay tuned for details.

09/16/2026

Some news yous can use: You’re invited to join us on Saturday, October 24th for the first ever CRESHEIM TRAIL FALL FOLIAGE FESTIVAL.

That afternoon, from 1 to 3pm, either the sun will shine brightly upon Philly’s autumnal hues, or we’ll welcome a seasonably appropriate shower. Whichever the condition, rain or shine or the muted tones of overcast skies, come on out. Celebrate the season, the colors all around us on the Cresheim Rail Trail between Germantown and Stenton Avenues. (It will have a fresh cut by then.)

Many thanks to our NW Philly friends who’ll be joining us: Friends of the Wissahickon, Wissahickon East Park Friends, Chestnut Hill Conservancy, and Chestnut Hill Community Association.

Music, merch, hikes, programs, and more. Stay tuned for all the details, and in the meantime save the date: Sat 10/24, 1–3pm.

Fall Foliage Festival: fun, family-friendly, FREE. 🍁

https://cresheimtrail.org/cresheim-trail-fall-foliage-festival-2026/

09/15/2026

This latest entry in Cresheim Trail profiles is also an invitation. It’s the Friends Loop, where we’ll host September’s volunteer outing THIS SATURDAY at 9am. We’ll meet at Mermaid Park in Chestnut Hill, between the flower shop and Mermaid Inn. PLEASE NOTE: Chestnut Hill Farmers' Market will be happening, so if you’re driving, park at the Chestnut Hill Friends Meeting, who’ve kindly made their lot at 20 E Mermaid Lane available. You can walk the trail right down to the meetup spot.

The Friends Loop is actually more of a figure-8, as seen in slide 2. And it’s technically Cresheim Trail *adjacent*, a standalone trail across the Drive from the main trail network. It takes its name from the collaboration between Friends of the Cresheim Trail, Chestnut Hill Community Association, Chestnut Hill Friends Meeting, and Friends of the Wissahickon, all of whom helped build the trail. Lots of friends!

The Loop first opened in April 2023, activating a 10-acre parcel of parkland with a trail from Mermaid Park, through the former O’Neill Quarry and Woodward Rock Garden, and along a ridge with large stands of black locust and trout lily, and one very large wild cherry tree. In April 2025, a second loop was built, extending the Friends Loop to its current 0.55 miles.

Concurrent to this work, Chestnut Hill Community Association has embarked on a renovation of the Mermaid Park space, which they care for as part of the Green Space Initiative. CHCA also collaborated with Morris Arboretum on the installation of 8 butterflies across Chestnut Hill, one of which is here.

In 2026, FOCT formally began work on the Quarry Rock Garden restoration with a grant from Athletic Brewing Company. The goals of this project include the mitigation of decades’ worth of invasive plant growth, protection of existing native species, planting more of them, and re-establishing walking paths. The signature stone staircase will be a focus area.

Come see it with us on Saturday. This workday will help us prep the next steps, including a big planting in November.

09/10/2026

Late summer = late pollinator season, and the Cresheim Trail is full of em. If you like white wood asters, get yourself to the trail posthaste, for they are everywhere (and the first half of this slideshow).

This collection of wildflowers — plus one fruit and one bracket fungus — was made yesterday, and focuses on native species. Sweet autumn clematis, for example, is not included here as it is an aggressive non-native vine, though admittedly it sure smells nice.

The natural beauty is all around us. Go catch it while it’s wearing its September colors.

Pics 1–11: White wood aster (Eurybia divaricata)
11–12: Chicken of the woods (Laetiporus spp.)
13–15: Orange jewelweed (Impatiens capensis)
15–16: Leafy elephant’s foot (Elephantopus carolinianus)
17: Blue-stemmed goldenrod (Solidago caesia)
18: Pawpaw (Asimina triloba)
19: New england aster (Symphyotrichum novae-angliae)
20: Brown-eyed susan (Rudbeckia triloba)

💐

09/08/2026

If you are a lover of trees or a reader of Grid Magazine and The Philadelphia Inquirer, chances are you already know about Beech Leaf Disease (BLD). Or perhaps you read about it in last month’s Cresheim Trail newsletter.

Unfortunately, BLD is already here. Beech trees, including our native American beech and the non-native European, are significant contributors to PA’s canopy, especially in the Cresheim and Wissahickon Valleys. And they are extremely susceptible to BLD.

The disease is caused by a microscopic parasite that feeds inside the leaf buds of beech trees. When the leaves emerge, they have a dark striped appearance and become curled, leathery, or withered as the season progresses. Over time, the canopy will thin as it loses leaves, and the tree will no longer be able to photosynthesize, causing it to die.

Fortunately, there is a treatment that seems to be helping. Unfortunately, it is very expensive. But FOCT is acting where we can within our budget and capacity. The first step is to apply a phosphite this fall to help build resistance, followed by a trunk injection of fungicide next summer. We’re following best practices from Penn State Extension and working with local arborists and Philadelphia Parks & Recreation to care for these precious beech trees.

Recognizing our small organization can’t save ALL the trees, we are prioritizing the beech grove already within our ecological restoration zone, where we’ve done so much planting and invasive plant mitigation over the last five years. We’ve identified and measured 16 trees between the Germantown Ave trailhead and the Upper Loop. This includes the Cresheim boardwalk, which winds the way it does *because* of the beech trees.

Speaking of, we plan on fixing the boardwalk at our next volunteer workday, Sat 9/19. One of its long planks was broken by an ash tree felled by another pest, the emerald ash borer, whose evidence you can clearly see on the log still there.

As this beech preservation project proceeds, we’ll share ways that you can help.

09/02/2026

All righty, we’re shaping up to get back to it! The Quarry Rock Garden is looking a little shaggy so we’re gonna give it a haircut and tidy things up before a big event there in November.

Join us on Saturday, September 19th for a morning outdoors, conquering weeds and invasive plants and stepping back to see what might be, what could be, what will be. We’ll also have some other trail tasks available, so come on out if any of the above sounds good to ya.

We’ll meet at 9AM at Mermaid Park in Chestnut Hill, between the flower shop and Mermaid Inn. PLEASE NOTE: The Chestnut Hill Farmers Market Farmers Market will be happening, so if you’re driving, plan on parking down the block - there’s always street parking on the 7500 block of Germantown Avenue.

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Philadelphia, PA

Website

http://cresheimtrail.org/

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