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.

06/22/2026

A summer solstice salute to the 34 people who came out on a gorgeous morning for a volunteer outing with FOCT and FOW. 🫡 Special thanks as always to David Bower and the Q-Team for the kindly assist.

Collectively, we gave the trail and its inhabitants a little breathing room to start summer off right. We pulled vines and invasive weeds from the cages protecting recent plantings; we trimmed encroaching vegetation from the trail’s woodland and sunny sections, pretty much from Germantown Avenue all the way to Lincoln Drive; we cut a huge stand of knotweed under the SEPTA Chestnut Hill West bridge; we trimmed back poison ivy that was beginning to creep up the boardwalk; we hauled out six bags of trash, a bumper, and a big piece of plywood; we even fixed up the post-and-rail fence at the Germantown Ave trailhead. All in all a terrific morning — thanks to all who participated.

In fact, we enjoyed that so much we’re gonna run it back next week! Join us next Wednesday, July 1st, as we’ll give the Friends Loop a haircut and make our planned second cut of knotweed in the Quarry Rock Garden. We’ll meet at Mermaid Park in Chestnut Hill (between the flower shop and Mermaid Inn) at 9am.

06/18/2026

We tip our out-of-stock Cresheim Trail hats to the New York Times for the nice article on Germantown and Mt. Airy, although it forgot to mention a certain trail by name in its coverage of all the things that make this community so special. And for that matter, it came out on the day of the first GoMtAiry Supper Sessions, now celebrating 10 years on the Avenue, and forgot to mention it. Ahem.

Anyway thanks to Mt. Airy CDC for being such great hosts as always, and extra thanks to everyone who stopped by our table to talk trail and rep the CT with new merch. That includes Rep. Chris Rabb and Chris Johnson, both of whose support we are very grateful for.

Included here are some scenes from Supper Sessions and from the trail, as Dan, John, Nick, and Brad took a lap on the trail to scout out tasks for upcoming volunteer workdays. The next one is this Sunday the 21st, followed by Wednesday July 1st. Both start at 9am.

06/15/2026

The early forecast for Sunday looks pretty peachy for a volunteer workday. Join FOCT and FOW for a summer solstice outing on the OG Cresheim Trail. We’ll meet at our classic meetup spot on *northbound* Cresheim Valley Drive opposite Navajo Street and plan on covering a lot of ground.

We’ll be working on the trail pretty much from Germantown Ave all the way to Allens Lane, so we’ll get some steps in and leave the trail looking mighty fine for the summer ahead. Among the tasks to take on: trail sightline clearing, a check-in on our plantings, boardwalk maintenance, knotweed cutting near the SEPTA CHW bridge, a little this, a little that, and more.

It’s happening this Sunday, June 21st at 9am. If you’re driving, there’s plenty of room on the shoulder to park safely on *northbound* CV Drive. Please do NOT park on the southbound side.

Then, 10 days later, we’ll be back out with David Bower and the Q-Team crew for a special midweek workday, Wednesday July 1st.

06/12/2026

One more time, a shot of gratitude and appreciation to Steve Weinik for his generous donation of time and talent to the Friends of the Cresheim Trail at the Toast two weeks ago.

Steve grew up locally and knew the Cresheim Trail before it was officially A Thing. Given his current proximity to the trail, he realized that his pattern of use are of the variety that include his family, usually without camera, or the off chance in the snow. And certainly, his solo treks with camera find the birds. The photos here touch on all of these points, and perhaps these snowy scenes even provide a temporary relief in the ongoing heat wave.

So: Thanks again to Steve for supporting the Cresheim Trail and sharing his perspective. Do check out his website steveweinik.com to see his work and the services he provides — real talent and vision in this era of the artificially created kind.

06/10/2026

One last time, a toast to those who Toasted. That includes , Mt. Airy native and photographer extraordinaire, who donated his time, energy, and talent to document the Toast to the Trail.

These photos by Steve are a nice selection that finds the feeling of the evening at the Venetian Social Club, from the excellent food to the groovin’ tunes and the general excitement for the Cresheim Trail and the things to come. Thanks once again to all who came out, we are so grateful.

We’ll see you next at Supper Sessions, which has been postponed to next Wednesday the 17th, then at the volunteer workday Sunday the 21st.

06/08/2026

And now, officially: the updated Cresheim Trail map!

Last year’s feature map detailed all the sections of trail that have been built since 2012, with an inset showing the long-range plan. In this new one, which debuted at the Toast to the Trail 10 days ago, the long-range plan is the whole show, shown in eight sections south to north, with all road crossings marked.

A high-res PDF is available for download or to view online here: https://bit.ly/CTmap26

Have a look to see all the future connections, from the Wissahickon to Fort Washington State Park. These include the Tookany Creek Trail (also in development) and the Wissahickon/Green Ribbon Trail — which will also be part of the Cross County Trail when it is finished, as well as a number of planned trailheads along the way. All of it north of Germantown Ave will be part of The Circuit Trails network.

Check out the map, get excited for what’s possible, and follow along for the work ahead.

06/04/2026

All righty, party time is over and it is time to get back to work! And we’ll do so by ringing in summer AND celebrating dad. It’s the Father’s Day Summer Solstice Volunteer Work Party with your pals on the Cresheim Trail.

We’re going to put some attention on the mainstem CT and the Upper and Outer Loops, including the boardwalk, plus we’ll have some tasks in the sunny sections under the power lines. Lots to do, lots of fun, and we’ll be joined by David Bower and the Q-Team. And the bottlebrush buckeyes in the first pic ought to be in just about peak bloom by then.

We’ll meet at 9am, Sunday June 21st, at the classic CT meetup spot. It’s on *northbound* Cresheim Valley Drive opposite Navajo Street. If you’re driving, please do NOT park on southbound CVD. There’s plenty of room on the northbound shoulder. If you’re walking, it’s

06/03/2026

In the spirit of the Toast, it’s worth a check-in with our overall goals for the Cresheim Trail. One day in the not too distant future, we’ll be able to walk, run, ride, or gallivant from Philly’s Wissahickon Valley Park all the way to Fort Washington State Park, seen in these photos.

After following the former right-of-way of the Pennsylvania Railroad’s Fort Washington (or Cresheim) Branch from Germantown Avenue to where it meets up with PA-309 at Willow Grove Avenue in Cheltenham Township, it will meander a route across a housing development, a high school, a residential neighborhood, and a country club, until it finally crosses Bethlehem Pike near the Acme in Flourtown. And when it does, it’ll make a beeline for the bridge over Wissahickon Creek built by the Reading Railroad in 1917 for its Plymouth Branch.

Before crossing the bridge, one has the option of peeling off to the left for the mile-long native surface single-track loop through FWSP’s Flourtown Day Use Area. After crossing the bridge, the Cresheim Trail will meet its ultimate destination of the Wissahickon/Green Ribbon Trail — which will also carry the Cross County Trail on its 17-mile route between the Pennypack Trail at Byberry Road and the Schuylkill River Trail in Conshohocken.

Swipe through to see some scenes of the CT’s ultimate goal, and stick with us as we work our way in that direction.

06/01/2026

CHEERS. 🥂 That’s the simplest, most direct, all caps way to express our gratitude to everyone who came out to the for a Toast to the Trail on Friday evening. Thank you, thank you.

We exceeded all expectations, enjoyed an A+ dinner from along with bread and dessert from , cheese boards from , coffee from , and , who turned around an emergency order of 10 pizza pies in an hour on a Friday night. We presented Susan and David Dannenberg with the inaugural Cresheim Cup, and all of it had a perfect soundtrack from .

And, thanks a million to for these excellent shots and spending the evening with us and his camera. More to come.

05/28/2026

FOCT president John Raisch and his family are ingrained in the trail world like tread blocks on hero dirt. Outside of the Cresheim, John is also president of — and he’s the owner and operator of YJR Outdoors. As in 🤙

YJR is a bike & trail outfitter with programs for everyone, from kids to couples to adults, clinics and sessions, rides and more. They’re dedicated to inspiring adventure, education, and connection through outdoor experiences, from the Pennypack to the Wissahickon, in between and beyond.�

In addition to a generous dollar donation, and especially for the Toast to the Trail, YJR is offering two family-friendly Cresheim Trail sessions in the coming weeks: a guided hike on Tuesday June 16th at 6pm, and a bike ride the following Tuesday, June 23rd at 6pm. Good for all skill sets and ages. Registration is free but a donation to FOCT is welcome.

And tickets to the Toast, happening TOMORROW? They start at just $40. That’s a steal to support your favorite local trail organization. Find those here: https://givebutter.com/toast-to-the-trail

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Philadelphia, PA

Website

http://cresheimtrail.org/

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