General Route Planning
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JJ.
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Hello friends,
I’m just working on planning out a route and would be interested in seeing any examples from folks who have done this. I’m particularly interested in learning more about the NE route and South Philly/Airport area. Feel free to email me directly at rabbinm18@gmail.com
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Hi Nathan,
I’m psyched that you’re undertaking the walk!
I’ll chime in here w/ a couple reflections and tips, and maybe some of our walkers can offer their own insights.
(There’s not a lot of traffic ’round here yet but I appreciate you posting your query here as we’re hoping to build a space where folks can talk the walk without ads or algorithms etc..)
First off, re: planning in general:
It’s good to do… AND, any plans that you make are good to hold lightly. The walk is really about process not about specific path, and there’s no *right* way to go.
It’s *your* walk, and your specific route will be guided both the synergy of the plans that you make and the things that catch your eye and the whims of your traveling companions and whatever obstacles (or new paths/bridges) the city happens to have for you that day.
When walking, we’ve used what we like to call the “Roomba Rule” (named after those lil robot vacuum cleaners that may bump their way around obstacles when first charting out a new space) – which basically says, “if there’s an obstacle, go around it”. Sometimes, choosing “left” vs “right” will make a big difference… but neither is right or wrong, and each will lead to new discoveries.
Also, I often like to remind folks that Walk Around Philadelphia is one of the few places where detours & delays are celebrated, not bemoaned. Every time we have a setback, obstacle, or have to backtrack a whole bunch, it invariably sets us up for something really special later on that we wouldn’t have encountered had we not taken our roundabout adventure. 🙂
(and remember that paths may be different depending in if you’re going clockwise vs counter-clockwise)
All to say, you don’t even really have to plan at all… if you follow the guidelines you’ll be good!
That said, some quick thoughts re: those segments…
South Philly / Airport Area:
- Southeast corner of the Navy Yard is pretty industrial. Walkers have found their way through on occasion, sometimes via an inactive construction site, sometimes via a VIP tour with the Philaport folks (surprise for our Feb 2025 walkers!) and sometimes have been turned back by security folk at the restricted trade zones. Remember, sometimes these setbacks & detours are worth it just to poke your nose into some neat industrial landscapes, and backtracking lets you get a whole new perspective and notice new things. And Windy Point is worth a look if you can get out there. And with that southeastern corner being often inaccessible, walkers have often (but not always) gotten in and out of the Navy Yard via Broad Street.
- Western side of Navy Yard looses sidewalks, but is pretty darned cool. If you walk by the Tastykake factory, it’s worth taking a good closeup look at their silos.
- Crossing the Schuylkill is tricky. The I-95 bridge is closest to the border, but has no pedestrian walkway. Many of our walkers have taken the Platt Bridge. NOTE: the Southeast (eastbound) side that connects to the Wawa is the passable side, the Northwestern (westbound) side seems to dump you into an I-95 on-ramp (NOT recommended). This is another one of those things where there’s a nice pedestrian access on one end that dumps you into rugged terrain on the west side, definitely not ADA-compliant. At least one of our walkers has detoured all the way up to the Passyunk Ave bridge!
- The Airport: The border cuts right across the airport runways, so in general (unless you work for the airport or are on a flight) you can only actually be on the border itself at two points, right over between the A-West and A-East terminals, and just west of Fort Mifflin. We often do a whole day’s walk that circumnavigates the entire airport in order to hit those two points (and some special gems around there) – 14 out of 15 times that I’ve done the whole perimeter, that’s what I’ve done. It’s a long detour into Tinicum Township, but I’d say it’s worth it. When circumnavigating the airport, there’s places where you might find adventures by hugging close to the airport fence, but other places where it might behoove you feel pulled towards the river to find some of the secret magic that happens at those margins. (A glance at google maps satellite view can be helpful for reconnaissance here, as can careful attention for subtle footpaths towards the river’s edge.)
- Airport / Heinz Wildlife Refuge transition: There’s not (currently) a great sanctioned way to connect these two while staying close to the border, although the Circuit Trails / East Coast Greenway folks are working on options (and the maps on that post might give you some ideas, and again satellite views can be handy) – some of our walkers have found their way through by hugging close to the border line, but that definitely involves places that are *not* pedestrian friendly. Others have swung near the Eastwick regional rail station.
- Eastwick / Cobbs Creek: The map of the Circuit Trails shows a new planned extension of the Cobbs Creek Trail coming soon, so this landscape will be changing over the coming year. Please note that there’s a couple quiet residential blocks near the border this way (Ulena St, Wheeler St etc) where folks aren’t used to seeing random walkers coming through; please be *extra* respectful when passing near here.
The Northeast:
- Fox Chase towards Somerton (or vice versa) seems like a pretty straightforward line, but it cuts through some obstacles and isn’t always directly accessible (although Pine Rd follows it for a bit) – again, there’s no wrong way to approach it, and great things to discover whichever way you go. (This also makes the walk a thing that you can do again and again, having great new experiences if you go different directions, make different choices, walk in different seasons, with different folks, etc…)
- The Northernmost point: I’ll just say that it’s worth trying to find your way around the northernmost point rather than cutting that particular corner. This is also where you may discover an interesting inaccuracy in your Rand McNally paper map if you’re using that one 🙂
- The Poquessing Creek: This is a long stretch, and the creek itself isn’t always accessible. I’ll say that there are more trails than appear on the map, so up close with your own eyes reconnaissance is again worthwhile. This is also the segment with the most potential for bushwhacking if you want it (again, full credit for sticking to sidewalks if you’d prefer that too!) – some of the segments of the creekbed are more accessible in the winter when some vegetation has died back rather than in the summer when things are overgrown with brambles.
- NOTE THE ONE PLACE WHERE YOU MIGHT GET SHOT BY A HUNTER: there’s apparently a new year-round bow-hunting area in the land between Southampton Rd, Carter Rd & Dahlia Dr that edges up against the Poquessing creek. That’s a place to be extra careful should you find your way there. (Hunting also happens sometimes in the Heinz Wildlife Refuge and other parks, so please do pay attention to that bit in the packing list about wearing bright colors / high viz gear, although it’s really mostly traffic that is always the riskiest. As always, proceed at your own risk, with caution!
- Woodhaven Road – the city’s been working on a feasibility study for a Lower Poquessing Creek Trail that might conceivably go under Woodhaven Rd right at the creek. Some of our walkers have made it through there, but that’s been one of the more adventurous “outward-bound” parts of the walk. You can always find other ways to get across it that have regular sidewalks & traffic lights!
- The Poquessing segment is one of the longest – it could easily be broken into two walks, especially if you’re really trying to hug the edges. But since there aren’t that many options that have great transit access, our organized walks generally go from Torresdale towards Somerton (or vice versa) in one long walk, knowing that we might cut a corner towards the end, or have to pick & choose our moments of bushwhacking.
- Benjamin Rush State Park area – they’ve bulldozed the secret abandoned mystery bridge, but as of last walk the secret graffiti palace is still there!
Hope that’s helpful – but again, remember not to plan too hard… it’s all about exploring!
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