The Cynwyd station--end of the line for active rail service
Kali and I explored a new urban trail on a cool, damp and cloudy Saturday afternoon this weekend--the Cynwyd Heritage Trail. This trail was created when one of the regional rail lines serving Philadelphia was discontinued. The rails were removed and the trail was created in their place.
The trail, completed in May 2011, consists of two parallel paths, one paved for bicyclists and in-line skaters, and one of earth for runners (though the soil seemed so hard-packed that I think it would hurt my knees as a runner just as much as the asphalt path would).
A amphitheater-like turnout on the running path
The trail runs through a completely built-out, very wealthy section of an inner ring-Philadelphia suburb. As such, it was getting a lot of use even on a rather dreary Saturday afternoon. Dog walkers were abundant.
Currently the trail is two miles long, though it's possible to continue walking in a neighboring cemetery through which the municipality has negotiated an access easement. In the summer of 2013, the trail will be extended across a railroad bridge spanning the Schuylkill River and into the hip Manayunk neighborhood in the city of Philadelphia.
The bridge that will link the Cynwyd Trail to Manayunk in 2013
View from the Cynwyd Trail across the Schuylkill Expressway and Schuylkill River into
Manayunk, once factory worker housing and now a hipster haunt
Manayunk, once factory worker housing and now a hipster haunt
Once that connection is made, Cynwyd Trail users will also have easy access to the 20-mile-long Schuylkill Trail linking central Philadelphia with Valley Forge National Historical Park, and an additional 20-mile-loing trail following the Perkiomen Creek, a major Schuylkill River tributary.
Severely tilted metamorphic bedrock along the trail--evidence of past collisions between North America and Africa
The natural world still hangs on along portions of the route
