Benjamin Rush State Park — Attraction in Philadelphia

Since August of ‘23 there have been AT LEAST 10 break ins of automobiles. (4 just today 11/16/23 in broad light) I met with one victim this afternoon and he said he left his car parked/locked for 10-15 minutes and when he came back his car was ransacked…wallet stolen with his Medicare Card in it. Windows smashed in… I have pictures of the aftermath which I’ll post… this is an important warning ⚠️ if you still want to visit this park you need to hold on to all valuables… the only think the Park Rangers do is periodically cruise the park safe & warm in tax payer vehicles… and IF they do spot any broken glass they get the maintenance people to quickly clean up the evidence so the public feel safe. YOUR CHOICE TO EITHER VISIT OR DEMAND THE PARK HIGHER UPS TO INSTALL MULTIPLE TRAIL CAMS TO CATCH THESE BRAZEN THUGS. This crime riddled State Park has gotten to the level of epidemic proportions… and the Park Rangers have done NOTHING to ensure any security improvements… today I saw the scariest evidence … I have 11 new pictures… YOU MUST CHOOSE… support a no care attitude OR find a more secure/feel safe...

This is a nice small/medium sized park, there are a few hiking / bicycling trails but it's nothing like the Belmont Plateau. Half of the land isn't maintained, the other half is well groomed; with most of the area surrounded by tree's. There are paved roads but they're narrow to drive on and there's plenty of parking space for people. This park also seems to have a space for gardening in the center but I'm not entirely sure about that, I suggest you look into that of your interested.

On the far end there's a Radio Controlled Aircraft club with some pretty cool planes both new and old, flying around; some are wicked fast performing head spinning stunts... others fly their planes slow and gentle. Most of the people in this group are seasoned hobbiest with a light dusting of younger members. The rc plane group is called, North East Philadelphia Radio Control Club (or NEPRCC for short). They have a website and a Facebook page but it doesn't seem to be too active, in terms of social media.

I'd still come back to this park to see the planes fly if...

I want to thank Stephen for posting about the smash and grabs. This is an ongoing problem at Ben Rush Park, and one of several indicators that this is the unwanted stepchild of PA state parks. It's sad, lots of people like me have come to love this little oasis near home. I realize budgets are tight, but if they can afford to use trail cams to harass people for feeding the wild cats, they can sure find a way to address the lack of public safety in this park. Don't want to? Give it back to the city then. I would like nothing more than to congratulate the Park Service for a quick solution to this problem, but this particular park is not a priority.

Over the last three years, I have also reported a huge dead tree that had fallen against another tree, to this day hanging precariously by one dead branch over the trail. I told rangers on five different occasions over that three year time period. Hopefully, it will come crashing down in the middle of the night and...