Blue Bell Park — Attraction in Philadelphia

This little park is actually connected to the Wissahickon Valley park which is part of Philadelphia's fabulous Fairmount Park System. It has become an unofficial Dog Park where people let their dogs run free and play, despite the leash law. The park has several picnic areas. During the season, spring summer and fall you need to contact Philadelphia Parks and Recreation for a permit to reserve a picnic area. But off season it is first come first serve. The best picnic area is the picnic shelter. It has a huge fireplace and makes a great place to have an intimate gathering around a fire.

The gate is open from dawn to dusk (6pm in the winter) for vehicles. The Park Rangers will come in at closing and warn people to move their cars out to the street before they lock up for the night. But it is accessible 24/7 to pedestrians. This place is a nice getaway right in the heart of...

Nice park but people use the park as a doggie park. We paid for a permit from Philadelphia Parks & Recreation for the pavilion on Monday, Sept 4, 2017 but upon our arrival to the site there was dog poop all in that area. We could not use the space, which cost me $140.00. I call the Philadelphia Parks & Recreation on Wednesday to complain and ask for a refund due to the condition of the area and was told no refund due to circumstances beyond their control. I thought people are suppose to carry a poop bag to clean up behind their dog but I guess not. I would not recommend this park...

Blue Bell Park is a clean park with minimal facilities, access to Wissahickon Park hiking trails and parking. On both of our trips to Blue Bell we were only using it for it's parking and access to hiking. The park is large and clean and blends into Wissahickon at the treeline. There is lots of room for dogs to run around (and they usually are) and once we saw a large company picnic being hosted there. There is no playground however. I've included a couple of pictures from the nearby...