Wissahickon Valley Park — Attraction in Philadelphia

This is not a review of the entire park , it's facilities or the various points of interest ( and from what the Park directory looks like, we have not explored very far at all!) My review is from a very personal perspective on a specific thing. We set out to go view the only remaining covered bridge set inside of a major city left standing in the US. That bridge , the Historic Thomas Mill Covered Bridge, is located in Wissahickon Valley Park in Philadelphia PA. There appear to be many trails and entrances around the park and so when we googled the bridge ( as opposed to googling the Park itself) it brought us to the nearest trail entrance which happened to be on a residential block. The street name is Manatawana Avenue. It actually brought us to the top of the trail across from homes lining up on the other side of the street. I am sure there is nothing wrong with this trail for someone used to hiking, biking, running or walking their dogs. All of which we did encounter on this trail. It is only a half mile from the beginning of the trail to where it ends right across from the Covered Bridge. However , if a person experiences ANY SORT of physical issues at all this is not the way to go. I have two bad knees, a fussy back and arthritis in my feet. The trail was narrow , and continued on a decline over a rocky terrain that got more and more challenging as it progressed downward. At the very bottom of the trail the rocks were damp or wet . Not sure of the source since the water and streams were on the other side of the walking trail. There was very little level ground and maybe a tiny stretch of the path was a very narrow dirt path with grass . The remainder was a large variety of rocks , stones fallen branches and deep crevasses in and around these stones. As the path went on it continued moving downward at a steady angle and at times were pure stones and rocks. Very uneven surface and not something I recommend to a person with any kind of physical challenges. We spoke to numerous people on this path. All were friendly, helpful and Informative. Many warned us not to continue if it was proving to be so challenging. I was moving forward but it did NOT take me 15 minutes. It seemed to last forever. I stepped as carefully as I could and moved at a pace that didn't seem like it was going forward at all. But I was refusing to turn around and go back through it all only this time it would be an incline for me!! All in all it took me over 45 minutes and boy was I glad to see the main path which was level!! It was called Forbidden Drive. And right at the exit of the trail was the Covered Bridge. Very scenic and surrounded by streams of water and lush trees in a setting quite apart from Philadelphia. I would certainly recommend taking the main entrance at the corner of Bells Mill Road and Forbidden Drive. Google the park name and not any point of interest inside the park is my suggestion. Maybe I will go back one day ( when I have recovered!) and review the...

It’s been about 10 years since I’ve been to Valley Green, which is part of the Wissahican Valley Park system so I didn’t know what to expect but not much has changed. I parked near the valley green restaurant which is iconic. I’ve never been to it, but I will visit this in the future. I decided to do a mix of trail walking using the main trail, which is extremely wide people bike, jog, walk, etc. on this trail with the trail also offers hiking and horseback riding and all the trails are clearly marked halfway down the trail. I decided to take a turn up a hill to the forbidden path or trail as it’s called which is about a mile long or so This is fairly steep incline on the way up. I’m gonna say probably about 25 to 30° it was a little difficult because they had just packed the trail with fresh stone and dirt so it was kind of soft when I made it to the forbidden trail which was also clearly marked my little journey began, and further up I went to the cliffside, and eventually I was able to look down to the riverside which seemed to be about 1000 feet or so down not exactly exactly sure but that’s what it felt like about a half a mile and I was unsure of what was going on as far as where I was going every now and then a jogger or biker would come by and I did manage to stop when and ask if I was on the right direction in the jogger told me to take the next right at Valley Green. I thanked him and went on higher and higher. This trail has lots of rocks and roots running through it so you have to be very mindful and very careful. I recommend walking sticks as a knucklehead. I forgot mine, and eventually grab two sticks on the side of the trail, which helped out greatly after walking for about another 15 minutes and not seeing the turn. The jogger told me about I was a little worried, but eventually I came up on it. The trail started to descend through a very windy, picturesque, beautiful part of the valley. Eventually, I started to see a turn downwards towards the valley, and that was a little relieving. I did come across a bridge that was kind of Ricky T. I do have photos the grading going down was had to be about 35° again with rocks and roots and sticks going through the paths very challenging for me but when I finished, it was a heck of a sense of accomplishment. This is such a beautiful place. It’s about 2000 acres. I can’t wait for the springtime and summer. I’ll be...

Really beautiful. I’m not a hiker though and actually hate it so bad but I took my girlfriend for her birthday due to her loving the activity. So I’ll give you an accurate depiction of what to expect. We parked near valley green inn, ate there and then took forbidden drive trail to the white trail to see the statue of Tedyuscung. Forbidden drive trail, normal people trail, can picnic along it and there’s cool things to see and learn about on the way through. White trail is a steep incline all the way through. There are also some rocks. If you want to see the statue it’s a quick trip up a zigzag. Other than that I personally would not climb up that mountain anymore than that. Then we went to devils pool which is in the opposite direction past the parking lot that we parked in, hence why I parked there. Now Devils Pool is off the orange trail. I don’t recommend this at all for people who aren’t hikers. People swim and chill down there but they’re young and ready to pass away any moment from the thrill. I wanted to see it and we got a view of the wedding from across the river that was happening, but literally never again. Wasn’t even worth the left side of my body being bruised and a sprained ankle from tumbling down a hill of rocks, even with hiking poles to keep me steady. There’s a bridge that’s hard to find on the map. I just matched up the map on their website with Apple Maps and marked the location on my map for the day. Also on the orange trail, also not worth it. The views from devils pool to the bridge are quite pretty and the rocks have very cool formations with water coming down to the stream but the bridge is up a long steep flight of stairs. I thought it would be longer and the roof needs to be fixed. Barely any cell service obviously so have a physical map or download maps of the area on your phone so you can use it without service. Especially because marketed need to be cleaned, more...