Beechview-Seldom Seen Greenway — Attraction in Pittsburgh

An under-utilized Greenway in the City of Pittsburgh. Does have trail system, but as of now, is not formally maintained (a recently formed Seldom Seen Greenway group is in the planning stages of making the Greenway more usable and accessible for outdoor lovers in the City).

Accessed from Tropical Avenue Park and Brashear High School (rear parking lot) in Beechview (for upper Greenway) and Route 51 near the salt dome (for lower Greenway).

The Seldom Seen Greenway is a bowl shaped valley that originally had a number of farms and homesteads which were initially owned by Irish and Scotch immigrants. Later came the Germans, many of whom were “truck” farmers, selling their produce to local wholesaler’s and retail markets. The word truck does not refer to the vehicle, but the French word “troquer” meaning “barter”.

A railroad line (Wabash Pittsburgh Terminal Railroad) on the northern side of the valley “concealed” the valley and gave Seldom Seen its namesake. The valley and surrounding area later became known as Shalersville (which was annexed by the city of Pittsburgh in 1910 and abandoned in the 1960’s.).

It is possible to hike between the upper and lower sections of the Greenway, via a pipeline swath, but it is very steep, but doable.

The lower Greenway (which most visitors access) has a beautiful waterfall/cascade area right at the first set of railroad trestles near the parking area on Route 51, a cozy camp fire ring spot on a side trail. and a wet meadow and homestead ruins area (both on the other side of Saw Mill Run).

Getting to the other side of Saw Mill Run Creek (when in the lower Greenway) can be done in two ways. When Saw Mill Run Creek is on the low side, there are one or two spots where you can actually ford the creek to get to the other side. The other way is to hike up to the railroad tracks (from the lower Greenway), going east along the tracks, walk over a railroad trestle and accessing a trail (right) to the lower Greenway (the other side). Technically this is not legal to do since the railroad does not permit walking on the tracks (or berm) for safety reasons.

The upper Greenway has a lot of features going for it including evidence of old slope mine openings, a rock cliff/cave area, a pond, a plethora of old growth trees including a massive sycamore (in the shape of a Y) right on the main trail ( also known as the "Bridal" trail) and a great natural view of the Saw Mill Run Creek valley.

The upper Greenway Bridal trail goes from Brashear High School parking lot (crossing the pipe line swath) and terminates at the National Guard Armory on Crane Avenue (which allows no public access).

An interesting piece of history is that there use to be a ball field on the Armory property where baseball legend Josh Gibson of the Homestead Greys played against teams like the Duquesne Greys. At one time there was a bronze plaque that commemorated Gibson's playing there (it has been removed) but a stone memorial (reading Duquesne Greys, May 30, 1910) remains on the Armory property. You need permission from the Armory to view it though.

The Historic Seldom Seen Greenway Railroad Archway (in the lower Greenway) was built by the Wabash Railroad in 1902. Of "skewed" arch construction, the archway is of only three that exist in the United States today. The stone keystone of the archway is inscribed with construction year date and a bronze historic plaque was recently re-installed on the lower stone structure at eye level.

Look for deer, small mammals, turkey, mallards (in slow sections of Saw Mill Run), seasonal song birds (like the shade loving orange scarlet tanager), mushrooms and spring wild flowers (like may apples and violets). There is some urban blite in the Greenway, including grafitti and an ancient dump which is eroding into Saw Mill Run Creek (great place to find old bottles though!).

An amazingly wild, remote ,scenic and historic area for being smack dab in the City of Pittsburgh!...

Let me first start by saying I'm from Detroit and was here on a work trip and as I do on all my travels I try and do some site seeing both of nature and urban settings. After researching the area I found this spot along with the Grandview overlook which was amazing and I highly recommend to other travelers. So with just enough time to squeeze in one more spot before I head back home and after looking at some of the photos and reading the reviews from others I thought this would be primo spot to end my trip. Now my expectations were set high and I should have seen the red flags but I was rushing to find a spot so I overlook some of the clues that could have warned me but I didn't. It's not that it's a bad spot, it's just not what I thought it would be. For those still reading, what I'm getting at is, if you look at the pictures with the brick tunnel and the two railroad bridge's above it, well that's basically all there is. There's about a 2 block(that's being generous) trial that dead ends in the creek with no sign that it picks up on the other side. Let's just say I would have normally been really pissed BUT there was a light at the end of the tunnel. You remember I said I was from Detroit right? Well graffiti to Detroit is like BBQ to Texas so when I climbed up to the railroad tracks and saw all the 'writing' I felt like I was instantly home again and I could no longer be mad. Unfortunately not everybody shares my love for graffiti so unless you do save yourself the time and just look at the pics and then find somewhere else w/ more depth. Don't get me wrong this place is raw and it could be a really unique spot but because it lacks depth it just doesn't warrant visiting until they build a bridge over the creek and expand the trails further into the wood and until they do then I would agree with the name and say it should be...

As others have stated, the trails are not long and I wish there was a way to cross the creek. However, it made for an easy adventure with two young boys. I loved it was short enough I didn't have to piggyback anyone out of there. They loved walking through the woods and throwing rocks into the creek. There was a lot of broken glass, rusty metal and trash to be aware of that led to discussions about the environment, responsibility and being aware of your surroundings so you don't get injured. I'm a parent that believes exposure and dialogue are the best tools we can use to send our kids into the world. However, if you are a helicopter parent, this place will make you lose your mind.

The tunnel itself is a work of art and something to see, but hidden above is it where the magic happened for me. Nestled in the natural surroundings, the bold, expressive graffiti along train tracks made my heart...