11 great places to get out and run in Philly

With spring decisively here it s time to dig out your running shoes and hit the sidewalks parks and trails that the area has on offer If you re new to the city s run scene or just looking for a healthy way to get to know others in your neighborhood or population there s a great number of run groups all around the city and neighboring counties for you to join and the majority are free We ve made a list of as countless running and walking groups as we could find and plotted out their runs over the program of a week to help you find the one that fits your schedule and vibe best In the meantime here are selected places near and far from the city where you can stretch your legs on your own with a couple less-travelled options provided by various run group leaders A great number of of the trails and parks are accessible by general travel and you can figure out how through the Getting to Green Routes to Roots map made as part of a Mural Arts project The Schuylkill River Trail SRT As popular as it is incredibly long this -mile riverfront trail runs from Center City all the way to Parker Ford Pa with more being added to the south soon The track offers a scenic view of Philly s skyline the Schuylkill River and Kelly Drive and passes by landmarks like the Philadelphia Museum of Art Boathouse Row and East Fairmount Park The trail can get pretty busy on nice days especially weekends with runners cyclists and walkers sharing space Marice Edwards a personal trainer who founded Chasing Miles Running Club revealed all the runners along with the picnics yoga fishing and everything else can be good motivation for first-time runners The Delaware River Trail Along Philly s other riverfront is the Delaware River Trail This path stretches for just over three miles from Penn Treaty Park in the North to Pier by the Walmart on South Christopher Columbus Boulevard It can get a little stop-and-start waiting for the stoplights at busy intersections but parts like the Race Street Pier and Penn s Landing Marina offer intriguing inlets to detour into Want to add a little more distance to it Northern Liberties Run Club founder Keith Tomaselli suggests carrying north past Penn Treaty Park along Richmond Street and past Graffiti Pier until East Allegheny Avenue in Port Richmond You can then take a right to the shipyard and find a running path that leads all the way up to Bridesburg Race runners movement along Kelly Drive as they near the finish line of the Philadelphia Marathon Lizzy McLellan Ravitch Billy Penn The Ben Franklin Bridge If you re not too daunted by heights this detour off the Delaware River Trail offers about three miles of inclined running by travelling to the Camden side and back along with spectacular views of both the Philadelphia and Camden riverfronts The pedestrian walkway is open daily weather and events permitting from a m to p m from May to Sept it closes at p m the rest of the year The entrance to the bridge on the Philly side is at th and Race streets and it lets out at th and Pearl streets in Camden You can find live voyage advisories about whether the walkway is closed at the Delaware River Port Authority s website Want to throw a few extra miles in You can easily add the Camden Riverfront or the DRT to your road FDR Park and Navy Yard South Philly s biggest park offers a roughly two-mile loop of paved walkway along with several trails and paths on its acres For a change of scenery you head down Broad Street a little to get to the Navy Yard for several waterfront views as you run Walkers along the Fairmount Park Trolley Trail Courtesy Fairmount Park Conservancy Fairmount Park The city s biggest park has plenty of space to explore on either side of the Schuylkill River If you want to try a -mile run through both sides of the park the Fairmount Park Conservancy has mapped one out as well as a -mile way around South Philly In Fairmount Park West Montgomery Drive isn t easy to cross so it splits access between the north and south options of the park South of the drive there are roads and trails that take you to scenic spots like the Shofuso Japanese Gardens The Mann Center and the park s Horticultural Center West Philly Runners founder Alon Abramson recommends the Please Touch Museum of West Philly Park as a good starting point with parking North of Montgomery Drive there s the Belmont Plateau and the four-mile long Trolley Trail MLK Drive offers another way to run along the Schuylkill and is often closed off from motor vehicles in the warmer months You can check the schedule for that on the City s website In East Fairmount there are options including the Boxer s Trail Lemon Hill Park Strawberry Mansion and easy access to the Kelly Drive SRT paths The Woodlands Near University City and West Philadelphia is a acres of th century English pleasure gardens working cemetery and green space where you can run a roughly one-mile loop around the grounds The gates to the Woodlands are open dawn to dusk days a year and there are bathrooms available during business hours Cyclists in Bartram s Garden File photo Billy Penn Credit Courtesy Bartram's Garden Bartram s Gardens Another historic site out west Bartram s Mile will soon be connected to the Schuylkill River Trail Till then you can run it from the Greys Ferry Bridge to around the overlook at South st Street just under two miles The Garden is open every day from sunrise to sunset Cobb s Creek Park At the edge of West Philadelphia is miles of paved and unpaved trail along Cobb s Creek kept clean and beautified by members of the neighborhood s population If you want to add a insufficient miles to your run Abramson suggested Haddington Woods north of rd and Industry streets as a hidden gem The ecological restoration project has a one-mile natural trail along the creek and dam Editor s note You re supposedly going to start needing a car or a few extra patience on community travel for the next limited An entrance to Wissahickon Valley Park in Northwest Philadelphia Dec Meir Rinde Billy Penn Wissahickon Valley Park In Northwest Philly there s over trails in the acres for runners hikers cyclists and horseback riders Friends of the Wissahickon have a list of the major trails as well as advance advice volunteer opportunities and even an app on their website The park has a curfew from to a m from April through November p m to a m from Dec to March Pennypack Park Further up in Northeast Philly is over acres of beautiful woodlands wetlands and meadows and fields You can take the almost- -mile trail along Pennypack Creek from the Delaware River to the limit of Montgomery County where it carries on for another six-plus miles The park is open every day from a m to dusk The John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge Near Philadelphia International Airport America s first urban refuge is a haven for birders and fans of other flora and fauna It also has over miles of trails to explore at your preferred pace The park is open every day from sunrise to sundown with free parking at the Lindbergh Boulevard entrance and the Track entrance The post great places to get out and run in Philly appeared first on Billy Penn at WHYY