Best walking/hiking trails

[Burnt Cheese]

What are some good trails besides Forbidden Drive for a family with a small child to explore? Stuff close to NW Philly would be ideal, but I'd also consider a day trip to a nice park. Any one know of any hidden gems?

[stonefly]

The Schuylkill Center in upper Rox is very nice for walking.

[OldMaestro]

What are some good trails besides Forbidden Drive for a family with a small child to explore? Stuff close to NW Philly would be ideal, but I'd also consider a day trip to a nice park. Any one know of any hidden gems?

Hopewell Lake has some good trails, a nice park, lake and frisbee golf.

[John Arnold]

The Schuylkill Center in upper Rox is very nice for walking.

Yes. Just be aware of the deer ticks. Lyme Disease is no fun.

[BluegrassCat]

This place isn't in the city (media pa), but is probably my favorite place to take a long walk. Early spring and late fall are the best times of year to go, imo.

Tyler Arboretum

[Politburo]

Yes. Just be aware of the deer ticks. Lyme Disease is no fun.

Something to be aware of when you're hiking anywhere in this part of the county, really.

File:Lyme Disease Risk Map.gif - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[runinbrynmawr]

Valley Forge National Park

St. Peter's Village (small shops along with cool river with massive rocks)

[BluegrassCat]

St. Peter's is a cool little village. That river with the huge rocks is French Creek. Is the St. Peter's Inn still there? It was an old "hotel" that converted into a bar and restaurant. Anyway, they had a great outdoor deck that was right over the creek.

[Burnt Cheese]

All great suggestions, this should give us fresh walks for a while, thanks! St. Peter's Village sounds especially interesting. What's the easiest way to get there?

[OldMaestro]

That reminds me. Hopewell Lake is actually part of French Creek State Park.

[runinbrynmawr]

St. Peter's is a cool little village. That river with the huge rocks is French Creek. Is the St. Peter's Inn still there? It was an old "hotel" that converted into a bar and restaurant. Anyway, they had a great outdoor deck that was right over the creek.

It is still there as far as I know. My buddy had his wedding/reception inside the inn. Not going to lie...the place creeped me out. The inn keeper was telling us the "unusual events" that happen there. The hiking there is not bad at all. It is a great memory thinking back on my childhood.

[billy ross]

What are some good trails besides Forbidden Drive for a family with a small child to explore? Stuff close to NW Philly would be ideal, but I'd also consider a day trip to a nice park. Any one know of any hidden gems?

If you're bored with Forbidden Drive I think the Pennypack and the Perkiomen trails are fun alternatives to explore. You can take bikes on the R7 or the R8 to the Pennypack, although I did it last summer, biking from Holmesburg Junction to Fox Chase, and honestly it was a very long ride - I was beat by the end of it.

I also really like the Cooper River Trail in Pennsauken / Cherry Hill / Collingswood alot. You can take PATCO there - we did it last month, and it was amazing in the fresh snow. It's not used nearly as much as the Wissahickon is (I don't think that any of them are). You can even stop at Moore Brothers for libations - Moore Brothers is right across the street from the Cooper River Trail.

Also, I like the high trails along the Wissahickon. Last month my daughter and I hiked in from Cresheim Valley Drive down under the McCallum Street bridge, exploring a failed dam and ruined mill site. We didn't even make it to the creek - with the snow it was a hard slog, so I figured that next time we'll hike up from below to find that failed bridge, dam, and mill. I find that I don't use Forbidden Drive all that much, liking the ruggedness of the other trails along the Wissahickon.

[Braveheart]

What are some good trails besides Forbidden Drive for a family with a small child to explore? Stuff close to NW Philly would be ideal, but I'd also consider a day trip to a nice park. Any one know of any hidden gems?

Don't discount Whitemarsh "Land of the Low Tax" Township adjacent to Chestnut Hill. Fort Washington State Park has a
trail system to include the Wissahickon Creek along with clean rest rooms and barbecue grills and tables. It's a fairly large
park but very secure with frequent ranger patrols.

[billy ross]

Don't discount Whitemarsh "Land of the Low Tax" Township adjacent to Chestnut Hill. Fort Washington State Park has a
trail system to include the Wissahickon Creek along with clean rest rooms and barbecue grills and tables. It's a fairly large
park but very secure with frequent ranger patrols.

? How does having the second highest income / wage tax in the state of PA (to the best of my knowledge, although there may be ones which have escaped my knowledge which have raised theirs even higher - my research has been in depth, but not 100%) along with high property taxes make you the "Land of the Low Tax"? There are a few municipalities in PA which have 0 wage / income tax, many of them in Delaware County (Haverford comes to mind, although it has rough property taxes to make up for that). Don't spread misinformation. Locally, the low tax places are generally in Chester County, and they can afford that due to their high growth rates (new ratables decrease the burden on existing ratables in the short term, generally, and Chester County is growing fast enough that the legacy costs are generally low).

[hammersklavier]

Especially during migrations, check out the John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge down in Eastwick/Tinicum.

Evansburg State Park (Collegeville) is a mammoth 3,000-acre place that keeps basically half the Skippack Creek watershed pristine or pristine-ish. It's also really fun to explore. Also, check out the High Rocks at Ralph Stover State Park (Tohickon Creek) sometime. There's a trail linking them with the main park and Tohickon Valley Park, which might (I'm not sure) meet the Delaware Canal trail...speaking of which...