Wissahickon Valley Park is a large urban park in

Northwest Philadelphia Northwest Philadelphia is a section of the city of Philadelphia. The official boundary is Stenton Avenue to the north, the Schuylkill River to the southwest, Northwestern Avenue to the northwest, Roosevelt Boulevard to the south, and Wister Stree ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

. It protects of woodland surrounding the

Wissahickon Creek Wissahickon Creek is a tributary of the Schuylkill River in Montgomery and Philadelphia Counties, Pennsylvania. Wissahickon Creek rises in Montgomery County, runs approximately 23 miles (37 km) passing through and dividing North ...

between the Montgomery County border and the

Schuylkill River The Schuylkill River ( , ) is a river running northwest to southeast in eastern Pennsylvania. The river was improved by navigations into the Schuylkill Canal, and several of its tributaries drain major parts of Pennsylvania's Coal Region. It f ...

. For several miles, the creek winds through a dramatic wooded gorge known as the Wissahickon Valley, a

National Natural Landmark The National Natural Landmarks (NNL) Program recognizes and encourages the conservation of outstanding examples of the natural history of the United States. It is the only national natural areas program that identifies and recognizes the best ...

. Forbidden Drive runs the length of the valley, a car-free gravel road popular for walking, running, cycling, and horseback riding. Side trails lead from Forbidden Drive up to rugged bridle paths suitable for hiking and

trail riding Trail riding is riding outdoors on trails, bridle paths, and forest roads, but not on roads regularly used by motorised traffic. A trail ride can be of any length, including a long distance, multi-day trip. It originated with horse riding, and ...

. The park contains about of trails in total. The area was considered part of

Fairmount Park Fairmount Park is the largest municipal park in Philadelphia and the historic name for a group of parks located throughout the city. Fairmount Park consists of two park sections named East Park and West Park, divided by the Schuylkill River, wit ...

from 1867 until the merger of the Fairmount Park Commission and the Department of Recreation in 2010. Today, Wissahickon Valley Park is a unit of

Philadelphia Parks & Recreation Philadelphia Parks & Recreation (PPR) is the municipal department responsible for managing parks, recreation centers, playgrounds, trails, community gardens, and historic properties in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Its inventory includes more than 15 ...

and remains the second-largest park in Philadelphia after Fairmount.

History

While logging and industrialization occurred in some parts of the valley in the late 18th and early 19th century, the gorge itself was known for its natural environment, inspiring religious mystics like

Johannes Kelpius Johannes Kelpius (; 1667 – 1708) was a German Pietist, mystic, musician, and writer. He was also interested in the occult, botany, and astronomy. He came to believe with his followers – called the "Society of the Woman in the Wilderness" � ...

, writers like

Edgar Allan Poe Edgar Allan Poe (; Edgar Poe; January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American writer, poet, editor, and literary critic. Poe is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales of mystery and the macabre. He is wid ...

John Greenleaf Whittier John Greenleaf Whittier (December 17, 1807 – September 7, 1892) was an American Quaker poet and advocate of the abolition of slavery in the United States. Frequently listed as one of the fireside poets, he was influenced by the Scottish poet ...

George Lippard George Lippard (April 10, 1822February 9, 1854) was a 19th-century American novelist, journalist, playwright, social activist, and labor organizer. He was a popular author in antebellum America. A friend of Edgar Allan Poe, Lippard advocated a s ...

, and William Cobbett; and artists like

Thomas Moran Thomas Moran (February 12, 1837 – August 25, 1926) was an American painter and printmaker of the Hudson River School in New York whose work often featured the Rocky Mountains. Moran and his family, wife Mary Nimmo Moran and daughter Ruth too ...

James Peale James Peale (1749 – May 24, 1831) was an American painter, best known for his miniature and still life paintings, and a younger brother of noted painter Charles Willson Peale. Early life Peale was born in Chestertown, Maryland, the second ...

William Trost Richards William Trost Richards (November 14, 1833 – November 8, 1905) was an American landscape artist. He was associated with both the Hudson River School and the American Pre-Raphaelite movement. Biography William Trost Richards was born on Novembe ...

, and

Currier and Ives Currier and Ives was a New York City printmaking business that operated between 1835 and 1907. Founded by Nathaniel Currier, the company designed and sold inexpensive, hand painted lithographic works based on news events, views of popular cult ...

. In 1964, a area of the park known as the Wissahickon Valley was designated a

Forbidden Drive

Forbidden Drive, formerly known as the Wissahickon Turnpike, is a wide rocky trail running through the Wissahickon Valley from Ten Box to Cedars House at the upper end of the Park. It is called Forbidden Drive because of a successful protest against cars being allowed to drive in the park. In 1920, the Park Commission wanted to allow cars in the park, but 1,000 protesters on horseback and 12,000 spectators on foot fought against cars on the Wissahickon Turnpike. Every year, the Wissahickon Day Parade is held to celebrate the anniversary of this protest.

Landmarks

* Valley Green Inn, a tavern built in 1850 * Wissahickon Hall, the first of numerous inns in the valley"Wissahickon Valley Park Points of Interest"
(archive). ''fairmountpark.org''. Retrieved November 6, 2017.

Houses

* Cedars House * Hermitage Mansion * Livezey House, a colonial era mill (aka Glen Fern) * Monastery House * RittenhouseTown * Thomas MansionThomas Mansion
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Bridges

* Fingerspan Bridge * Kitchen's Lane Bridge * Thomas Mill Covered Bridge * Walnut Lane Bridge *

Wissahickon Memorial Bridge The Wissahickon Memorial Bridge, originally called and still also known as the Henry Avenue Bridge, is a stone and concrete bridge that carries Henry Avenue over Wissahickon Creek and Lincoln Drive in Fairmount Park in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. ...

(aka the Henry Avenue Bridge)

Other

Cresheim Creek Cresheim Creek is a creek in southeastern Pennsylvania. Rising at Wyndmoor in Springfield Township (in a park near the USDA's Agricultural Research Service Eastern Regional Research Center, adjacent to the border between Montgomery County and ...

* Devil's Pool * Statue of Henry H. Houston, developer of Wissahickon * The Native American

Teedyuscung Teedyuscung (c. 1700–1763) was known as "King of the Delawares". He worked to establish a permanent Lenape (Delaware) home in eastern Pennsylvania in the Lehigh, Susquehanna, and Delaware River valleys. Teedyuscung participated in the Treaty ...

and Toleration statues *

Mom Rinker's Rock Mom Rinker's Rock is a scenic outlook in Wissahickon Valley Park along the Wissahickon Creek in the city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. It is located on a ridge on the eastern side of the park just a little north of the Walnut Lane ...

Gallery

File:Valley Green Inn (11035502013).jpg, Valley Green Inn on Forbidden Drive File:Fingerspan bridge fall.jpg, ''Fingerspan'' by Jody Pinto on the Orange Trail File:Walnut Lane Bridge (cropped).jpg, Walnut Lane Bridge File:Teedyuscung Statue in Wissahickon Park.jpg, Statue of

John Massey Rhind John Massey Rhind (9 July 1860 – 1 January 1936) was a Scottish-American sculptor. Among Rhind's better known works is the marble statue of Dr. Crawford W. Long located in the National Statuary Hall Collection in Washington D.C. (1926). E ...

File:Thomas Mill Covered Bridge.JPG, Thomas Mill Covered Bridge File:Monestary Philly.JPG,

The Monastery ''The Monastery: a Romance'' (1820) is a historical novel by Walter Scott, one of the Waverley novels. Set in the Scottish Borders in the 1550s on the eve of the Reformation, it is centred on Melrose Abbey. Composition and sources Scott had bee ...

File:10777685824 IMG 0040.jpg, Bend in the

in winter

References

External links

Friends of the Wissahickon

Parks & Recreation department

Visit Philly: The Wissahickon Gorge
Schuylkill River Municipal parks in Philadelphia Germantown, Philadelphia National Natural Landmarks in Pennsylvania {{PhiladelphiaPA-geo-stub