The Schuylkill River Trail is a heavily used 22-mile regional trail that links Valley Forge National Historical Park in Montgomery County to Center City Philadelphia, along both the tidal and upper reaches of the Schuylkill River. Well over 400,000 users make use of the trail annually. In January 1994, the Schuylkill River Trail was designated a National Recreation Trail, which recognized its outstanding contribution to historical, recreational, educational, and natural resources for public enjoyment and use. The trail serves as the principal “backbone” of the Schuylkill River Heritage Corridor as a major tourist attraction in the region, as well as being the key connector to planned trails in Montgomery County and the major connection to Philadelphia’s urban trail system. The trail also is a major transportation link for commuters and is linked to regional rail stations and local bus routes.
Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources provided a $40,000 Keystone Fund grant for an $80,000 trail improvement project that was initiated in 1998 by the Montgomery County Department of Parks to resolve several key issues along a 2.5-mile section connecting Spring Mill Park in Whitemarsh Township to Philadelphia ending at Port Royal Avenue. Due to the trail’s extensive use by all types of users–whether cyclists, walkers, families with strollers, or roller-bladers–and its tight fit along rock outcrops along portions of that segment, it was determined that the trail should be widened by four feet and shifted away from the hillside. In addition, drainage problems that were causing standing water along the entire eastern edge of the trail that required constant maintenance were corrected.
Key partners in this project included the Bicycle Coalition of the Delaware Valley, the Schuylkill River Greenway Association, Whitemarsh Township, and the Fairmount Park Commission.
“The Schuylkill River Trail is the regional window to our wonderful Schuylkill River, where geographic boundaries blur, and we greet each other as one extended community connected by our mutual enjoyment of recreation and the outdoors,” said Beth Pilling, Open Space Program administrator for the Montgomery County Planning Commission.