Schuylkill Banks

Nice area with a wonderful new path added ON the river but the best views of the skyline are up on the ramp heading back to Schuylkill Park. Overall, it’s a clean and relaxing place for a walk or jog away from the downtown area. Wouldn’t recommend it as a must-​do for tourists though as there’s really not much to see.

Cool new addition expands the length of the trail and takes it out over the water for really interesting overlooks (I was surprising fond of the dog park when viewed from above, so entertaining!) They take good care of the park, hardly any litter or graffiti.

What a hidden gem from the hustle and bustle of Philadelphia city life. This is a great place to unwind, relax and enjoy your run, bike and walk along the riverbanks of the Schuylkill river. It is litter free, clean and maintained. The trail is wide enough for people to use. You will be able to use your artistic expression and grab a few great shots along the way. I walked from the Schuylkill Park on 25^th and Spruce went down to the trail and took it all the way to the Art Museum. I would definitely recommend this trail to everyone out there. There are several exits off the trail leading up to South Street, Walnut Street, Market Street to either grab a bite to eat or use the restroom. The restrooms along the trail are not always available for use and are locked at times.

This is by by far my favorite place to run. Even when I feel too tired after a long day of work, my adrenaline gets going when I get to the trail. I love how the vibe and view changes as you run along the trail. From center city, to Schuylkill Expressway traffic, to skate boarders, to the Art Museum, to flower gardens, and statues. I can run for miles without getting bored at all.
Running is pretty much always a breeze except for the occasional inconsiderate biker going way too fast and cutting it way too close to runners. I have almost taken a handle bar to the gut on several occasions.
As a timid biker, I only bike here at odd hours. The inconsiderate bikers mentioned above seem to get a thrill out of (almost) running weaker bikers off the track.

This is a great place to run or bike outdoors! Even in the cold, snowy weather, they plow the path, so you can literally run in any season. I find this one of the safest places to run in the city where there are always other people running from early in the morning until early evening. The parts of the path near the art museum are beautiful with fountains, statues, and views of the museum and boathouses.
The trail doesn’t go very far South in the city (a little past Locust Street right now), but they are currently adding on to the path so that it will connect to the South St. bridge.

My favorite place to run in the city, snow or shine! You can count on this running path to be completely cleared no matter what weather. We got ALOT of snow this summer and the entire path was plowed and running-​ready. There are always people running this path morning through the night. The path is well lights and they sometimes have cops on bikes patrol it. Of course if you do run it during the night be extra careful you never know! I mostly run it during the day and its perfect. You get a nice view of the city sky line as you’re running and not to mention the art museum. Usually its crowded with bikers/​runners/​walkers.
Oh i almost forgot to mention, this is actually an excellent spot to sit on the grass and watch the 4^th of july fireworks or any concert that is happening at the art museum!

Philly’s #1 place for center city residents to work out. Stay to the right though! There’s some spandex-​clad bikers (I’m not one of them) who insist on going full speed through this often crowded trail. I love the new connector bridge at the south end of the trail, and the skate park near the art museum is a well planned, well executed recreation site. I can’t wait to see how the board-​walk to the southern neighborhoods adds to the trail.

Absolutely the BEST place for a long (or short) run in Philly!
It is clean, safe, roomy, and long. Plus after running there for almost two years every week… i still don’t get bored! It’s a great place to run, people watch and sit along the river.
If you go during the peak times (before big Philly runs, when it’s nice out, or between 5 – 7) it actually feels like you’re running the Broad Street Run with your friends. Also, no matter what time you go there is always at least some people there so you don’t feel alone.
Even the homeless people that are sometimes there are not even that scary!
PLUS…there are always tons of geese… for any geese people out there.
Off to there now!

As a new Philadelphian, I love the city for many reasons. Friendly, outgoing people; cultural activities all around; BYO’s and great dining. However, this dog park that is located by the river and inside of a general city park (with basketball courts, tennis courts, a playground, and lots of green open space) is one of the top reasons that I’m proud to call Philly home. My new puppy is making new friends, and I am getting an opportunity to meet new neighbors at the same time too. There is both a small dog and a big dog run, with trees and «dog turf» that is neither dusty nor a mud pit after the rain. My puppy Bella and I love the dog park, and spend many a happy summer afternoon there.

I love nature, and for me, this is a great place to go when I need to get away from school. I love just sitting here and reading and soaking up the sun. Always peaceful. Great for joggers, walkers, bikers, dog owners, and anyone who just wants to feel like they are getting away from Philly, just for a bit.

Great place to go for a morning run or just hang out on a weekend.
I used to run a 4 mile route that begins around 30^th Street Station and continues past Boathouse Row and the like. Back in the day, a couple of ROTC buddies and I used to gear up and jog the route, which I assure you was quite the workout.
It’s a great place to be on the weekends as well, as you’ll see tons of couples, kids, pets, and just folks running, biking, and walking. Several areas have these grassy knolls where folks tend to kick back and lie down or sunbathe.
No matter what you’re looking to do, as long as you want to spend some time in the great outdoors, somewhere along the Schuylkill Banks, you’ll find the right place for you.

LOVE the Banks. Running is so enjoyable here and they put a lot of work into making the surrounding trail areas beautiful and safe (lanes for pedestrian traffic, etc.).

Thanks, Schuylkill Banks, for being a good respite for me while I was in town for the week on business. I was staying nearby in University City, and rather than succumb to the hotel treadmill, I took up a recommendation to come here for my evening run.
I covered only a mere 4 miles round-​trip on the banks, but I understand that it extends much further beyond… I would have loved to go for a long run, but wasn’t keen on getting stuck down there after sundown. However, I appreciated the easy, straightforward, and somewhat scenic bike/​jogging trail, and loved that there were so many other runners out and about on the trail because I tend to freak myself out when I run alone on an abandoned trail… and you guys kept passing me like road kill. Wow, you Philly runners must be way faster than I am, or I must be too much of a slowpoke, spending too much time looking at the sights.
I even got distracted by pretty flowers and ended up detouring up the hill toward what I found out was the Museum of Art. Sightseeing on my evening runs — hooray for efficiency.
I ended up coming back a couple days later with friends just for a leisurely walk around Boathouse Row. It was a nice just for a stroll, as well.
I really appreciated the proximity to the city — this place was so accessible. I used the stairway from the bridge on Walnut, just about a mile from my hotel. From where I’m from in downtown Los Angeles, I regularly drive 20 miles one-​way just to get to my preferred long-​run stomping grounds… so the convenience of having such a trail so close is a huge plus in my book. Can we please move the Schuykill River next to downtown LA? You can have our river in return.

Philadelphia should be proud of the Schuylkill Banks, which is not pronounced anything like it’s spelled. The trail is paved, well-​maintained, and populated, and its curving path along the Schuylkill offers nice river views. I walked the trail on a Saturday morning and there were all kinds of cyclists, runners, walkers, and rollerbladers out getting some exercise, so be prepared for company.
I took the trail from the entrance across the bridge from 30^th Street Station to the Philadelphia Museum of Art, which was an easy mile plus walk. If you rely on pubic transportation I can tell you that this route to the art museum is MUCH easier and more scenic than walking from City Hall, which looks short and doable but in actuality seems to go on and on until the ends of time. The trail takes you right up to the museum itself, and the grassy area behind the museum is a really ideal spot for a picnic lunch before the walk back.
So whether you’re a tourist taking in a leisurely walk or the avid cyclist zooming by, the Schuylkill banks will be there, clean and pretty, to suit your needs.

Nice smooth trail stretching along the river for an easy bike ride at any time of day or night. Though I will say, thanks to the water and open area, if it’s either hot or cold outside, you’re gonna undoubtedly feel it when you get out here way more than you would in say… Center City.
At night, dealing with the freight trains can be a little bit of a hassle if you’re planning on depending on any of the cross-​track entrances to the trail. But there are other routes that don’t take too long to reach, if you’re dedicated enough to get to the other side, regardless of the fact that a CSX train just might be parked smack in the middle of the entrances.
While I do favor riding within the Center City portion of the trail (because I live closer to that area), all the stretch north of the Art Museum is far prettier. I’ve gone as far north as Wissahickon, and love looking at all the bridges with their lights that cross the river just before reaching East Falls.

When it comes to new-​to-​me places, I can be as bashful as a child, refusing to go it alone for the first time, hiding behind my mom’s pant leg while I assess the situation.
Even though I’ve been living in the city for almost six months, it took that long for me to check out the Schuylkill River Trail. Friends promised a safe and scenic place to run outside, but I just kept going to the gym. That, or — get this — driving to Jersey where my courses were plotted and I felt comfortable with where I was going and what to expect.
Finally, my boyfriend and I decided to take a walk, and to the Trail we went. Shocked was I at how well-​maintained and well-​populated the area actually was. I felt like I had made this amazing discovery, and I couldn’t stop talking about how glad I was that we had finally taken that walk.
Yesterday, I enjoyed my first of what will likely be many solo runs on the Trail.

In my natural habitat of Southern California I’ve developed a sometimes-​compulsive need to run outdoors, so when I came to Philly I was eager to find a way to support my addiction. This metropolis doesn’t really lend itself to a ton of road running, so the Schuylkill Banks are an absolute GODSEND! I love how it runs right through the city, so it’s very accessible, but it also leads you right out of it (physically, mentally, spiritually…), rendering it a real escape.
The Schuylkill Banks are just miles and miles of paved trails (and in some places, a parallel dirt path), flanked by Fairmount Park and the river. So all around, there’s a lot of nature to keep you country girls and boys happy. If you’re really hardcore, you can’t complain about the trail ending because I’m convinced it doesn’t. And if you’re that awesome one-​two punch of distance runner with a bad sense of direction, this is your Shangri-​La because you can’t get lost! You’re either going upriver or downriver…
I also really recommend Boathouse Row, which totally reminds me of Amsterdam (and I was sober, people!). I also recently discovered the brand new Sculpture Garden located where the banks meet the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
A word of caution — watch out for the goose scat. And some sections of the trails (closer to the city) tend to partake in rush hour, so make sure you don’t make any unprotected turns or sudden stops. The best time to come though, in my opinion, is definitely early morning or late afternoon when the crew teams have practice! Mmm athletes… And the coaches following along in the mini speedboats actually have some pretty motivational things to share on their bullhorns, like «Don’t let your shoulders give in! Get that energy up!» Totally thought they were yelling at me. Oh so THAT’s what it feels like to have a personal trainer…

I do love the Schuylkill Banks. I am a big fan of Rails to Trails (
) and happy to see this happening in my city.
I typically use this trail to get to West River or Kelly Drive in a roundabout way, but there is way more to it. If I had a dog, I would bring him or her here. Next time I am en route to the museum, I’ll probably walk this way rather than deal with Center City. I know you can use this as a starting point to get all the way out to Valley Forge — I will try that one of these days.
Edward L. was right when he said it turns into the world’s fair on a nice warm day. This is true, and while it’s hard to get around those pesky walkers who walk 3 – 4 across when you are on your bike, everyone is pretty aware and traffic flows fairly smoothly.
I’m just happy this is here. I am not fan of biking on the streets, so this is a nice way to circumvent some of those hazards. It’s also pretty and fun and cleans up the banks of the river. It’s definitely a good thing.

I love their free movie Thursday nights — it’s the perfect recession time date!
⁷⁄₉ was Back to the Future
⁷⁄₂₃ The Goonies
⁸⁄₀₆ Indiana Jones
Perks: everything is FREE — popcorn, non-​alcoholic drinks, pretzels & a raffle (gift prize last time was a basket full of Ikea stuff); you’re outdoors; you’re utilizing the Schuylkill river front;
Pitfalls: Completely my fault, I sat too close last time and the speakers were blasting. My ears rang for the rest of the night.
Tips: Show up early, bring blankets and a bottle (or two) of wine. Movies play after dusk (after 8:15) but to get a square of lawn up front you should plan to arrive around 7:30 — 7:45.

What a difference six years makes!
I remember this trail when it was a lowly gravel aforethought. Now it’s a real running/​walking/​biking river trail with lovely landscaping, benches-​a-​plenty, boat and kayak tours (oh my) and it connects around Fairmount Water Works to Fairmount Park and it’s still growing South!
I love to walk from the current entrance at Locust Street and make my way up to Boathouse row. On the left, you get an industrial view of 30^th Street Station, the Post office and the Cirra Center and on the right, the downtown and the skyscrapers unfold before you. On a nice breezy day, if you squint hard enough it’s almost like you’re walking by the quais of the Seine — except with more trees, and rollerbladers, and serious cyclists that warn pedestrians «Left!».