The Friends Loop is more Cresheim Trail adjacent than a part of the connected network, and truthfully it’s more a figure-8 than a true loop. But we love it all the same!
The Friends Loop is an ongoing collaboration between FOCT, Chestnut Hill Community Association, Chestnut Hill Friends Meeting, and Friends of the Wissahickon. Lots of friends!
The first loop opened in April 2023, activating a ~10-acre parcel of parkland with a trail from Mermaid Park in Chestnut Hill, through an old quarry and rock garden, and along a ridge with large stands of black locust and trout lily. In April 2025, a second loop was built, extending the Friends Loop to its current 0.55 miles.
In 2026, FOCT formally began a restoration of the former Woodward Rock Garden with a grant from Athletic Brewing Company. The goals of this restoration include the mitigation of decades’ worth of invasive plant growth, protection of existing native species (including lots of great canopy trees and shrubs in the understory), and uncovering/re-establishing of walking paths.
