Current Cresheim Trail

OpenStreetMap has the most accurate and up-to-date Cresheim Trail alignments.

Beginning in 2012, the Friends of the Cresheim Trail have built over two miles of sustainable, natural surface trail within City-owned parkland. It’s become a well used, much loved trail for hikers, runners, mountain bikers, and dog walkers. As of 2025, there are four primary access points:

Likewise, the “rough draft” of the first segment of rail trail, opened in March 2024 between Germantown and Stenton Avenues, can currently be accessed from three places:

  • The ramp at Germantown Avenue (7619 Germantown Ave): This is adjacent to a major construction project, so use caution passing heavy equipment.
  • Crittenden Street & Cresheim Valley Drive (7600 Crittenden St): This is the site of a future crossing, so use caution crossing CVD.
  • Wissahickon East Park (7600 Anderson St): Follow the trail downhill and ford across Cresheim Creek; on the other side, trails both right and left lead to the rail trail.

The Cresheim Trail is on Google Maps, but the alignment is outdated. OpenStreetMap has the most up-to-date version of the trail HERE. This includes the Friends Loop trail which FOCT built with support from Chestnut Hill Community Association, Philadelphia Parks & Recreation, and Friends of the Wissahickon in April 2023, and the rail trail “rough draft.” The latter segment will be part of the Circuit Trails network upon completion, with a 10-foot wide, ADA-accessible paved trail.

 

Proposed Cresheim Trail

Map prepared by NV5 for FOCT.

The remaining segments of the proposed Cresheim Trail primarily traverse old railroad rights-of-way, including the Pennsylvania Railroad’s Fort Washington Branch and the Reading Railroad’s Plymouth Branch. FOCT is actively working with the City of Philadelphia, Montgomery County, Springfield and Cheltenham Townships, and others to build these next phases and provide a safe, off-road alternative to high speed local roads for recreation, transportation, and connecting with neighbors.

On the Philadelphia side, in 2023, FOCT built the Friends Loop, a one-third mile loop trail through an old quarry on the Chestnut Hill side of Cresheim Valley Drive. In 2024, FOCT coordinated with Philadelphia Parks & Recreation to open the “rough draft” of the rail trail segment between Germantown and Stenton Avenues, with connections into Wissahickon East Park and a future crossing into Chestnut Hill at Crittenden Street. In fall 2023, SEPTA announced a plan to rehabilitate the former rail trestle over Germantown Avenue for a modernization project, the end result of which will include trail access across the trestle. To continue into Montgomery County, the short-term plan will involve a crossing at Stenton Avenue, with the long-term plan to tunnel under the avenue.

On the MontCo side, in 2021 per an agreement with Montgomery County, developers Foxlane Homes constructed a half-mile segment of the trail between Willow Grove Avenue and Paper Mill Road, parallel to PA-309, as part of their Falcon Hill Estates project. In 2022, Springfield Township completed a restoration project of Mermaid Park, which contains the headwaters of Cresheim Creek and a segment of the Cresheim Trail. And the trail has been a central component of the trails plans for both Springfield Township and Cheltenham Township.

 

Long Term Cresheim Trail Outlook