The first loop to be completed in the Cresheim Trail network opened in October 2012, following the initial momentum of the mainstem CT.
With a series of gradual switchbacks navigating the high ground adjacent to the SEPTA Chestnut Hill West Line (thus the name), the CHW Trail traverses half a mile. Several stands of native plants are in this corridor, including a beautiful stand of bottlebrush buckeye and the five-trunk tulip poplar.
The northern end intersects with the mainstem Cresheim Trail and the long skinny (log ride). The southern end, naturally, leads to the actual Chestnut Hill West Line at Richard Allen Lane Station, a contemporary connection to the trail’s long history intertwined with the railroad.
