RailTrailWxRailTrailWx
E-bikingBikingWalkingRunningHikingBirdingFishingHorseback ridingand more
The Pennypack Trail follows Pennypack Creek for about 19 miles from Bristol Road at the Bucks County line down to the Delaware River in Northeast Philadelphia. The upper part in Montgomery County is a crushed stone rail trail on the old Fox Chase to Newtown line, passing Bryn Athyn and Lorimer Park. Below Pine Road the route becomes the paved park path through Pennypack Park, past the Pennypack Environmental Center and under the 1697 Frankford Avenue stone bridge to Pennypack on the Delaware. Grades are rail-flat above and gently rolling in the park, with a steady loss of elevation toward the river. Most of the way is under trees.
Pennypack Trail
Your comfort. Prognosticated.
-Cory
In a typical year the Pennypack Trail has about 115 to 165 days of excellent weather for popular activities such as hiking, dog walking, running, e-biking, birding, biking, and walking, with April, May, and October the best months.
Hourly comfort scores for the next 15 days of weather, tuned to your activity and your own thresholds.
Plan your visit to this trail. Get the best windows for a comfortable outing.
Enjoy the Pennypack Trail!
In half of past years, color along the Pennypack Trail peaks October 31 to November 10, typically around November 5. The trail has 26% deciduous coverage, with the majority being sweetgum, red maple, white ash, and yellow-poplar.
William Penn ordered a bridge over Pennypack Creek on the King's Highway in 1697, and it still carries Frankford Avenue at the lower end of this trail. Penn's Pemmapecka Mill followed in 1701, the first of many mills that used the creek's fall. The upper valley got its railroad in 1876, when the Philadelphia, Newtown and New York Railroad began laying track from Fox Chase toward Newtown. The North Pennsylvania Railroad leased the line in 1879, and it passed into the Reading system, carrying commuters between Bucks County towns and Center City. In 1976 the Reading became part of Conrail. SEPTA took over the line in 1981 as its Fox Chase to Newtown route, running diesel trains north of the electrified Fox Chase terminal. In January 1983 SEPTA suspended service north of Fox Chase, citing low ridership, a labor dispute, and failing diesel equipment. A British rail-bus made one last test run to Huntingdon Valley in 1985. Down in Philadelphia, the creek corridor had already been public land since 1905, when the city created Pennypack Park. Montgomery County leased the idle rail line from SEPTA for one dollar in 2009, pulled the rails, and opened the crushed stone Pennypack Trail. The county extended it north from Welsh Road to Byberry Road in September 2015 and reached County Line Road at the Bucks County border in May 2021, where it meets the Newtown Rail Trail.
Newtown Rail Trail
