Henry Avenue Bridge

Wissahickon Valley Park. Beautiful, spacious, exciting. This park is by far the best place to go hiking in Philly. In particular, the area of Wissahickon to the south just off Lincoln Drive. This is where you’ll find places like Hermit’s cave, Lover’s Leap, and the most important (at least, to this article) The Henry Avenue Bridge.

 

Its not the view from the bridge or the design of the bridge, even though it is so absolutely beautiful, it is the supports of the bridge and the graffiti that consumes them. The bridge is made of concrete and every single reachable inch of the supports is covered in a form of paint or ink. The artists that put their work up here make all sorts of designs ranging from inspired social or political murals to complex patterns to people’s initials. I can’t guarantee that all the graffiti will be family friendly, but I have yet to see anything that would be wildly inappropriate.

If you’re a photographer, painter, or poet, the Henry Avenue Bridge should be in your top 5 places to visit before the end of 2021, the amount of potential this place has for inspiration and creativity is insane. If you’re not one of those artsy people, there’s a good chance visiting here will turn you into one.

Getting here isn’t too hard, the best parking is on Forbidden Drive at the Ten Box. Then take the Wissahickon Bike Trail, the closest paved trail to the highway going south, just past the Henry Avenue Bridge and then turn right onto the Yellow Trail and stay on that. This way you stay on a paved path for 75% of the trip and then you have a nice easy dirt trail the rest of the way.

Alternatively, you can also go down Forbidden Drive, cross a small bridge, and turn left immediately onto the Yellow Trail. Going this way means climbing a steep hill on narrow dirt trail with rocks. Much more difficult than Option A.

Concrete City

If you are looking for a cool place to explore and are willing to do a bit of hiking (about a quarter mile) then Concrete City should be on your bucket-list.

This town, now abandoned, was an early example of international style architecture in the United States. It was built in 1911 as housing for high-level employees of several railroad companies, who used the town as a colliery. Each building was divided into a duplex meant to house two families. In the early 1920’s the towns issues became clear; instead of fixing them, they left the town abandoned in 1924, only 13 years after construction. There were several reasons why the companies decided to leave. One minor one was because a boy drowned in the wading pool. The major one was that the property owners refused to install an expensive but necessary sewage system. They decided to try and blow it up however, that wouldn’t work. After an attempt involving 100 sticks of dynamite failed to make a significant impact on one of the houses, the decision was made to leave the city to its own demise.

 

Now the location is known as a hotspot for artists and explorers to create and feel at home in a place that used to be home to many. It is also used for law enforcement training exercises and the occasional paintball or airsoft match.

My experience showing up here was a bit rough. I didn’t bring boots so I had to puddle hop in mesh running shoes. I do not recommend doing that at all, definitely wear boots as there is a lot of mud and a decent amount of broken glass. There is a nice walk through the woods on a gravel road for a quarter mile and then you end up on the ridge overlooking the many houses. Be careful going down the ridge because it is quite steep and is mostly loose dirt. I went with my good friend Ukiah and we explored a couple of the houses but nowhere near all of them due to time constraints. For the most part each house is in good shape and is perfectly fine to be in, just watch out for the broken glass in some parts.

I suggest that if you go to the Concrete City that you bring a friend along. You should go early in the morning so you can avoid other people who are trying to check out the site as well. Aim for going right after it rains. The best time to go is probably late fall through early spring before mosquitoes get a chance to show up.