When the cars stop: Forbidden Drive this weekend

When the cars stop on Forbidden Drive, the creek gets the road to itself. The sound changes first: fewer engines, more water, shoes on gravel, a dog making a case for the long way round.

This is not an expedition, which is part of its charm. It is a day in the city with enough trees to make lunch taste better and enough room to turn a short walk into a proper afternoon.

For the September 20–21 weekend, begin at Wissahickon and keep Valley Forge as the graceful second arrangement. The point is not to conquer either place. It is to have somewhere good to go when the first parking lot has already made other plans.

The particulars

Window: weekend Sep 20–21, 2026

Featured: Wissahickon Valley Park / Forbidden Drive · Plan B Valley Forge National Historical Park

PA · Wissahickon Valley Park / Forbidden Drive — open (in-city)

Headline: ~50 miles of Wissahickon trails remain open for Sep 20–21 — Forbidden Drive is 5.3 miles of gravel through the gorge; designated parking is free; hours are dawn to dusk.

Wissahickon Valley Park is owned by the City of Philadelphia; Philadelphia Parks & Recreation runs it; Friends of the Wissahickon is the long-standing steward partner. FOW’s FAQ puts the park at 2,000 acres with approximately 50 miles of trails and over 2 million annual visitors.

The particulars

• Forbidden Drive: 5.3 mi · average width 25 ft · max obstacle height 3 in · average grade 3% · wide multi-use gravel along Wissahickon Creek · Circuit Trails · 6.7 mi total with Paved Wissahickon 1.4 mi · Trail of the Year 2018 (PA DCNR)
• Color trails (FOW): Orange 5.66 mi · White 4.74 mi · Yellow 7.93 mi · Lavender 1.28 mi (hikers only) · Andorra Meadow Loop 1.7 mi · Paved Wissahickon Trail 1.4 mi (asphalt + boardwalks; Lincoln Drive corridor linking Schuylkill River Trail to Forbidden Drive)
• Orange Trail is hikers only from Hortter Street to the Thomas Mill covered bridge
• Hours: dawn to dusk, seven days a week (PPR)
• Parking: free at several designated entrances (FOW). Landmark start: Valley Green Inn (center of the park)
• No parking on Livezey Lane or Kitchen’s Lane (emergency access)
• Pedestrians: no trail fee on PPR’s regulations page. Non-residents need a $35 permit only to bike, ride, or drive a carriage on Upper Wissahickon / Pennypack soft trails
• Pets: leash no longer than 6 ft
• Trail speed limit: 7 mph
• Swimming in rivers, creeks, and streams: prohibited (PPR; Philadelphia Department of Public Health) — including Devil’s Pool
• Camping: not allowed (FOW FAQ)
• Permanent bathrooms: Wissahickon Environmental Center (composting) · Valley Green Inn (outdoor flushing) · Kitchens Lane & Forbidden Drive (composting). Porta potties are seasonal (spring–winter cycle per FOW) — confirm on arrival for Sep 20–21
• SEPTA: Chestnut Hill West Line; Wissahickon Station on the Manayunk / Norristown Line; buses 27, 97, 23, 65; Wissahickon Transportation Center at 4900 Ridge Avenue
• Cell service: do not count on it in the gorge (FOW)

The small arrangements that matter

• Popular lots fill at busy times — use FOW map-tagged alternate lots
• FOW Park Conditions page last updated Wednesday, April 1, 2026; Yellow Trail near Kitchens Lane has restoration fencing — stay on the blazed tread
• Park hours are dawn to dusk (the temporary 8 p.m.–6 a.m. expanded curfew ended March 31, 2026)

Plan B: Valley Forge National Historical Park (below). If Valley Green is full, stay in the Wissahickon and start from Ridge Avenue, Northwestern, Bells Mill, Kitchen’s Lane lot, or another FOW-mapped lot.

Sources

• PPR trail regulations
• FOW FAQ
• FOW maps
• FOW park conditions

The second arrangement — Valley Forge NHP (18 miles NW)

Headline: Valley Forge for Sep 20–21: 3,452 acres, 35 miles of trails, Joseph Plumb Martin 5-mile paved inner loop (8.7 mi total) — no entrance fee, grounds 7 a.m. to dark.

The particulars

• 3,452 acres · 18 miles northwest of Philadelphia
• Over 35 miles of designated trails · 18.2 miles authorized for bicycles
• Joseph Plumb Martin Trail: 8.7 miles total (5-mile inner loop) · paved · hilly · limited shade · named for a Continental soldier of the 1777–78 encampment
• Chapel Trail: 2.5 miles one-way · unpaved · open with caution (maintenance)
• Grounds (roads, lots, trails, meadows, forests): 7 a.m. to dark (30 minutes after sunset), every day, year-round
• Visitor Center: 9 a.m.–5 p.m. daily; closed Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year’s
• Theater: 9:30 a.m.–5 p.m.; free orientation film every 30 minutes; last show 4:30 p.m.
• Entrance / parking: $0. America the Beautiful passes are not sold at Valley Forge
• Pets: leashed on grounds; not permitted inside buildings
• Phone: 610-783-1000 · 1400 North Outer Line Drive, King of Prussia, PA 19406
• ’78 Mile Challenge: walk, run, bike, or paddle 78 miles at the park between April and October 2026

Parking ($0) — use a named lot

Lower Visitor Center 397 spaces (temporary visitor center, restrooms, JPM Stop 1) · Knox’s Quarters 111 · Artillery Park 98 · Administration 83 (JPM / Redoubt 2; admin building not public) · Wayne’s Woods 77 · Washington’s Headquarters 60 · Wilson Road 54 (fills early weekends; bumpy dirt road; not for RVs or low-clearance) · Muhlenberg’s Brigade 48 · National Memorial Arch 46.

Current conditions (NPS)

• Maurice Stephens lot is closed during house construction — for Grand Parade trails, park in the Chapel lot and cross Route 23 at the pedestrian crossing
• Isaac Potts House interior closed for restoration beginning May 4, 2026, targeted complete in 2027 (NPS news Apr 15, 2026); surrounding HQ grounds remain available — recheck NPS conditions
• Fatlands + Chapel remain open to hikers, cyclists, and horseback riders with extra caution; Fatlands (formerly River Trail) is being widened to a standard 8 feet

Sources

• Hours
• Conditions
• Fees
• Trails
• Parking
• Isaac Potts House restoration

Nearby, not featured this weekend: French Creek (open; hunting likely in-season) · Hickory Run / Lehigh Gorge (DCNR: two- or three-hour drive from Philadelphia).

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