| "If your dog is fat," the old saying goes, "you | | | | before the Civil War; the adjoining Succession and |
| aren't getting enough exercise." But walking the | | | | Flood Plain Trails visit meadow, marsh, pond and |
| dog need not be just about a little exercise. Here | | | | forest landscapes.Theodore Burr built a bridge |
| are 10 cool things you can see in greater | | | | spanning the Hudson River at Waterford, New |
| Philadelphia while you hike with your dog.FOLK | | | | York in 1804. He added an arch segment to the |
| ARTIn 1855, a hotel entrepreneur built a new inn | | | | multiple truss bridge popular at the time, attaining |
| on Rex Avenue. To draw attention to his hostelry | | | | a longer span. Patented in 1817, the Burr Arch |
| he constructed an Indian from old barn boards | | | | Truss became one of the most common in the |
| and propped it up on top of a rock overlooking | | | | construction of covered bridges. The Larkin's |
| the Gorge. In 1902, when the Indian Rock Hotel | | | | Bridge, a 65-foot long, 45-ton "Burr Arch" covered |
| was long gone but with the silhouette still there, | | | | bridge erected in 1854 and rebuilt in 1881, was |
| artist Massey Rhind was commissioned to make a | | | | relocated to the northeast section of the park in |
| representation of a "Delaware Indian, looking west | | | | 1972. Larkin's Covered Bridge is the only remaining |
| to where his people have gone." The kneeling | | | | legacy of Milford Mills.In 1850 Albert Fink, a |
| warrior has gazed up the Wissahickon Gorge ever | | | | German railroad engineer, |
| since. A switchback trail leads to the Indian Statue | | | | designed and patented a bridge that used a |
| where you can get close enough to pat his knee. | | | | latticework of rods instead of cables to reinforce |
| And take in a breathtaking view.MONUMENTAL | | | | stiffness. This construction was cheap and sturdy, |
| M0NUMENTSThe Multi-Use Trail rolls past | | | | making the Fink Truss one of the most |
| reconstructed huts and parade grounds that | | | | commonly used railroad bridges in the 1860s, |
| transport you back to the Revolution. The National | | | | especially favored by the powerful Baltimore & |
| Memorial Arch, a massive stone tribute dedicated | | | | Ohio Railroad, Only one Fink Truss bridge remains |
| in 1917, stands out along the route. The inscription | | | | in the United States - an abandoned 108-foot |
| reads: "Naked and starving as they are, we | | | | span in Zoarsville, Ohio. A wooden reproduction of |
| cannot enough admire the incomparable patience | | | | a Fink Truss is in a field at Warwick County Park |
| and fidelity of the soldiery. Washington at Valley | | | | for you and your dog to climb.CANAL |
| Forge, February 16, 1778." In the southern part of | | | | LOCKPennsylvania's first canal system was |
| White Clay, reached by the Twin Valley Trail, is | | | | cobbled together in 1815 using 120 locks to |
| the Arc Corner Monument marking one end of | | | | stretch 108 miles from the coal fields of Schuylkill |
| the 12-mile arc which forms the | | | | County to Philadelphia. Railroads began chewing |
| Pennsylvania-Delaware state line, unique in | | | | away at canal business in the 1860s and the last |
| American political boundary-making. The circular | | | | coal barges floated down the Schuylkill River in |
| divide dates to William Penn's directive of August | | | | the 1920s. Today, the only sections of the canal |
| 28, 1701, when Delaware was still a part of | | | | in existence are at Manayunk and Lock 60, built |
| Pennsylvania, known as the Lower Three | | | | by area name donor Thomas Oakes, at the |
| Counties. A little more than 1/2 mile to the west | | | | Schuylkill Canal Park. In 1985 the Schuylkill Canal |
| is another monument marking the tri-state | | | | Association formed to keep the canal flowing and |
| junction of Delaware,Pennsylvania and | | | | maintain the lock and towpath. In 1988, the area |
| Maryland.AMERICAN CASTLESBreaking out of the | | | | was added to the National Register of Historic |
| woods at several points on the hilltops you are | | | | Places.CHAMPION TREESThe Taylor Memorial |
| greeted with an unparalleled view of Granogue, | | | | Arboretum provides a 12-Tree Self-Guided Tour. |
| one of the more spectacular of the American | | | | The collection is especially strong in Far Eastern |
| castles dotting the Brandywine Valley's chateau | | | | specimens and spotlights three Pennsylvania State |
| lands.MOVIE LOCATIONSFlying concentric circles | | | | Champion trees: the Needle Juniper, the Lacebark |
| outward from Philadelphia, Hollywood location | | | | Elm and the Giant Dogwood. Also on the tour is a |
| scouts for Oprah Winfrey's movie project, | | | | Dawn Redwood, an ancient tree known only |
| Beloved, spotted the Fair Hill terrain and selected it | | | | through fossils until 1941 when a botany student |
| as the backdrop for the film's rural scenes. A | | | | tracked down living specimens in rural China. Some |
| ramshackle 19th-century tenant farm was | | | | of the first seed to come to America resulted in |
| constructed and much of the movie shot here. | | | | this tree. Liberated from their sun-stealing |
| The producers decided to leave the movie set | | | | neighbors of the crowded woods, the "King" and |
| intact, to deteriorate naturally. You can wander | | | | "Queen" White Oaks have spread out into a |
| among the fake buildings and even knock on the | | | | massive canopy of leaves. The "Queen" measures |
| styrofoam stones.COOL FORTSWhere else can a | | | | seventeen feet around at the thickest part of the |
| dog climb into an actual battery and scan the | | | | trunk and the "King" is closer to twenty. The two |
| Delaware River where gunnery officers once | | | | trees are part of the "Penn's Woods" collection of |
| aimed guns capable of accurately firing | | | | 139 trees standing when William Penn arrived to |
| 1,000-pound projectiles eight miles like he can at | | | | survey his Pennsylvania colony.The arboreal |
| Fort Mott State Park? Fort DuPont, named for | | | | oldsters reside at the last stop of the nature trail. |
| Civil War fleet commander Admiral Samuel Francis | | | | bacterial infection. Awbury Arboretum in East |
| duPont, saw active duty in three wars before | | | | Germantown was the summer estate of 19th |
| becoming a state park. The 1-mile River View | | | | century Quaker shipping merchant Henry Cope. |
| Trail, a grassy loop path, begins in the marshland | | | | Across the 55 acres are plantings of groves and |
| along the Delaware River and finishes in shaded | | | | clusters of trees set amidst large swaths of grss |
| woodlands. The trail takes you past several ruins | | | | fields in the English landscape garden tradition. You |
| of the military installation, camoflauged to river | | | | can investigate more than 200 species, mostly |
| traffic, and features sustained views of the | | | | native, in your informal explorations of the |
| Delaware River and Fort Delaware on Pea Patch | | | | grounds. Old macadam paths lead to most areas |
| Island.REMARKABLE BRIDGESIn the farthest | | | | of the odd-shaped property. Also on the grounds |
| northern section of Tyler State Park is the | | | | are wetlands surrounding an artificial |
| longest covered bridge in Bucks County. The | | | | pond.BARNSWhile many of the Hospital Farm's |
| 117-year old Schofield Ford Covered Bridge | | | | buildings have disappeared, the unique dairy barn |
| burned in 1991 but after five years of fundraising | | | | remains. Built in 1914, it is shaped like a wheel with |
| the 166-foot, two-span crossing was entirely | | | | four spokes. The fame of the hospital's dairy |
| rebuilt by volunteers on its original stone | | | | operation was widespread. In 1961 alone, nine |
| abutments using authentic period materials and | | | | cows produced 1.1 million pounds of milk - more |
| methods. An elaborate, reinforced wooden railroad | | | | than 300 pounds of milk per cow per day.The |
| trestle bridges a ravine on the Glen Trail. The trail | | | | Visitor Center is a restoration of a 1923 Sears & |
| runs by a stream under the trestle and there are | | | | Roebuck mail order barn. A century ago Sears |
| sweeping views of Wenonah Woods from the | | | | sold anything and everything by mail - including |
| top.A walk through Brandywine Park provides a | | | | kits for building houses and barns. The kit, which |
| quick lesson is the history of bridge architecture. | | | | could cost as little as a few hundred dollars |
| The classical arch form is represented in grand | | | | depending on style, would include rough lumber, |
| style with the magificent stone viaduct across the | | | | framing timbers, plank flooring, shingles, hardware, |
| river and numerous reinforced concrete spans. | | | | sash and paint. Usually shipped by train from the |
| There is even a small iron arch bridge over the | | | | west, the barn kit would be loaded onto a freight |
| mill race. A prototypical 19th century pier and | | | | wagon and hauled to the building site for assembly |
| girder iron bridge transports trains over the | | | | by local carpenters.COOL ROCKSForty million |
| Brandywine. And the pedestrian footbridge across | | | | years ago an igneous explosion occurred |
| the water, the Swinging Bridge, is a little | | | | underground here and cooled very quickly leaving |
| suspension bridge employing the same engineering | | | | behind a particularly fine granite rock. Tourists and |
| principles as the mythical Brooklyn Bridge.A | | | | students of geology alike made the pilgrimmage |
| floodplain is a safety valve for the release of a | | | | to the Falls of French Creek to study the rock |
| raging creek's overflow. Along the Paper Mill Trail, | | | | formations. Granite quarries mined the rock and |
| just off the Creek Road Trail, is an exhibit on | | | | granite from Saint Peters once received an award |
| managing these protective wetlands that create a | | | | at the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in |
| unique wildlife habitat. The stone double-arch | | | | Chicago as "a fine-grained polished cube, a good |
| bridge next to the floodplain exhibit was built in | | | | building and ornamental stone." The quarries closed |
| 1847. The fall line on the Pennypack Creek was | | | | in the 1960s and many pits can still be seen. |
| the natural choice for fording the creek back to | | | | Today the giant boulders in French Creek are ideal |
| Indian days. William Penn was not so patient in | | | | for your dog to sramble on - or just lie in the sun. |
| waiting for the tide to take the water away each | | | | Mountain in State Game Land #157. The mountain |
| day and in 1683 he asked that "an order be given | | | | is essentially a ridge of diabase boulders and the |
| for building a bridge over the Pennypack." Each | | | | trail to the top calls for almost continuous |
| male resident was taxed in either money or labor | | | | rock-hopping, a technique called bouldering. The |
| to build the bridge, which, when completed in | | | | basaltic rock provides incredible traction.And our |
| 1697, became the first Three Arch Stone bridge | | | | vote for the coolest thing of all on Philadelphia |
| in America. Designated a National Civil Engineering | | | | trails - the "Ringing Rocks" in Ringing Rocks Park |
| Landmark, the bridge over Frankford Avenue in | | | | where the rocks ping when struck by a hammer |
| Pennypack Park is the oldest stone bridge still | | | | - or thud on "dead " spots.copyright 2006I am the |
| carrying heavy traffic in America. Germantown | | | | author of over 20 books, including 8 on hiking with |
| Pike was the first road to be started in | | | | your dog, including the |
| Montgomery County, dating to 1687 when funds | | | | widely praised The Canine Hiker's Bible. As |
| were allocated for a "cart road" from Philadelphia | | | | publisher of Cruden Bay Books, we |
| to the Plymouth Meeting settlement. Later | | | | produce the innovative A Bark In The Park |
| extended to present-day Collegeville, an eight arch | | | | series of canine hiking books found at |
| stone bridge was built to span Skippack Creek in | | | | During the warm months I lead canine hikes as |
| 1792. An equestrian trail crosses the bridge, which | | | | tour leader for tours, leading packs of dogs and |
| is the oldest bridge in continuous, heavy use in | | | | humans on |
| America. Ashland Covered Bridge, built in the days | | | | day and overnight trips. |