Schuylkill River West Trail

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The Schuylkill River West Trail is a proposed 15.5 mile network of trails and greenway near the Schuylkill River that will run through the municipalities of Lower Merion, West Conshohocken, Bridgeport and Upper Merion.

The trail in Lower Merion was first identified as being possible in the Township’s Bicycle and Pedestrian Plan. It was also recommended as a potential Open Space project in the Township’s Open Space and Environmental Resource Protection Plan.

Lower Merion, Upper Merion, Bridgeport and West Conshohocken worked together on a multi-municipal project to identify a possible trail and greenway alignment.

Campbell Thomas & Co. was contracted to complete the multi-municipal study at a cost of $94,976. Campbell Thomas completed the Bicycle and Pedestrian Plans for both Lower Merion and Upper Merion and has worked on many important trail projects, including the Schuylkill River Trail and the Radnor Trail.

Two Community Conservation Partnerships Program grants from the state funded a significant portion of the cost with the remainder shared by the municipalities.

Public participation and involvement was an integral part of the planning process and input received from the public helped the consulting team in understanding:

Who could use the potential trail
How they could use it
Potential trail uses (walking, hiking, bicycles, equestrian?)
Potential trail types (narrow, wide, paved, dirt, crushed stone?)
Problems and opportunities
Opportunities for loop trips with the existing Schuylkill River trail using new links across the Schuylkill River.

The study has been completed and is available on the Township web site, at the Reference Desk at each of the Township’s six libraries and in the office of the Parks & Recreation Department.

Links to studies, maps, images, etc. will be posted on this page.

For more information, contact Parks & Recreation at 610-645-6220, recreation@lowermerion.org or Upper Merion Township Parks & Recreation at 610-265-1071, drussell@umtownship.org.