Our Forgotten Parks 2: East Side Reservoir

It would only seem logical that in a park system as vast as ours is, that there would be a few hidden gems that don’t make it into the mainstream conversation or visitation like the Parkway or Cedar Beach. Even parks like Trout Creek parkway and Jordan Park are heavily used despite poor conditions and needed repair. In Allentown, there is one park that seems to have a very low usage rate. It is in pretty good shape and it looks like the pavilion there has even been repainted recently. I have never seen anyone else at this park during any visits and today I declare it the official park of Remember.

This park is the East Side Reservoir. It sits, literally hidden in the hills behind Keck Park and in the borderlands between Allentown and Bethlehem. It is possible to stumble upon it by accident, but otherwise, unless you are heading there on purpose, you will probably never see this park. Check it out here on Google Maps:

View Larger Map
The East Side Reservoir is beautiful. In an urban area, it has a beautifully developing young forest.



Climbing the hill to the top of the reservoir itself, on a clear day you can stand there and see straight across the Lehigh Valley to the Lehigh Gap and Bake Oven Knob. During my visit, I could see that far and I knew my brother was on the Knob so I felt obligated to call and say that I could see him from where I was. Having such a view hidden in the eastern hills of Allentown is incredible.

The same pipe field that exists at South Mountain exists here as well.

The East Side Reservoir is not much of a hiking or running park. It seems more of a place of reflection especially in contrast to the urban world it seems so far from on the inside but is in fact so close to at all times.

The East Side Reservoir seems like a great place to take a breather, to take a break, to take a step away and enter into a small zone of nature and remember. I encourage you to visit this place sometime. It is certainly a forgotten park of Allentown.

Cedar Beach Update from Greg Weitzel

On Monday morning, I ran a post detailing the current conditions at Cedar Beach Parkway. Today, I received an email from Greg Weitzel, the Director of Parks and Recreation with an explanation of what is going on down there. The following is what Greg sent me.:


"With regards to the ongoing Rose Garden reflective ponds trail paving and recent concerns brought to my attention:


1. We are in the middle of the construction process, and drawing conclusions and assumptions on a partially completed project only further advances misconceptions.

2. Once completed, the paved trails will significantly reduce the footprint of the current paths. In some places, the stone paths were 20 feet wide. The new paved paths will be a uniformed eight (8) feet wide, and all the area adjacent to the paved paths will be leveled off with topsoil and seeded.

3. Erosion and sediment controls plans require a silt fence be placed next to the creek, therefore, encroachment on the newly planted riparian area (approximately 30 feet) was necessary. However, the new trail was shifted further away from the creek to allow for more riparian area between the creek and the path.

4. Staff was very aware of the new plants in this area and will replace this small amount of plants when topsoil and seed is reintroduced.

5. The open areas around the third pond walls will be filled with topsoil and seeded, and the open drain pipe will be cut and buried.

6. Lastly, the new paved paths will be stamped and painted (http://www.pavementimpressionsinc.com/) to match, to the best of our ability, the new Rose Garden pavers."

My original post can be seen here:

Cedar Beach Parkway, The good, bad, ugly and What!?

Remember: 100 Fans

With great pride, I can announce that Remember has reached 100 fans on Facebook. I want to thank every person that reads this blog regularly from the bottom of my heart. Readers, you are in fact part of the reason my life has begun to turn itself around. Every day when I see how many people have accessed this page and taken a journey with me I am sincerely grateful and utterly happy.

I take this blog seriously and as a matter of fact, I occasionally take it too seriously. My explorations of both nature and the mind are truly still in their infancy and I am so very glad you are all taking this ride with me. I want to push on to 200 fans on Facebook and I think we can do it. This blog is not just about the parks in the Lehigh Valley. It is about experience, life, meditation and most importantly, reflection. To me, it is the deep breath that we all need to take everyday and that our modern lives seem incapable of letting us do.

Today, I want to encourage whoever reads this post to leave a comment, even if it is just to say hello. Let me know what you think of the blog and tell me where you would like to see me take it in the future. I’ve got big plans for the spring and summer and I cannot wait to share my future explorations with you. As always, I am more than glad to take anyone for a walk in our parks as well. Solitude in nature is an unparalleled wonder but company can be just as beautiful.

So, say hello. Share a story. This blog is just as much about you as it is about me.

Thanks for reading.

Life as a Student: Part 2- Poker

My last post about student life seems to have a negative tone in hindsight. I guess, to be fair, that negativity is a certain part of who I am as a person. To cut it straight with you folks, there are two hands of cards to be examined here. In one hand, I have been dealt some cards that would have me fold and cut my losses. You see, I am still unemployed and my unemployment is due to run out in the near future. I am in the midst of an appeal process with the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Authority trying to gain grants that I am more than eligible for. I didn’t get them in the first place because I was reinstated as a student later than the deadline for application for those specific funds.

In this hand, I am also holding a card of worry about my parents and their finances. Last week, my mother was hospitalized and while I could begin writing a blog about the Health Care system in this country based solely on the two days my mother was a patient; I will leave my thoughts regarding that issue as it sucks. My mother is doing okay now and everything should be fine but she is entering what will be a life long struggle to regain control of her diabetes. At the same time, my folks aren’t in the best financial straits. These days, not many people are. They have an adjustable rate mortgage on our house and Wilshire (the mortgage holder) has decided that now would be the perfect time to adjust the rate so dramatically that it would be impossible to pay it. Our house isn’t worth as much as our mortgage and better yet, the interest rate they are charging my folks is 5 points higher than the national rate indicates it should be.

The next card in this hand is always my health. I am walking a fine line between alright and really screwed up and it seems like that line is thinning as of late and it scares me. I will be looking into free counseling but in the meantime I am holding on and barely. To be completely frank, I am tired of living as a disabled person. I would love to touch, to feel, to breathe as easily and normally as most of you do.

This hand weighs heavy on my academic life. It is hard to study for midterms worrying about all of those things and there are still other cards in that hand that I am not mentioning for the sake of brevity.

Now, in the other hand, I am one lucky son of a gun. I am at a great school, with great professors and am deeply engaged in things that I not only love but that I am incredibly passionate about. I have met some great kids over there and I might end up with a friend or two which would be wonderful. I absolutely love Muhlenberg College and some days, I do not want to leave campus. I’m still keeping an eye out for a lady; although, with my mental condition and everything else, it is a half opened eye.

Today, I will be taking two midterms which have me nervous and occasionally downright frightened.
Five years ago, tests were a joke for me. I could take them with my eyes closed and get excellent grades. Now, a bit older and a lot more concerned about my future, taking a test has become a shitshow.

So, with two hands, one heavy with hope and the other heavy with worry, I am doing my best to beat the dealer. I am hoping the grant that I deserve and desperately need comes through. I am going to try and get a work study next semester. My hand of hope is guiding my actions despite my hand of worry making me as sick as a dog some days and utterly dejected on others. I have my fingers crossed with such force regarding my parents mortgage that my ulna may become conjoined. Time will tell. For now, I am going to be taking two midterms that I have studied my butt off for and despite the effort a C will satisfy me. Bottom line, I love college. It is where I belong. I fear greatly though that the forces I have worried so often about are indeed conspiring again to rip me out of it. I hope to God I’m wrong. I don’t want to leave again.

Yesterday, Late Afternoon, Lehigh Parkway

Forgive what will be a nearly wordless post, but I am a very tired man right now. Preparing for midterms, dealing with the stress of trying to procure money from the Government in the from of Grants for college, and many other things have me a bit down right now. Walking in the Parkway and watching autumn was an incredible relief and I was glad to catch the season in full bloom before the next rainstorm rips the leaves from the trees and plunges nature into winter. Get out while you can and check things out, it is beautiful out there.










As the seasons are changing, the look of the parks are changing with them. Lately, even a single day apart, a visit to one of our parks feels like the first visit. The vistas are changing as rapidly as the length of days.

Cedar Beach Parkway: The good, the bad, the ugly and the What!?

The Good:

The completed pathways in the Rose Garden are beautiful. In my opinion the work done there is fantastic. The stone column array looks good as well and once roses are allowed to grow on the pillars, it should look very nice (I was told by Giuseppe the architect that this was the planned outcome). Also, there are fish in the ponds again, which was nice to see. They are orange and small and very camera shy.


The Bad:

They have indeed paved all the paths around the reflecting ponds and have significantly widened them in places. This will increase runoff but decrease gravel sediment in the creek; so it is a Catch 22. I don’t personally think going this route was the best idea but it has been done and cannot be changed. The paving should end here.



The Ugly:

I first noticed these fissures around the largest reflecting pool over the summer. I had not posted pictures of them because I thought they were going to be taken care of during the construction process. They have yet to be fixed and are growing. Some are filled with standing water and it is my belief that the water comes from a leak in the pond walls and not rain. The water has been there for months.



The What!?:

As documented in this blog post, two weeks ago a group of volunteers spent the day (and later days) at Cedar Beach planting thousands of flowers and some trees and shrubs around certain sections of Cedar Creek’s banks. These areas will serve as riparian buffers. The idea is to increase the beauty of the park, add needed wildlife habitat, and most importantly, help the health of the stream. The most plants we installed were placed in a small grassy strip between where the current buffer ends at the end of the largest pond and the wooden bridge at the end of the Rose Garden. The flowers that were planted would have been beautiful once grown and really added to Cedar Beach Parkway. That sentence is in the past tense because this morning I found that area of newly planted vegetation like this:



It used to look like this:



As it is currently, the reckless pavers have completed eliminated any of the good that could have come from the planting that occurred there. That creek bank is now more threatened than it was before the planting happened. Seriously folks? That is unacceptable and given the fact that nearly half the grass has been replaced by a macadam pile, nearly irreversible. What message is being sent here? Let’s hope other pavers or future mowers leave the rest of what has been planted alone.

Unreal...

What is going on in Canal Park? UPDATE

I went for a walk in Canal Park this afternoon to take some new pictures for a piece I have been working on documenting the neglect down there. What I found in Canal Park however, has nothing to do with neglect. Something is going on down there and I have no idea what it is.

As you can see in the picture above these “No Trespassing” signs have been placed on wooden pillars that surround the lot at the end of Canal Park. These signs have not been present on any of my prior visits. In addition, “CLOSED” signs have been placed as well. You can see them in the pictures below.


I do not know why any of those signs have been posted and there is no explanation present. As odd as all of that was to see, I turned and walked towards the Lehigh Canal and was greeted with my biggest surprise of the day.


It is almost empty. There is a slight trickle of water running through it but it is a far cry from the normal water volume that is present. I got back into my car and headed up to the bridge to see if I could decipher what exactly had cause the Canal to go dry.

As you can see in that picture, the normal access point for the water in the now dry part of the canal has literally been boarded off. The wooden dam is leaking in many spots and I don’t imagine it will last a very long time.

So, what is going on down there? Why has the canal been made dry? Why is it now trespassing to walk the D+L trail? I certainly have no answers. I would hope they are cleaning up the canal and the area in general for a return to use and an exit from neglect. I would love to see the boathouse used again and canoes made available for public floats in the Canal. I will wait and see if anyone has an answer because the whole situation is beyond strange. It’s weird.

I will be sending an email to Greg Weitzel the Director of Parks and Recreation to see if I can get some answers.

**UPDATE**

Greg Weitzel has informed me that there has been a breach in the tow path and that they are working with the DEP, Army Corp of Engineers and others to get it fixed.
"To date, we had a contractor install a coffer dam and have a canal expert designing the repair. No date on when we would open this section of trail yet, but we are working hard to get this fixed ASAP"

State Parks Lost.

What wonderful news greeted me in the Morning Call this morning! Plastered across the front of the paper the line “State Parks in Peril” stretched ominously in bold accompanied by a picture of a forest touched by autumn. I reposted a warning from the DCNR about this inevitability a few months ago detailing the incredible ripple effect of loss that would be felt across communities if state parks were closed.

It has yet to be determined which parks will be closed and it sounds like the decision will have to be made park by park based on who can survive the budget cuts. The Morning Call article also made it apparent that this problem began before the economy nosedived. It is a real pity that the majority of the public in this state learns only of this story now that it is too late to do anything about it.

Parks will be closed. There are stipulations in our budget that will allow our Governor to explore protected and unprotected forests in Pennsylvania for natural gas exploration. If I put two and two together, I do not imagine that these things are entirely unrelated. I would guess that closed parks will be explored for timber, for gas, for whatever profit can be made by sacrificing nature.

Nothing good will come from this. The DCNR has documented the loss of tourist money in communities near to state parks. The money made from that tourism is noble. The generations of stewards and rangers that have been in the employ of Pennsylvania’s park system are threatened. The general good will that exists because of state parks is endangered. Why?

Were there no other options? Did State Representatives offer a cut of their salaries to save some of these places? Are state parks able to be turned over to county or municipalities for maintenance and operation? I don’t know the answer to these questions and they do not matter now. Perhaps this Monday afternoon while Ed Rendell is on Comcast SportsNet doing his weekly gig as Eagles commentator, someone can call in and ask. I guess that since there are no state parks that the Eagles use he doesn’t care.

If there is a way to save the parks, to raise the money needed to hire the staff that has been cut and cut and cut over the last few years, somebody tell somebody. Otherwise, the state of Pennsylvania is setting a dangerous precedent that it will be incredibly hard to come back from. Here in Allentown, we must keep vigilant regarding our parks. God knows, if the city ever decides to close them, there won’t be much left in Allentown worth seeing.

Our Forgotten Parks 1: Trout Creek Parkway

Perhaps our moniker has allowed our elected officials and citizenry some unwarranted slack. For those who do not know to what I am referring, Allentown has been branded “Pennsylvania’s Park Place”. Surely, we do deserve it. Our park system is incredible, diverse, and beautiful. There are however major issues impacting some of our parks and some of them would seem to have been abandoned. Amidst the flurry of Cedar Beach Parkway renovations and subsequent scandal, I posted detailed observations about the neglect in Trout Creek Parkway, Jordan Park, Canal Park and the East Side Reservoir. These are our forgotten park lands.

Down in Trout Creek Parkway last weekend, the same ills were present as they have been since my first documented visit this past May. The Japanese Knotweed remains rampant. Parts of the path still look like “Life after People” and the park itself has become endangered.

This park is an incredible asset to downtown Allentown given its location and relative wildness. It has a perfect balance of park and recreation and it could serve as an educational gateway to hundred of inner city kids if were properly maintained.

As it is, Trout Creek Parkway is a mess. Along with the other parks I have mentioned I believe it to be of the utmost importance that the city of Allentown, the Department of Parks and Recreation and everyone else involved in our parks step up to the plate and start swinging for Trout Creek Parkway, Jordan Park, Canal Park and any of our other parks that have been allowed to slip silently into disrepair and neglect.

If I were in charge (and God help us all if that happens) I would do the following at TCP:
1. Remove the Japanese Knotweed.
2. Plant native vegetation alongside creek banks and set up a signage system that would allow visitors to know what plants were growing, and what wildlife would be making their home there.
3. I would offer guided walks through the park explaining the history and the ecosystem in the park.
4. Set up day events in the summer for inner city kids through the YMCA and Boys and Girls Clubs.

And, that is just the beginning. The same things could easily be applied to Jordan Park. Canal Park is however a different story and my plan for Canal Park will be forthcoming.

In order for Allentown to truly be “Pennsylvania’s Park Place”, these parks must be fixed and whatever plans are on the table for park renovations; if they don’t focus on these parks first, should be shelved.

Canal Park: The Complete Park Log

1. The Lehigh Canal


Yesterday, I visited Canal Park. Before I get to the journey, I feel that it is appropriate to provide a little history. No other park in Allentown is so steeped in the story of our city. There are wonderful online resources that provide detailed historical facts and pictures. I recommend Everette Carr’s website; he journeyed the entire length of the old canal and documented its current state with pictures. His site is available here.

There are some wonderful period pictures posted on this website.

This is a concise history of the canal, published on the National Canal Museum website:

"The Lehigh Navigation (referred to as the Lehigh Canal) was constructed to carry anthracite coal from the upper Lehigh Valley to Easton. Its creation was the direct result of Phillip Ginder's discovery of large deposits of anthracite (hard coal) near Summit Hill, Pa. in 1791. Ginder's discovery led to the formation of the Lehigh Coal Mine Company which successfully transported anthracite down the turbulent Lehigh and Delaware Rivers to Philadelphia. By 1820 a downstream navigation system was completed which would allow arks loaded with coal to navigate from the present site of Jim Thorpe, (Mauch Chunk) Pa. to Easton. This navigation system was made possible by Josiah White's invention of a system of "bear trap" or hydrostatic locks. These "bear trap" locks increased the depth of the Lehigh by creating small artificial floods which carried the loaded arks downstream.
To obtain additional investment capital the Lehigh Navigation and the Lehigh Coal Company were merged to form the Lehigh Coal and Navigation Company in 1821. By 1825 this new company was shipping over 30,000 tons of anthracite to Philadelphia annually. Increased competition from the newly completed Schuylkill Navigation System and a desire to establish both ascending and descending navigation on the Lehigh led the company to rebuild its waterway into a conventional canal with lift locks. Designed by Canvass White, formerly engineer of New York's Erie Canal, the Lehigh Navigation combined slackwater pools and canal sections. It was constructed between 1827 and 1829. The enlarged Lehigh Navigation was over 46 miles in length between its terminal points of Mauch Chunk (present Jim Thorpe) and Easton. It had a total of 52 locks, 8 guard locks, 8 dams and 6 aqueducts. These engineering features enabled the waterway to overcome a difference in elevation of almost 355 feet. The Lehigh Navigation also had the largest carrying capacity of any of the anthracite canals at the time of its completion since the locks were large enough to allow the passage of vessels which could carry over 200 tons of coal. However, the smaller sizes of the connecting Morris and Delaware canals limited the Lehigh Canal boats to 95 ton loads.

Within five years of its completion the enlarged Lehigh Navigation had been linked to both Philadelphia and New York by means of the Delaware Division Canal and Morris Canal respectively. As a result the lower Lehigh Valley was the only region in America to have efficient transportation connections with New York and Philadelphia, America's two largest metropolitan areas during this period. This factor combined with water power available from the Lehigh Navigation helped to make this region a birthplace of the American Industrial Revolution.
Seeking to tap the rapidly developing Beaver Meadow coal fields near the site of present Hazelton, and also to connect with the Susquehanna River and the great Wyoming coal fields at Wilkes-Barre, the Lehigh Coal and Navigation Company constructed a northward extension of its navigation system between 1835 and 1838. Designed by the brilliant engineer E.A. Douglas, this 26 mile northern extension to White Haven, which was called the Upper Grand Section of the Lehigh Navigation, was one the greatest engineering feats of the Nineteenth Century. Utilizing 20 dams and 29 Locks, this waterway overcame a difference in elevation of over 600 feet between White Haven and Mauch Chunk. The locks of the Upper Grand Section were particularly impressive. Lock 27, which was also named the Pennsylvania, was located near Lehigh Tannery, and was able to raise or lower boats over 30 feet to the next level. Northward out of White Haven the Lehigh Coal and Navigation Company constructed the Lehigh and Susquehanna Railroad with its innovative Ashley Planes (inclined planes) to reach the Susquehanna at Wilkes-Barre.
The Lehigh Navigation System reached its peak in 1855. In that year it carried more than one million tons of cargo. However, 1855 also marked the completion of the Lehigh Valley Railroad between Mauch Chunk and Easton. Competition from this new anthracite carrier began to reduce the navigation system's cargo. Of even greater importance was the devastation inflicted on this waterway by the great flood of June 4, 1862. Both the main canal and the Upper Grand Section were almost totally destroyed. Although the portion of the Lehigh Navigation between Mauch Chunk and Easton was rebuilt, the Upper Grand Section was replaced by an extension of the Lehigh and Susquehanna Railroad. Between 1865 and 1867 this line was further extended to Easton were it connected with the Central Railroad of New Jersey. In 1871 the Lehigh and Susquehanna was leased to the Central Railroad of New Jersey.
During the 1870's and 1880's the decline in tonnage carried by the Lehigh Navigation continued. By 1880 the tonnage carried had fallen by over 50% and by 1900 it had fallen to less than 1/4 of its 1855 peak total. The Lehigh Navigation continued to function as a transportation artery until 1932, making it the last fully functioning towpath canal in North America. Portions of the Lehigh Navigation were utilized to carry reclaimed coal silt until 1942 when a flood ended towpath navigation. In 1962 most of it was sold to private and public organizations for recreational use."

2. Canal Park

Getting into Canal Park is a little tricky. The sign indicates a right turn off of Hamilton but I have always taken a left. After crossing the train tracks, all the way to the right is the big dam on the Lehigh. Straight ahead is a bridge and to the left a road that follows the canal. If you go down this road, you will eventually pass under this railroad bridge:

You will then cross the canal and if you take a left you will enter Canal Park proper at this sign:

If you go right, there are a series of parking lots that lead to a boat launch on the Lehigh.
Canal Park is surrounded by a highly urbanized area. It is also surrounded by an immense amount of the history of Allentown. The canal itself and subsequent railroad tracks were central to the development of the industrial period of our city. There is still an active railroad line here:

Getting out of the car, my footsteps on the towpath were weighted by that history. The idea that at one time this watery artery was so important to Allentown and to the coal industry on a whole was a heavy consideration. Now, we come here for recreation. The muddy boat prints on the towpath have been replaced with bicycle treads and imprinted running shoes.



Canal Park is Allentown’s park of contrasts; not only the constant contrast of our present and our history but of natural beauty and urban blight and of recreation and appreciation. The Lehigh River rolls towards its end in Easton to your right as you walk the towpath with the canal to your left. The towpath rolls on to Sand Island in the city of Bethlehem. Along our side of the towpath many invasive species remain. I hope as Allentown moves forward with park renovation, a project to renew Canal Park includes removal of many of these non native plants.

This area is rife with wildlife. Dragonflies are in abundance in the canal. There are so many visible insects here it is hard to find one sitting still long enough to catch a picture. I got this guy:

Walking along a trail past the parking area, the boat launch on the Lehigh is reached. On this muddy afternoon, I took a rather comedic fall and ended up covered in mud. Across from the Boat Launch, the combined waters of the Jordan and Little Lehigh creeks meet their ends in the Lehigh River:

Further along, there is a derelict picnic area and some amazing views of the Lehigh River:


Turning back, under the railroad bridge, is a spillway on the canal where a wall once stood to serve a lock. You can see Sacred Heart Hospital and parts of downtown in the distance:

Heading back into main Canal Park there is a boathouse on the left, which is advertised as a place to access canoes for a spin in the canal. On this afternoon it was shuttered and truthfully, it looks as if it has been shuttered for some time:


On the right, a set of stairs leads to a pavilion:

The pavilion is in disrepair. Another set of stairs from the pavilion leads back down to the Boat Launch. It became a more frequent observation, the longer I walked through Canal Park that many of the picnic tables, benches, and other recreational devices were in disrepair. I would have loved to be able to ride a canoe in the canal that afternoon. I hope Allentown sees the potential in the development of this park after the success both Bethlehem and Easton have had revitalizing their parts of the canal.
I managed to capture a picture of a young bird sitting on a bench by the shuttered boat house:


Driving back towards the railroad tracks, a few families of Canadian Geese were roadside. While I attempted a few pictures from my car, one of the parents hissed, bobbed its head and attacked my car.

Crossing the bridge in the middle of Canal Park leads to some trails on the side of the Lehigh River. The trails are not well maintained and the lone picnic bench to be found here as been recaptured by nature:




After crawling under a few tree branches and sliding on my butt a bit, I was given an awe inspiring view of the Lehigh River at the exit of an old canal flume.

Canal Park is my favorite park in the city of Allentown. To see it sit in its current state is sad and frustrating. This area, in my opinion, could be the new jewel in Allentown’s park system. (Sorry Lehigh Parkway) As the plans move forward for park revitalization, I hope the city sees the same potential I do down there. Heck, I volunteer to help. What a place Canal Park could be. It is still, as is, a gorgeous spot that provides the ever more rare opportunity to steep yourself not only into nature for an afternoon, but into the long history of Allentown. Check it out.


3. Desolation Towpath


I made a discovery this weekend at Canal Park. Before I get to that though I must describe the west end of the park; I neglected it when I wrote my park log. When driving to Canal Park if you make a right after crossing the train tracks you will drive over a ridiculously pothole riddled gravel road and reach a small parking lot just past the Hamilton Street Bridge.
Here you will be treated to a marvelous view full of both the history of Allentown and her future.
In the distance, on the site of the former A+B slaughterhouse sits the America on Wheels museum. It is here that the beginnings of the long awaited and almost storied “Lehigh Landing” project may one day begin to take shape. The last remnants of the old Hamilton Street Bridge that was wiped out in a flood during the fifties are visible at the edge of the dam, in front of the museum.





On this side of the river, there are ruins and edifices to industries past aplenty. Here is where at one time the Lehigh Canal powered Allentown into an industrial and manufacturing future.
My discovery however, is further past the dam, down river. There is a trail here.

This trail bears no resemblance to the D+L towpath that lies feet to the east. This trail is much more emblematic of the current state of Canal Park than the D+L. It is a sad wasteland. The railroad has killed the vegetation on the right bank and there is more garbage on the left than plant life.

Here, under the garbage, could be another great addition to our parks system.




I hope that in the upcoming trails plan that this area is addressed. It is unique in its closeness to the Lehigh; there is no other park in Allentown that could offer the views and closeness this area can. As it is now, it would be hard for me to even recommend you visit it.
As I left the park in the beginnings of a thunderstorm, I took the time to think about the limitless possibilities this area and the still undeveloped “Lehigh Landing” project has and I watched the reflection of our city in the waters of the river. I pray that more people see what I see here at Canal Park and realize what can be. If you aren’t sure what I am sure of; please take a walk further down and journey on the towpath. They got it right there.


4. Wasteland


For years, driving across the Hamilton Street Bridge I have been curious as to what exactly was riverside across from Canal Park. It appears to be a walkable area and it would also seem to offer some very unique views of the Lehigh River. Over the weekend I found access to this area and finally got to take a stroll there. This area is not considered part of the Allentown park system.


On parts of this nearly lunar landscape, I half expected Mad Max to join me as I walked on the large smooth rocks.


There is a major ruin here and I have absolutely no idea what it was. The ruin certainly adds to the post apocalyptic vibe.



Farther down, the wasteland grows greener and views of Canal Park across the river are outstanding.


The stroll ended at the railroad tracks. It appeared as if a trail was at one time accessible on the other side but being as late as it is in summer and given how wet this summer has been, the path was entirely overgrown.
Standing there I couldn't help but think of how fantastic it would be to see a foot bridge connecting this small river access area to Canal Park. The access area could serve as a wonderful gateway to nearby Fountain Park and could connect with any waterfront development on the other side of Hamilton if it ever happened. I have a million and one ideas about how to improve Canal Park and this area could really play into it. Spending time by the Lehigh I am also amazed just how little we use the area despite the fact that Allentown is in fact a river city. Hopefully future development of the long awaited Lehigh Landing comes in tandem with a sorely needed redevelopment of Canal Park and perhaps a development of this "river access area".

Walking back, looking down river past the dam it is easy to become awestruck at the vast amount of history in one glance. The steeple of the Immaculate Conception Church stands as a neighbor to the increasingly poor looking Neuweiler Beer Factory; the old iron trestle bridge looms in the distance and always the city itself sits watching, just as I did, there walking in the wasteland down by the river.


See Also:
Lehigh Parkway: Complete Park Log