Lower Wissahickon: Ft Washington St Pk via Green Ribbon Trail & Sheaf Rd

3-3.5 hours, 6-9 miles, mostly flat, some hills, great trails, incredible farms, wineries, and mansions along Sheaf Rd, Ft Washington St Pk, and the Green Ribbon Trail

The hike today takes us on a loop through Germantown Academy towards Sheaf Rd. where we walk by Lancasterian like farms with sheep and other livestock, wineries, and several incredible mansions. One mansion is part of an historic estate called the Highlands. Often we explore the gardens, spring house, chicken coop and other lands around this large 19th century estate. We follow Sheaf Rd which has little to no traffic to Ft Washington St Park. We bop around the park usually on small trails, and head for the Bird Observation Deck. Here near the bird feeders we often find dozens of birds even including Hummingbirds. One time I saw 11 pairs of cardinals.

From the park we head several miles down the Green Ribbon Trail back to Germantown Academy. Often we take a longer route though the park going south towards Philly for several miles before heading north.
The other option is to go north 5 miles to Penllyn Park area before making a U-turn and heading back. The path is often right along the creek in areas not explored by others. Beautiful scenery. The photo above shows more what this option looks like.

FYI
The lower Wissahickon area is the Wissahickon Creek area right outside of Philly. The Wissahickon meanders about 14 miles south from Upper Gwynedd Township to Wissahickon Park in Philly. The Green Ribbon trail runs right along the Wissahickon for about 13 of those 14 miles. We have 2 lower Wissahickon hikes that meet at Carey Stadium of Germantown Academy and one upper Wissahickon hike that that starts about 10 miles away near the Administration bldg for Upper Gwynedd Township.

CARPOOLING
To carpool from Hill House (201 W Evergreen Ave, Phila) meet 20 minutes before the event. Carpool time changes if hike time changes. Text me (215 2474459) 3-4 days in advance.

GENERAL RULES : ••Hike at my pace. ••Hike lengths are approx: allow 30min -1hr extra. ••Donation requested. All monies donated to recreational charities like Natural Lands and the Friends of Wissahickon. •• For ~360 events each year donate $20 (2025), $30 for 2 or family or donate $5 for each event. ••Pay in person or at Zelle (215 247-4459). In either case, please text me that you donated so I can properly credit your account. Thanks. The yearly donation goes down to $15 July-Aug; to $10 in Sept-Nov; Dec new year.