About us
**FreeWalkers.org** is a social network dedicated to exploring life on foot, for walkers and hikers interested in participating in long-distance walking events in the Mid-Atlantic region. Membership is free and open to everyone. We support each member's effort to reach their own goals of fitness and enjoyment as we walk together, explore our surroundings, and promote pro-pedestrian interests.
FreeWalkers has thousands of members and hosts dozens of long-distance walking events each year in New Jersey, Pennsylvania and New York, as well as many in Maryland, Delaware and Virginia. Most walks are supported by mass transit for easy access and return, and are between ten and fifty miles in length. Some walks are longer multi-day or shorter distance events. We have all kinds of walks, but we are most known for our longer distance walking events. Some of our walks offer shorter 5k to 10k options.
Walkers are free to move at their own pace and distance. It is not necessary for a walk to be completed or timed, only enjoyed. Our walks expose members to countless locations of scenic beauty, historic importance, and pedestrian convenience, all with the benefit of social support, event organization and the opportunity to engage with interesting fellow walkers.
We are an IRS-approved 501(c)3 non-profit and your tax-free donations help us create free and low-cost walks that are interesting, challenging and open to everyone. We manage multiple regional FreeWalkers groups on Meetup. We do encourage joining freewalkers.org and actively supporting our partners and sponsors who help make these events possible. At our website, you can browse photos of our events, learn about our history and mission, and read about the experiences of some of our walkers.
Look for our many walks every year in greater New York City, many parts of New Jersey including Hudson, Union, Middlesex, Somerset, Union, Morris, Monmouth, Mercer and Burlington County; Southeastern Pennsylvania including Philadelphia, Bucks and Montgomery County; Delaware and greater Washington DC. Join us on nature hikes, city walks, history walking tours, long-distance walks, scenic walks and themed walking outings.
Why you might like to join the FreeWalkers:
• Did you ever wonder how far you could walk?
• Would you like to know more about the places you walk?
• Are you more interested in accomplishing personal goals than winning a race?
• Are you the type of person who can't pass up an interesting challenge or adventure?
• Have you ever longed to get out of your car and experience what a community is really like?
• Do you believe you spend nearly as many calories walking as running but over a longer period of time?
• Are you looking for a sport where social interaction is possible?
• Are you looking for an alternative exercise routine that's both easy on the body and builds endurance?
We look forward to seeing you at our next event. Walk the Walk! It's good for you, good for us and good for the greater community. Get out there for your first FreeWalk, and you will be glad that you did.
Upcoming events
6
FreeWalkers Marathon Walk -- Philadelphia, Fairmount Park
Porch at 30th Street, 30th and Market Sts, Philadelphia, PA, USPlease register for FREE to attend.
Our most diverse and scenic walk of the year. A FreeWalkers favorite!
Start: Porch at 30th St Station
Finish: Chestnut Hill West Station
Distance: 13-26mi
Where to find us: Outside south side of station
Optional endpoints:- East Falls Station, Highland Station and numerous other mass transit options
Terrain: paved, gravel, grass
Transit: Amtrak, Megabus, NJTransit AC and NJTransit/Septa connections to 30th Street Station
Return: SEPTA train
Parking: Many nearby garages and lots. Try 3101 Market St or Cira South Garage
Difficulty: Average / Advanced
Category: nature, history, urban, scenic
Coordinator: Charles Updike, 916-225-0569## An Autumn Walk in the Park
### 26.2 miles (or 13.1 miles) from 30th St Station to Chestnut Hill through Fairmount Park and the Wissahickon Valley.
Walk the entire breadth of the city through the largest landscaped city park in the world, Fairmount Park, with the autumn colors at their peak along the Schuylkill River Trail and Forbidden Drive along the Wissahickon Creek.
In the early 19th century, the Wissahickon was a hub for small industry, due to its steady water flow for powering mills. When industry moved downtown, the area was preserved to protect the water supply for the region, producing an environment that became world renowned for its beauty and inspired the works of Walt Whitman, John Greenleaf Whittier, Edgar Allen Poe, Christopher Morley, and Currier and Ives. Forbidden Drive is so named for its prohibition of all motor vehicles. The Wissahickon Valley has a stillness untouched by time, strange for one of the world's larger cities, and is surely Philadelphia's best kept secret, offering as appealing a walking route as is available for a hundred miles around.
"The Wissahickon is of so remarkable a loveliness that, were it flowing in England, it would be the theme of every bard." -- Poe"Some of my happiest hours have been spent there, some of my freest hours." -- Whitman
Our journey begins at 30th Street Station, with convenient connections to Septa, NJ Transit, Amtrak and Megabus. The walk ends in the tony main-street neighborhood of Chestnut Hill, where we shall meet for eats and libations, with two train stations available to carry us back to 30th Street. Easy gravel and paved terrain, with very few road crossings after one leaves Center City. Two snack bars with nearby bathrooms assist along the way.The half-marathon route is a shortest-distance trek along the Schuylkill and Wissahickon. The full route provides a broad and meandering treatment of all of the many highlights of sprawling Fairmount Park, along with visits to the places of debate and worship of our founding fathers, the site of the 1876 Centennial Exposition, the world's tallest masonry building, dozens of works of public art, and the nation's most pioneering and pedestrian-friendly cemetery, replete with graves of countless war heroes, inventors, tycoons and even local icons like Harry Kalas and Rocky's Adrian Balboa.
### MARATHON WALK Highlights
- University of Pennsylvania
- Schuylkill Banks Boardwalk
- Rittenhouse Square
- Washington Square
- Independence Hall
- Carpenters Hall
- Spruce Street Harbor Park
- Penns Landing
- Christ Church
- City Hall
- Logan Circle
- Ben Franklin Parkway
- Art Museum steps
- Fairmount Waterworks
- Boathouse Row
- Kelly Drive
- Memorial Hall
- Japanese House and Garden
- Belmont Plateau
- Strawberry Mansion Bridge
- Laurel Hill Cemetery
- Falls Bridge
- Wissahickon Creek
- Battle of Germantown
- Forbidden Drive
- Valley Green Inn
- Magarge Dam
- Covered bridge
- Chestnut Hill
### HALF-MARATHON Highlights
- Fairmount Waterworks
- Boathouse Row
- Kelly Drive
- Falls Bridge
- Wissahickon Creek
- Battle of Germantown
- Forbidden Drive
- Valley Green Inn
- Magarge Dam
- Covered bridge
- Chestnut Hill
Partners:
The East Coast Greenway Alliance is a non-profit organization developing a public multi-use 3,000 mile trail from Canada to Key West through New Jersey and New York. Donations and memberships help make this dream trail a reality.Circuit Trails is 800 miles of interconnected trails in Greater Philadelphia in the making, already one of America's largest trail networks. Once connected, the Circuit Trails will be one of the nation's premier urban trail networks and it will provide multiple benefits to neighborhoods, communities and the region as a whole.
More about FreeWalkers:
Our calendar of walks and hikes | About FreeWalkers | Walker stories | Walking tips
New Jersey walks | Pennsylvania walks | New York City walks19 attendees
Battle of Fort Washington 250th Anniversary March
Mitchel Park, Broadway & 168 St, In ft. of Columbia Pres. Hosp, New York, NY, USPlease register for FREE to attend.
Explore the northern stretches of Manhattan and witness the last major battle before the crossing of the Delaware.
Start: Mitchel Square, Broadway and 168th, NYC
Finish: Fort Tryon Park
Distance: 7mii
Where to find us: Near subway exit
Terrain: paved
Transit: 1 or A subway to 168th St
Return: 1 or A subway from Dyckman St
Difficulty: Beginner
Category: nature, history, urban
Coordinator: Charles Updike
Join us on an exploration of the historic locations connected to the Battle of Fort Washington, as we tell the story of how the battle unfolded and its historic context, before attending the battle reenactment and other public events in Fort Tryon Park. We expect to arrive in the park by 1pm in time for the reenactment. Events will continue there until 4pm.Highlights:
- Highbridge Park
- Fort Tryon Park
- Hudson River Greenway
- Morris House
- Bennett Park
Partners:
The East Coast Greenway Alliance is a non-profit organization developing a public multi-use 3,000 mile trail from Canada to Key West through New Jersey and New York. Donations and memberships help make this dream trail a reality.More about FreeWalkers:
Our calendar of walks and hikes | About FreeWalkers | Walker stories | Walking tips
New Jersey walks | Pennsylvania walks | New York City walks15 attendees
Schuylkill Banks Walk -- Philadelphia to Prospect Park
The Porch at 30th Street Station, 30th and Market Sts (northeast corner), Philadelphia, PA, USPlease register for FREE to attend.
Explore a colonial arboretum, gardens, an archaeology museum and a wildlife refuge on the lower Schuylkill.
Start: 30th Street Station, Phila
Finish: Prospect Park Station
Distance: 15mi
Return: train
Coordinator: Charles Updike
Transit: Amtrak, Megabus, NJTransit AC, SEPTA with connections to NJTransit
Optional endpoints:- Trolley from Bartams back to 30th St. (5mi)This walk includes an early visit to the Penn Musem for the Philly 250 celebration of the first peoples of North America, with a new Native American exhibit, with a great walk afterwards.
30th Street to Tinicum through the Schuylkill Banks, Bartram's Garden and John Heinz Wildlife Refuge, all along the East Coast Greenway. Return by train. An interesting exploration of nature tucked into a most industrial city segment. We will get to see the latest progress in connecting the East Coast Greenway through Philly.Highlights:
- Schuylkill Banks- Bartram's Garden- John Heinz Wildlife Refuge- Tinicum ParkPartners:
The East Coast Greenway Alliance is a non-profit organization developing a public multi-use 3,000 mile trail from Canada to Key West through New Jersey and New York. Donations and memberships help make this dream trail a reality.Circuit Trails is 800 miles of interconnected trails in Greater Philadelphia in the making, already one of America's largest trail networks. Once connected, the Circuit Trails will be one of the nation's premier urban trail networks and it will provide multiple benefits to neighborhoods, communities and the region as a whole.
More about FreeWalkers:
Our calendar of walks and hikes | About FreeWalkers | Walker stories | Walking tips
New Jersey walks | Pennsylvania walks | New York City walks34 attendees
Hike off Some Pie: Thanksgiving Gobble, Gobble 2026
South Mountain Dog Park, Bear Ln, Maplewood, NJ 07040, USA, Maplewood, NJ, USJoin us at the Dog Park for a hike to The Orange Reservoir and back - about 6 miles. We ask that you register here on Eventbrite so we can keep the list of attendees in one place. If there are any updates we will contact you through Eventbrite.
2 attendees
Past events
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