Philly Coal Piers

The Philadelphia Coal Piers are a fantastic visual experience with lots of urban decay, rust, interesting angles, crumbling concrete, and TONS of graffiti. The piers sit right on the water and are a popular spot for artists, photographers, filmmakers, explorers, and fishermen. While there, occasionally glance up to the ceiling... lots of cool stuff like rusty valves, pipes, and cables. You can go to the middle or end of the pier for great views of the river, maybe a boat or two, and Ben Franklin bridge.

Afterwards, optionally we can walk 1-2 miles to Penn Treaty Park, where you can sit on the boulders on the river with fantastic views of the old electric plant to the left, Ben Franklin Bridge to the right, and a cool river breeze.

Here are some pics of the piers. You can view more by Googling images for "Philadelphia Coal Piers":

http://photos4.meetupstatic.com/photos/member/1/1/a/5/highres_9664517.jpeg
http://photos3.meetupstatic.com/photos/member/1/8/e/highres_9900398.jpeg
http://www.flickr.com/photos/chattycathy7575/89090066/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/chattycathy7575/88444114/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/chattycathy7575/88445364/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/trinabauer/3480276455/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jaw0/2992738005/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/chattycathy7575/88308475/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/pshorten/3307517069/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/contrabass/4269860631/

SAFETY AND LEGAL ISSUES

The piers are publicly accessible. Wear good walking shoes as the ground and concrete may be uneven in some spots. Also when you get towards the water end, there are no guard rails and it's a 10 foot drop into the river. Underneath the pier there may be paint fumes if fresh graffiti was sprayed.

LOCATION

I've included a link to a map with the pier circled, as well as an area to park, as well as Penn Treaty Park if you want to check that out as well. The pier is in the Northern Liberties area. To find the general location on a map, search for E. Cumberland St., and find where it intersects with N. Beach St. The map is here: http://tinyurl.com/3abjobw

Here is a close-up aerial shot of the pier:
http://maps.live.com/default.aspx?v=2&cp=qnvtpc8r6fn1&style=o&lvl=1&tilt=-90&dir=0&alt=-1000&scene=7118887&encType=1
Park around the "L" shape of N. Beach St. and E. Cumberland St. From there, walk to the corner of that L, jump over the concrete barricade, and walk down about 1/4 mile. You can't miss the piers as you'll run right into them.

Before you go, I suggest that you do an aerial view on Google Maps so you don't get lost. Go to maps.google.com and type the following into the search bar: 39.973360, -75.116921 That's the latitude/longitude. Click the "Search Maps" button and it will center you on that location. Switch to satellite view by clicking the "Satellite" button on top right of map. Select the highest magnification (on left, below little orange man). On the map you can see 2 cars parked there; this is where we'll park. See the barricade at that corner? With your mouse, follow that trail to the right (keep scrolling), maybe 1000 feet? The first pier you come to is the Philly Coal Pier. If you can't find it, enter the following coordinates in Google Maps: 39.972990, -75.114464. When you find the pier on the map, zoom out so you can see the entire pier. Now grab the little orange man on the top left and hover him over the pier. You'll see several blue dots appear on the map. Hover the moving green circle over any of those dots and you'll see thumbnails of photos that people have taken at that exact location. Release the mouse button over the thumbnail to see a full-sized photo.