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| - Frick Park! Is there anything else I can say differently from the four previous reviews I have written? Except to say that it's my favorite place to go hiking. Frick Park is comprised of 561 acres, most of it woodland, and an additional 106 acres were annexed to the park as part of the Summerset at Frick Park housing development and restored the Nine Mile Run stream valley. Now Frick Park stretches from its northern borders in Point Breeze down to the Monongahela River. It's got possibly the most extensive trail system of any city park anywhere and it's trails run the gamut from wimpy to rugged.
I had originally intended to go hiking here with my girlfriends however I organized the hike as part of my employer's wellness program. We ended up having a decent turnout. As usual, we met at the Gatehouse at Reynolds Street. Not only is this an easy landmark to find with ample street parking, but by beginning at the far north end of the park, we were able to get a lot in. So we began on the Homewood Trail, past the Bowling Green. Frick Park, incidentally, is one of the few parks left with lawn bowling. Now this is an easy trail which skirts the upper edge of a ravine.
We took that down to the junction with the Tranquil Trail, eventually ducking under Forbes Avenue which crosses the park on a high bridge. We proceeded south until we linked up with the Braddock Trail. Here Susan, your hike leader, decided to throw a changeup into the plans. The Braddock Trail skirts the western perimeter of the park but to reach the edge, there's a climb up about 3-4 flights of stairs! So we passed the Clay Tennis Courts and again headed south. We could see the Tranquil Trail in the ravine beneath us. We took the stairs back down, again rejoining that trail at the Falls Ravine Shelter. We took a little break here before proceeding south.
At this point the Nine Mile Run Trail begins, so named for the watershed and the creek it follows. The Nine Mile Run Watershed has been undergoing a conservation effort http://www.yelp.com/biz/nine-mile-run-watershed-pittsburgh . The trail passes some parking lots and a soccer field, eventually ending up at Commercial Street. This was the southern boundary of Frick Park until a few years ago when 106 acres were annexed. We crossed Commercial Street then went under I-376 (Parkway East), which also crosses on a high bridge. This is a spot where you really get to see Pittsburgh's topography. You can stand well beneath the highway, which just to the west passes through Squirrel Hill Tunnel. And if you look to the west, you'll see an apartment building well above the highway.
Nine Mile Run Trail picks up on the other side of Commercial Street, but it's not well marked. We walked down it a little bit but really there isn't a lot to see. Google Maps shows the trail going all the way down to the Monongahela River and connecting with the Duck Hollow Trail. The official Frick Park map shows it dead-ending so we turned around and headed north on the Firelane Trail. Here some of the "less advanced" hikers decided to return back via the Nine Mile Run and Tranquil Trails (the easy way). Heh, heh--not Susan and the hardcore hikers.
No, we picked up the Firelane Extension Trail, which begins a very steep climb out of the Falls Ravine. Hiking the Firelane Extension Trail is like climbing a 1/4-mile long flight of stairs! Then we proceeded on the Lower Ravine Trail which also has some steep ups and downs. The trails in here are very rugged and very narrow. Heck, you could probably use a walking stick in thru here. Not only that, but this is a very isolated part of the park. I don't recommend hiking alone in through here because if something was to happen to you, it's possible no one would find you. So we came up to the junction of the Lower Riverview and thre Falls Ravine Trails and we pressed on up to the Frick Environmental Center. Now on a flat map it looks like it's a 1/4 mile walk, but there's still some serious ups and downs!
After a serious rest and snack break at the Enviromental Center, we returned to the Falls Ravine Trail and then back up the Tranquil Trail. When we returned to the Gatehouse, we knew those who stayed off the more challenging parts of Frick Park were long gone. Oh, but our heartrates were going and it felt good completing almost seven miles of hiking, much of it on hilly terrain.
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