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ki0eh
11-16-2009, 10:09
Our family often moves our hiking to the big cities for a weekend or maybe long weekend when hunters and icy glop in their turn envelop the hills of central PA. Often we'll take the train, sometimes drive and just leave the car in a hotel parking garage for days, and just walk and take the subway/light rail/bus for some mixed cultural and culinary influences with our exercise.

We've taken trips like this to Montreal, Boston, NYC, Philadelphia, Baltimore, DC, and Pittsburgh.

Does anyone else do things like this? We wouldn't mind some ideas, for the above or for other cities. We have a 6 yo who goes with us, which may affect the usefulness of some recommendations. :)

sbhikes
11-16-2009, 11:05
In my town we have a neighborhood with a lot of secret staircases hidden between properties. It makes an awesome urban hike. Apparently Los Angeles has a similar neighborhood, but I don't remember the name. You can make a huge 8 mile or something like that loop out of the secret stairways in LA.

I walked the length of Central Park and back the first time I visited New York City. In fact, with the exception of peering into a few famous stores, seeing the big hole in the ground and trying an Italian ice, walking in Central Park was the only thing I did on that visit.

Cookerhiker
11-16-2009, 11:19
Sounds like a nice time. Having lived outside Washington DC for 35 years and working downtown for most of those years, I still never tire of walking around even though I've been gone nearly 3 years now. Some DC walking suggestions:


Georgetown
Capitol Hill
Along the Potomac from Georgetown to the Arlington Bridge, across to the Mt. Vernon
Theodore Roosevelt Island
Old Town Alexandria
Adams Morgan
Rock Creek Park
Connecticut Ave from DuPont Circle up to the Zoo

Manwich
11-16-2009, 11:28
seeing the big hole in the ground

World Trade Center?

I can't understand why tourists crowd up that area. It's a construction site. Wait for the memorial, people!

bronconite
11-16-2009, 15:57
Multiple times, during the summer months, on the first Saturday of the month, I parked my Mustang in a field of cars at the east end of Hummelstown, walked a short distance, and dined at the Soda Jerk. Does that count?:D

ki0eh
11-16-2009, 16:31
We've had kids hikes for SATC around a number of communities including Harrisburg and Duncannon. Had to scrub the Hummelstown scarecrow hike because the store with the only semi-public restroom in the center of town closed. That's one problem with urban "hikes" for sure, squatting by street trees usually is uncool. :D

Newb
11-16-2009, 16:47
Here in Alexandria/Fairfax county we have the awesome Cross County Trail.
with lots of attached loops:

http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/parks/cct/

Yahtzee
11-16-2009, 17:04
World Trade Center?

I can't understand why tourists crowd up that area. It's a construction site. Wait for the memorial, people!

If we wait for the memorial, only our grandchildren will get to see it. Truth told, it is a hole in the ground. However, there is a very long hallway on the northern side of the site that houses a collection of desk drawers. It is staggering. Hard to explain why, but being in the presence of hundreds, if not thousands, of desk drawers really brings to light how much was lost that day.

YoungMoose
11-16-2009, 18:06
World Trade Center?

I can't understand why tourists crowd up that area. It's a construction site. Wait for the memorial, people!
i think its becuase they never saw a Huge hole in their hometown:D

TD55
11-16-2009, 18:13
World Trade Center?

I can't understand why tourists crowd up that area. It's a construction site. Wait for the memorial, people!

It's kind of hard to miss if you are taking the Ferry to The Statue of Liberty.

TD55
11-16-2009, 18:18
San Francisco has to be one of the best places for "urban hiking". Easy to get to wooded trails of all types with the best public transportation system in the country too.

ki0eh
11-16-2009, 18:31
One time in Portland OR for a conference I rode the metro out to a park where I could ride the elevator up the hill then trails and streets back downhill to the convention hotel.

Once in Johnstown I rode the incline up and hiked down. Used to be able to ride out from Harrisburg on the train as far as Johnstown to piddle around a while and ride back the same day, but Amtrak cut out a train so now can't do that.

rickb
11-17-2009, 08:01
Don't know it as a walker, but you might consider Ottowa.

sbhikes
11-17-2009, 11:00
The hole in the ground was interesting. It was interesting to see the damage to the area. My boyfriend's brother had been inside one of the buildings. He got out.

I agree San Francisco is good for walking. Lots of hills.

A good urban hike is to put your laundry in your backpack and hike to the laundromat. Or hike to the grocery store. Careful how many watermelons and turkeys you buy.

paradoxb3
11-17-2009, 11:45
I wouldnt exactly call where I live "urban" however I frequently take a walk around town or down some country roads either with or without a backpack just for the sake of exercise and trying to keep somewhat close to trail-shape for my 2010 thru. I do this because its close to home and I can get more miles in than if i had to drive up to the mountains for the day.

Its funny when carrying a backpack... I've been offered rides and "help" many times, to which I reply "thanks, but that wouldnt be very good exercise." Then the people get embarrassed, as I suppose they just assumed I was homeless or something. I've always been a good sport about it though. The only times i've actually been bothered was the two times that police officers pulled up and questioned me about what i was doing. In both cases I'm pretty sure some paranoid old window-watcher called to report a "suspicious person." One of the times TWO patrol cars arrived "on the scene." I simply explained to them i lived a couple miles down the road, was just out exercising, and whoever called them needed to get a hobby or something. They didnt hassle me much, and I know they were just following protocol and checking out a report, but that really irritates me that people are that crazy these days that the simple act of walking past someones driveway would prompt them to call 911.

sbhikes
11-17-2009, 23:25
You could put a sign on your back that says "Ride Not Needed, Training for the Appalachian Trail" or something like that.

The Weasel
11-18-2009, 00:05
I'm kind of missing the point here. Going to a city, walking around, taking the bus or tram or subway or light rail, seeing some sights, ummmmm....I never really thought of that as "urban hiking." We always called it, "being a tourist in a city." It's fun, sure, but it's not really "hiking", is it? Wouldn't your post be more in keeping with a "how to visit a city by walking" site rather than one about hiking on trails that are in more of a natural state?

TW

Snowleopard
11-18-2009, 00:43
I used to lead hikes through the woods in Worcester, MA. There are a number of nice trails. Green Hill Park is great. When I lived in Boston' Jamaica Plain I would walk and xc ski in the Arnold Arboretum. I learned there that skiing down stairs can be interesting.

ki0eh
11-18-2009, 17:39
I'm kind of missing the point here. Going to a city, walking around, taking the bus or tram or subway or light rail, seeing some sights, ummmmm....I never really thought of that as "urban hiking." We always called it, "being a tourist in a city." It's fun, sure, but it's not really "hiking", is it? Wouldn't your post be more in keeping with a "how to visit a city by walking" site rather than one about hiking on trails that are in more of a natural state?


I've used this functional definition of hiking, from http://www.satc-hike.org/paoutdoors.html


Hiking is a human’s most direct experience with our Earth. If people walk strictly for exercise they might walk around the track, the block, or maybe the neighborhood park. Hikers differ from walkers because they want the different sense of place, a momentary change and alteration in their senses through experiencing a different place.

For those for whom hiking is only in the green tunnel, anything involving a city wouldn't be hiking. Neither would a thru-hike of the ADT, for that matter, since that necessarily involves travel on non-natural surfaces. I suppose what I'm looking for would be suggestions beyond the "point A to point B" mentality - it's not like going to the closest subway stop to each museum, that would be simply walking for transportation rather than the walk being a major component of the destination experience. It's not a long distance hike, and not really on the A.T., hence the non-standard use of quotation marks for distinction.

I realize the point may be elusive, but I think Cookerhiker's post #3 (to name one) gets it. :D

Thanks to all! If anyone likes, keep the thoughts coming...

Monkeyboy
11-19-2009, 15:12
I'm kind of missing the point here.

Exactly...........

kanga
11-19-2009, 15:17
I'm kind of missing the point here. Going to a city, walking around, taking the bus or tram or subway or light rail, seeing some sights, ummmmm....I never really thought of that as "urban hiking." We always called it, "being a tourist in a city." It's fun, sure, but it's not really "hiking", is it? Wouldn't your post be more in keeping with a "how to visit a city by walking" site rather than one about hiking on trails that are in more of a natural state?

TW

–noun 6. a long walk or march for recreational activity, military training, or the like. 7. an increase or rise, often sharp and unexpected: a hike in wages.
—Idiom 8. take a hike, Slang. to go away because one's company is not desired.

Tin Man
11-19-2009, 15:47
.
—Idiom 8. take a hike, Slang. to go away because one's company is not desired.

some posters ARE walking away from something else me thinks :-?

TD55
11-19-2009, 16:11
HYOH. The toothpaste is already out of the tube on this one. Folks who hike a certain way don't get to decide that other folks who hike a different way can or can not be defined as hikers or hiking. Certainly not when the different way meets an accepted dictionary definition. With that being said, one must remember that this is Whiteblaze and we don't need no stinking dictionary definitions!

Dogwood
11-19-2009, 17:02
I don't really know how we are all defining "urban hiking", but for me a stroll down Fifth Ave in downtown Manhattan doesn't quite jive with my idea of hiiking. I suppose if I did that with a backpack I probably would be pegged as a student, homeless person, or a messenger boy. Wouldn't be surprised if law enforcement gave me a double take either. But, that may just be me.

The most memorable in large city or near large city hikes I can recall are in or near San Fran, Portland OR, Seattle, Phoenix, and Denver. Lots more on the eastcoast near Asheville, in and around Washington DC, several places in Maryland, Manhattan, etc. One of the recent issues of Backpacker had an article on lots of great urban hiking treks.

TD55
11-19-2009, 17:35
Maybe it's just a state of mind. Some members here like to say that hiking the AT is "just walking". Now it looks like some think that "just walking" may not be hiking. Does it make any difference? When you pack a day pack with food, change of clothing and the things you may need for a 12 to 16 hour period over a 8 to 12 mile walk or hike, it's easy to feel like you are hiking.

Dogwood
11-19-2009, 17:57
I agree TD55 how one defines hiking or walking or whether they think those are the same is more of a matter of anal semantics. This thread doesn't need to go into that debate.

To clarify, I made my comments because I was trying to feel for what direction the OP was heading when they sought recommendations for urban hikes. Were they seking urban hikes/treks that focused mainly on cultural, architectural, historical, and more manmade sites while hiking on concrete and asphalt or were they seeking more natural forested parlk-like maybe on the fringe of the city type hikes or more natural hikes going through the city?

ki0eh
11-19-2009, 19:50
To clarify, I made my comments because I was trying to feel for what direction the OP was heading when they sought recommendations for urban hikes. Were they seking urban hikes/treks that focused mainly on cultural, architectural, historical, and more manmade sites while hiking on concrete and asphalt or were they seeking more natural forested parlk-like maybe on the fringe of the city type hikes or more natural hikes going through the city?

Yes. :D

Let's say a combination. Such as a hike I once led in Ithaca, NY where we started on the end of a dirt road onto the Cayuga Trail and wound up on paths on the Cornell campus in the Fall Creek Gorge then walked over a few blocks and up the stone steps in Cascadilla Gorge to emerge near the Cornell Dairy Store. Except that hike was a car shuttle, and I was thinking more of atransit shuttle as part of getting away from the car.

Dogwood
11-19-2009, 20:09
I Got you. Thanks for carifying kiOeh. Somehow, I thought that was what you were going to say.

I've done treks like that in Manhattan that included: 1) going through Cental Park, the Guggenheim, and taking in a broadway show!, 2) in San Fran trekking through Golden Gate Park, through the Strybling Botanical Gardens, including the conservatory, playing frisbee along the way, and wind up camping in Reyes Nat Seashore overlooking the Pacific Ocean!, and 3) start a trek inside the Japanese Gardens(one of the best authentic Japanese Gardens in the U.S.), hikiing through the Rose Garden, down through some winding alleys, woodland paths, and side streets, taking in some sculpture and architecture along the way, and finish up at a Sushi restaurant in downtown Portland OR!

Tin Man
11-19-2009, 20:28
I am planning a hike tomorrow night. Taking the office trail, downstairs to the bar trail, across the kitchen trail, to the grill trail, yo-yo the kitchen-bar-grill trail a few times, rest for dinner on the kitchen trail, proceed to the bar trail, then down to the family room trail to relax in front of the tv-fire. :cool:

Dogwood
11-19-2009, 21:36
LOL! Tin Man. That's the way to lighten it up.

Lellers
11-19-2009, 22:08
I run the Trail Dames Delaware Valley Chapter, and we do several "urban" hikes in and around Philly throughout the year. Here are some suggestions:

Center City and along the Schuylkill River. You can start downtown near Suburban Station/City Hall (public transit hub). Walk out the Ben Franklin Parkway toward the Art Museum. You can do the totally tourist thing and run up the "Rocky" steps, then hike along the river on the paved paths by Kelly Drive to the Falls Bridge. It's a good long hike if you do the entire loop by crossing the bridge and returning along the West River Drive. While the "trail" is totally paved, this is a nice greenway within the city limits.

Laurel Hill Cemetery. Just a totally interesting and cool spot along the Kelly Drive. Lots of interesting and beautiful Victorian cemetery art with great view of the river.

John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge. Basically, this is directly across I-95 from the Philly Airport. The traffic sounds get loud when you're near the road, but it's a nice hike around the tidal pools. Lots of fish and birds to see.

Wissahickon Gorge/Forbidden Drive. The place is full of trails. You can stay on the carriage path, which is crowded with people, but the trails are really nice. Devil's Pool, the Indian statue and the covered bridge are great spots. There are some geocaches hidden in the area, too. Nice restaurants nearby, and the Valley Green Inn is directly on the Forbidden Drive. I like this place, but I don't hike back there alone. There have been some major crime issues; assaults on women who were alone.

If you want to go out a bit further, Valley Forge National Historical Park has nice trails through the woods, as well as paved paths that pass through the encampment areas.

Delaware Canal State Park. Well north of the city, but pretty walking along the river. There are even camping options.

Most of these are also great spots for cycling.