Forbidden Drive

Many rough mill roads once ran through Wissahickon Valley, but as traffic increased in the early 1850s work began on a turnpike to ease travel between the mills and the city. In 1869 the turnpike became part of Fairmount Park and became Upper Wissahickon Drive, free to all who came to enjoy the valley’s beauty. With the coming of automobiles came years of debate over whether the drive should be a quiet park trail or a busy road. In 1899 the park commission banned automobiles along the drive, and although for nearly the next 30 years it received proposals to reopen it, the commission voted against them all, and this stretch of road has been called Forbidden Drive ever since. In 1964 the park became one of the first seven places to be honored as a National Natural Landmark.

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania · United States