Exploring Our Urban Watershed – River Days Event

Get to know the Schuylkill River from a brand new perspective!

In a program held outside the Fairmount Water Works, and on the water, participants will explore ways the native landscape and river waters served the Lenni Lenape people and continues to serve us today.

• Complete a scavenger hunt of native plants used today in the City’s green infrastructure projects.
• Imagining how the land may have looked when the Lenape occupied the land, create a mural of the landscape surrounding the Schuylkill River.
• Examine life in a drop of river water

Following lunch (bring your own), we will hike along the Schuylkill Trail (about 1 mile) to the Walnut Street Dock where we will get in kayaks and onto the water!

Kayak tours include instructions on how to kayak, so beginners are welcome!

Program Schedule:

• 10:30am – Meet at the Fairmount Waterworks Interpretive Center
• 11:30am – Break for Lunch (bring your own)
• 12:00pm – Leave the Water Works for Guided Walk on Schuylkill Banks
• 1:00pm – Meet at Walnut Street Dock for Kayaking
• 2:30pm – Return to Walnut Street Dock and head back to the Water Works

The environmental education program is supported in part by a grant from the Alliance for Watershed Education and DEP.

Learn more about Fairmount Water Works Interpretive Center.

Learn more about kayaking with Hidden River Outfitters.

Learn more about Schuylkill Banks.

Getting to the Fairmount Water Works Interpretive Center is easy!

• SEPTA Bus Routes that stop close to FWWIC are Routes 49, 43, 38 and 32.
• Ride your bike or an Indego bike – there is bike parking at Lloyd Hall and an Indego bike station at the base of the Art Museum steps.
• Parking is available in the two Art Museum parking lots.

This free program is geared towards families with older children. Minimum age is 12. (This program is not for children under 12 years of age.)

Program administrators and participants will follow the City of Philadelphia’s health and safety guidelines for in-person gatherings, which includes small group size, social distancing, and wearing masks. Participants will be asked to complete a short questionnaire about recent exposure to COVID-19 and travel the morning of the program. Space is limited; therefore registration is required. All participants must sign a kayak waiver. Anyone under the age of 18 must also have a parent or guardian sign their kayak waiver. Download the kayak waiver here.