Lehigh Parkway in late fall: where to park and what to walk

The first time somebody told me to "meet at the Parkway," I drove to the wrong end. Lehigh Parkway runs for miles along the Little Lehigh Creek on Allentown's south side, and it has a handful of parking lots that all feel like the right one until you're standing in the wrong one texting "where are you." This time of year that's a good problem to have. Every one of those lots drops you onto the same creek, under the same turning trees, and there isn't really a bad place to start. Here's how I'd walk Lehigh Parkway over the next couple of weeks.

The creek is the whole idea

Lehigh Parkway is basically a long green ribbon wrapped around the Little Lehigh Creek. The main path, which THE LINK trail network lists at 6.5 miles, is a 10-foot-wide crushed-stone path with some paved stretches, and it crosses the water on several bridges. That's what makes the Parkway so easy to use. You can walk out on one bank and come back on the other, and the loop can be as long or as short as your legs feel like that day. Runners, dog walkers, fly fishermen and strollers all share it.

The path is open dawn to dusk, and there's no lighting anywhere along it. Keep that in mind this weekend, because the clocks fall back this Sunday, Nov 1. Dark is about to show up an hour earlier than you're used to, and down in the creek valley it shows up fast.

Where to park

THE LINK lists six access points along Lehigh Parkway. Starting from the end closest to the city, they're Lehigh Parkway North, Robin Hood Bridge, Klein's Bridge, Bogert's Covered Bridge, Fireman's Bridge, and the Lil-Le-Hi Trout Nursery out on Fish Hatchery Road. Robin Hood Bridge, Klein's Bridge and the Bogert's lot have restrooms, according to THE LINK, and Klein's Bridge is where the Lehigh Valley Road Runners have their building. Fireman's Bridge is the fly-fishing-only stretch, next to the Little Lehigh Fly Shop.

If you want the quieter, woodsier end of the Parkway, start at the trout nursery at 2901 Fish Hatchery Road and walk downstream. If you'd rather be closer to the city with a real lot and a bathroom nearby, start at Robin Hood Bridge and walk upstream. Either way, you meet in the middle at Bogert's.

Bogert's Bridge is wrapped up for now

The postcard shot of Lehigh Parkway is Bogert's Covered Bridge. It was built in 1841, it's the oldest covered bridge in Lehigh County, and it's a Burr truss, a design named for the Connecticut bridge builder Theodore Burr. It's been open to people on foot and on bikes only, and Discover Lehigh Valley starts its whole covered bridge driving tour there.

This fall, though, Bogert's is closed. The City of Allentown started a major rehabilitation on Sept 15, 2025. In July the city said crews had found worse wood deterioration than expected and were waiting on custom timbers, and that while it was still aiming to reopen this year, "the closure may extend into early 2027." WFMZ reported Sept 3 that work had resumed and new timbers were going in. The city's capital projects page still lists completion as late 2026, with a note that all its dates are estimates. I couldn't find a reopening date, so don't count on walking through it this fall. Plan your loop around it, and check for a city update before you promise anybody a stroll through the covered bridge.

Trexler's hatchery and the WPA's stone

The trout nursery end is also where the Parkway's story starts. Gen. Harry C. Trexler, the Allentown industrialist and philanthropist, headed the city's planning commission and wanted a park along the Little Lehigh. The city bought creek land in 1928, and Trexler gave about 30 acres of his own, land that came from his trout hatchery, to get Lehigh Parkway going.

That hatchery ground is now the Lil-Le-Hi Trout Nursery, a city facility with signs for a self-guided tour, its own 2.2 miles of walking trails, and a vending machine that sells fish food. If you've got kids with you, this is the stop. Watching trout lose their minds over a handful of pellets never gets old, at any age. The Museum of Indian Culture sits just down the road at 2825 Fish Hatchery Road, so check its hours if you want to add it on.

A lot of what you're walking on was built during the Depression. Crews from the federal Works Progress Administration did most of the Parkway's construction between 1936 and 1940. WFMZ's History's Headlines column adds a couple of details I love. Stone left behind by failed attempts to run a railroad over the Little Lehigh in the 1800s went into many of the park's 1930s stone structures. And after Trexler died in 1933, Mayor Malcolm Gross kept the project going with federal money, while critics at the time called it "Gross's Folly." Nobody jogging past those stone walls on a Saturday morning calls it that anymore.

The leaves, and the light

The state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources' latest fall foliage report, dated Oct 22, covering Oct 22 to 28, lists Lehigh County as "Approaching Peak" and Northampton County as "Peak." Foresters for our district said they're seeing fall color throughout the entire district. DCNR puts out a new report each week, so check the latest one before you go. A creek valley full of trees on the edge of peak is about as good as a free afternoon gets around here.

Then the Parkway changes jobs for the holidays. Lights in the Parkway, the drive-through holiday light show, is listed by Discover Lehigh Valley to start Nov 27, and THE LINK lists it as a seasonal feature at the Bogert's lot. Once that's up, the Parkway at night belongs to the cars and the lights.

How I'd do it

Park at the trout nursery on Fish Hatchery Road, feed the trout, then walk downstream along the Little Lehigh toward Fireman's Bridge and Bogert's. Cross the creek where the path lets you and loop back on the other bank. Go in the early afternoon so you're back at the car with daylight to spare, since there are no lights on the path. Bring a layer, because it always feels colder down by the water than it does in your driveway.

And save the covered bridge for later. Bogert's has been standing over the Little Lehigh since 1841, so it can wait a little longer for us.