Friends of Turtle Park

Friends of Turtle Park was started in 2023 by neighbors who shared a mission to revitalize this corner park into a space that was clean and beautiful for all of us in the neighborhood to use. If you want to be a part of this exciting venture you can easily join Friends of Turtle Park using the link below.

https://forms.gle/fx7o4CZBvhpY6dug6

If you want to donate to our park fundraising efforts:

https://gofund.me/672028a1

Turtle Park, located at Smick and Fountain Streets, is a part of Hillside Recreation Center property. Neighbors have used this space over the years for many purposes . In recent years it had fallen into disrepair and was used mainly by dog owners as a convenient place to run their dogs. We formed this group in the fall of 2023 to bring this park back to a more vibrant life. We envisioned a place where neighbors could bring their young children to play, have picnics, rest on shady benches, gather for neighborhood events, walk on paths through the woods, and bring their dogs.

In the past year and a half we have made massive progress, restoring the play area to be usable, planting several pollinator gardens, removing invasive vines and planting new trees, clearing out the lower field to be a pollinator meadow, putting up solar lights, a new bench, two picnic tables, and providing a much needed trash can for waste. We continue to work on our park to keep it vibrant and beautiful with the support of neighbors, the Roxborough Manayunk Conservancy, Ridge Park Civic Association, and grant and local business support. We are also raising money to invest in replacement of the large Ginkgo trees with trees that will provide the same shade without the slippery berry fall of the Ginkgos.

Come by and check out our progress. We have certainly come a long way since 2023!