"The biggest challenge to that system is in too many cases it doesn't connect, so if you go to one part, you're locked in," State Representative Mike Schlossberg told WFMZ in August. He was talking about Allentown's parks. In the West End, the place where you get locked in has an address.
Trexler Park lies on one side of Cedar Crest Boulevard. On the other side are Cedar Beach, the Malcolm Gross Memorial Rose Garden and Cedar Creek Parkway. On a map they look like one green corridor. On foot they are two separate outings. State Sen. Nick Miller called the stretch "a critical gap of folks trying to cross from Trexler Park intersection all the way through Cedar Beach."
That gap shapes this fall on both sides. The city's recently finished work, its fall event weekends and the new trail money all fall on one side of it or the other. To plan an October walk, start with the side you're on.
The Trexler side runs on its own loop
Trexler Park works as a closed circuit. The Wildlands Conservancy describes its main recreation track as a 1.2-mile loop. An optional uphill-and-back spur makes it 2.5 miles round trip, and the route passes a pond, a creek and plantings that include asters. AllTrails lists the Main Trexler Park Loop at 1.3 miles, fully paved, with the Springwood Building and the General Trexler Springhouse as landmarks along the way. The city's own facility listing covers both counts, giving 1.2 to 2.5 miles of walking trails, and marks the park open.
The main change on this side this fall is at the General Harry Clay Trexler statue, which Google Maps places at 451 Springhouse Road. The city's capital-projects page lists the Trexler Monument as under construction throughout 2026. The piers and wall are done, and the surface stonework is scheduled to be finished by fall 2026. The city hasn't posted a completion announcement, so the finished stonework may show up on a walk this season. Until the city says otherwise, it counts as scheduled, not done.
If you set out from the Trexler side, the park is complete on its own terms. You can loop, add the hill, pass the Springhouse and head home without reaching the boulevard.
The Cedar Creek side is where the finished work is
Across Cedar Crest Boulevard the parks run together in a way Trexler and its neighbors don't. The city's parks brochure puts Cedar Beach at 101 N. Ott St., Cedar Creek Parkway east of Ott Street and Parkway Boulevard, and the Rose Garden at 2800 Parkway Boulevard. The city manages all three as one facility, and that listing gives 0.5 to 1.3 miles of walking trails. The same brochure lists the Cedar Beach Pool, the Destination Playground, courts, Parkway pavilions with LifeTrail stations, reflective ponds, gazebos and sculptures.
The Rose Garden is where the city recently finished a multi-year project. The capital-projects page lists these improvements as completed in 2026:
- Major repairs to the stone stairs
- A new metal gateway sign
- Roof repairs on the gazebos
- Two new pavilions in Rose Garden Grove
The same entry notes that the park won "Best Park in the Valley" that year.
Timing matters here. The city's brochure says the roses typically peak in June, July and August. An October visit won't catch the bloom. It will show the rebuilt stairs, the gateway and the new Grove pavilions without the summer crowds that come for the flowers. Fall is the first season you can see the repaired grounds in their own right.
The weekends this side is already booked
The Cedar Creek side also carries almost all of the city's fall event dates in the West End park chain. That's useful to know before planning a Saturday or Sunday walk there. The City of Allentown's special-events calendar lists:
| Date | Event | Location | Start |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sunday, Oct. 4, 2026 | Collegiate Marching Band Festival | Cedar Beach Park | 8 a.m. |
| Sunday, Oct. 11, 2026 | Harvest 5K | Cedar Beach | 7 a.m. |
| Saturday, Nov. 7, 2026 | Marching Band Championships | Cedar Creek Parkway | 8 a.m. |
None of the three is at Trexler. On those mornings the two sides of the boulevard offer very different outings. A quiet walk is easier to find on the Trexler loop, while Cedar Beach and the Parkway have a race or a band field on the calendar. The rest of the fall calendar leaves the Rose Garden side open.
What the $545,750 is meant to fix
Everything above describes two parks that work well apart. The state grant is what would connect them.
On Aug. 18, Schlossberg and Miller announced that the state had awarded $545,750 to connect Trexler Park and Cedar Creek Park at Cedar Crest Boulevard. The money comes from the Pennsylvania Multimodal Transportation Fund, which funds highway, bridge, aviation, port, bike and pedestrian projects. The Morning Call reported that Gov. Josh Shapiro announced 50 projects in 27 counties that round, sharing a combined $54 million, and the West End connector was one of them.
The connector belongs to a bigger plan. The Morning Call's coverage explains that Allentown approved the final version of its Citywide Bike Plan in 2025. That network would link several city parks with an 8-mile trail for the first time, and a later project would tie it to the Delaware and Lehigh Heritage Trail, which follows the Lehigh River and runs from Philadelphia to Scranton. The Cedar Beach to Trexler link was named a short-term priority because it joins off-road bike paths that are already well established.
"Connecting Trexler Park and the Rose Garden/Cedar Beach area closes a critical gap in the MLK Trail network and moves us closer to creating a continuous, connected trail system across Allentown," Miller said.
Two things aren't public yet. The announcement and the news coverage give no construction start date, no completion date and no design details for the crossing. The money is committed, and the timeline is still open. This fall's walks will be planned around the gap as it is today.
Planning a fall outing around the gap
Until the connector exists, the practical approach is to pick a side and plan the outing around it, with a stop for food on the way.
- A Trexler morning. Walk the main loop, 1.2 to 1.3 miles depending on the source. Add the uphill spur for the 2.5-mile version, and stop at the General Trexler Springhouse and the monument grounds to check on the stonework. Nowhere Coffee Co. at 3127 Tilghman St. lists hours of 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. on weekdays and 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on weekends, and it serves coffee, bagels, pastries and baked goods.
- A Rose Garden afternoon. Start at Cedar Beach on North Ott Street and follow the Parkway toward 2800 Parkway Boulevard. Take the repaired stone stairs, pass under the new gateway sign and end at the Rose Garden Grove pavilions. Check the calendar first so you don't land on Oct. 4, Oct. 11 or Nov. 7. For a sit-down meal afterward, Grille 3501 at 3501 Broadway lists lunch and dinner hours Monday through Saturday.
Both businesses post current hours on their own websites, but neither page carries a date, so confirm hours before you go.
Later in the season, attention moves to the Lehigh Parkway. The 30th anniversary of Lights in the Parkway runs nightly from Nov. 27, 2026, through Jan. 6, 2027, from 5:30 to 10 p.m. It closes on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Year's Eve and New Year's Day. Tickets are $16 per vehicle, cover up to eight passengers and must be bought online in advance, and proceeds go to Allentown-based nonprofits.
If the progress of the Trexler and Cedar Creek connector affects your plans for your house or your next one, The Cliff Lewis Experience follows West End projects like this closely and can help you sort out what a new trail link could mean for your street. Contact Us when you want to talk it through.
