u/a-german-muffin

I was running past Olney Rec this morning and saw they're about done with the rebuild out there (including a new track!), and I figured it was worth trying to nail down all the tracks and things that at least vaguely resemble tracks in the city.

Publicly accessible standard 400-meter tracks:

• Temple at Broad and Master - hours vary, but it's usually fine in the early morning and some evenings; it's the most accessible track in Center City and can be busy at times
• Temple's fake track around the rec center at 15th and Montgomery (there's a hill the southeast corner, lol)
• Franklin Field at 33rd and South, frequently accessible via the southeast corner, technically only open to the Penn community but generally no one cares
• The track at Marcus Foster Memorial Stadium at 16th and Hunting Park; enter off Germantown Avenue (gate by the shot put)
• LaSalle's track at 20th and Olney
• Germantown Friends and Penn Charter off Midvale (although there are reports lately of security kicking people off the GF track)
• St. Joe's track at Sweeney Field off Overbrook (generally available when college teams aren’t using the field)
• Roxborough High's track at Pechin and Hermitage
• The South Philly Super Site track at 10th and Bigler (this one has really weird availability and tends to be unreliable, although allegedly open at 6 a.m. in the winter/summer and 9:30 a.m. in the spring/fall)
• Germantown Super Site at Sedgwick and Lowber (access via the gate on Sedgwick)
• Bartram Field at 58th and Grays (allegedly open at 8 a.m. when it’s open)
• Edison High at 2nd and Hunting Park (generally outside school hours)
• Olney Rec at Front and Godfrey (brand-new in 2026!)
• Springside Chestnut Hill at Willow Grove and St. Martin’s
• Lincoln High off Rowland
• Northeast High off Summerdale
• Father Judge off Solly
• Benjamin Rush High off Knights

There are also a bunch of weird/disused/funky tracks:

• Hunting Park in the park (narrow turns, long straightaways, concrete surface, but a legit 400)
• Frankford Stadium at Rutland and Dyre (gravel, barely maintained, ~350 meters, usually one gate on Dyre is open)
• PCOM's field off Monument Road (mostly gravel, weird shape, floods in one turn after heavy rain, somewhat long – like 450+ meters)
• Reyburn Park at 21st/Lehigh (asphalt tri-oval, maybe 300 meters)
• Overbrook School for the Blind at 61st and Malvern (concrete, legit 400)
• Mariana Bracetti Academy Charter School at Hunting Park and Torresdale (squished oval, ~350 meters, gravel)
• Prep Charter at 24th and McKean (legit surface, but maybe 150 meters)
• MLK High at Walnut and Stenton (legit gravel 400, but unmaintained, in rough shape)
• The roof of the parking garage at 17th and Callowhill (may require a keycard, fairly sure it’s just painted concrete)
• Olney High at Front and Ashdale (gravel, in OK shape)
• McCreesh Playground at 66th and Regent (asphalt, more like a path, but a legit 400)
• Sayre High/Sayre Rec at 59th and Locust (really just a turf field people use a quasi-track)
• Haddington Rec at 57th and Vine (200ish meters)
• Widener Memorial at Broad and Somerville has a 400-meter gravel track and a ~200-meter regular surface track; access is pretty limited for both
• Cobbs Creek Rec at 63rd and Spruce (gravel, unmaintained, egg-shaped)
• Central Green (marked) and League Island Park (concrete) in the Navy Yard
• The secret abandoned track in the woods north of the old landing strip in the Navy Yard; basically inaccessible except in winter (Tick Central in summer), and even then you’re hacking your way in

And then at least one that's currently no public access:

• Girard College at Corinthian and Girard