Turn right. The course takes you along the crest of a knoll, with yards sloping down on either side. You will pass the Cobden Street Basketball Court on your right. Continue past Sumner St. to Northview St.
StepTrek Route: Black Route 2023
Black/East Route 2023
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Cologne St. Steps
Climb 61 steps on left side to Berg St. Ascend an additional 41 steps to Cobden St.
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Cologne St.
Take left and walk one block to Patterson St. and Cologne St. steps. Though SSSNA lobbies to repair and restore badly damaged steps, the city removed 25 deteriorated steps in 2014 between Salisbury and Patterson streets. You can help repair and retain city steps by utilizing the City of Pittsburgh’s 311 system.
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Clover St. Steps
Just after 2439 Arlington Ave., turn left and descend 50 steps to Eccles St. and another 49 steps to Salisbury St.
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Arlington Ave.
Take left. Arlington Ave. runs along the tops of South Side Slopes and marks the division between it and Mt. Oliver. At Eleanor St. is Hilltop Coffee where you’ll find a water stop and restroom. Just past 2405 Arlington is Old Arlington Avenue Streetcar Loop. You can see where tracks entered the lot and turned trolleys around. On the side of 2505 Arlington is a colorful mural depicting the former transit loop. When ready, continue to Clover St. Steps.
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* Arlington Ballfield & Spray Park
For all its steepness, there are play and ball fields throughout the Slopes. This ballfield regularly hosts baseball and softball games under the lights which can be seen from the South Side Flats and Oakland. Take in views of downtown’s tallest buildings and Oakland’s medical complex. The Spray Park opened in 2018. Replacing a deteriorated city pool, the spray functions are many and varied. A children’s playground, rebuilt in 2021, completes the park.
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* Fort Laughlin, aka Fort McKinley or Fort Ormsby
The fort was a circular redoubt located on “Ormsby’s Hill,” bounded by Fernleaf, Salisbury, Sterling, and Fort Hill Streets. It was one of two forts built in Arlington-Arlington Heights during the Civil War as a defense against the Confederate raider Morgan, who, it was feared, would come up the Monongahela from West Virginia. The first, Fort McKinley, was made of mud, its breastworks still standing up to 1925. Its grounds were purchased for a playground in 1914.
