StepTrek Route: Black Route 2026

Follow paved road on left down to the staging area where you started.

Make a right past the end of the guard rail and descend these 72 serpentine steps, grouped together in sets of three, to top of S. 21st St.

Continue walking forward. A parking lot for the field is to your left. Stay close to the parking lot guard rail on your right. The Serpentine Steps are ahead. From here you can pick up the Gold/West Route. Please see map and directions.

Turn left and climb uphill to a plateau overlooking the garden and South Side. Follow the trail through the woods. You’ll cross a small bridge and see a couple of small cascades on your left if there has been a recent rain. Follow to Quarry Field & Saber Way.

Make right and descend 23 steps. Follow trail as it winds through the woods. Please pay attention to the signs. You will drop downhill and pass along the edge of a ravine to join the Tombstone Trail. Just before the parking lot for the Bandi Schaum Community garden, you will see the trail rising to your left.

From this expansive landing, you can take in the views of the park and the South Side. When ready, turn around and walk across the landing to join Bandi Schaum Trail, the first trail on right which descends a set of timbered steps.

The Brashear Association was founded in 1917 to honor the renowned, self-taught scientist John A. Brashear and celebrate his humanitarianism. The Henry Kaufmann Neighborhood House was constructed in 1965 as an outreach site. Brashear Association supports and enriches families in a community context to build more vital lives and neighborhoods in South Pittsburgh. The building also houses Arlington Community Center which offers recreational facilities.

Make left and descend past Patterson St. There are 8 steps built into the sidewalk.

Built in 1951, the steps connect to Mission St. below. Take in the view of the Mon River, downtown and the rooftops of South Side. When ready, descend 69 steps past Berg St. Steps to entrance to South Side Park

Prior to its current status as a nature preserve, the park was home to St. Clair Incline, one of 17 funiculars in Pittsburgh. It operated between 1888 through 1932 and counted four fatalities. In addition, the land housed the Sankey Brick Company, which provided the preferred construction of the South Side Flats. Since 2015, the Friends of South Side Park (FOSSP), a local nonprofit, has organized park cleanups, trail building, native habitat restoration and reforestation, with over 3,500 native trees and shrubs planted. Every July, FOSSP hosts Goat Fest, which helps raise funds for goats from Allegheny GoatScape to clear invasive plants from the park.