StepTrek Route: Black Route 2026

Cross Mission and climb five steps to high sidewalk on uphill side of street. Make right. Ahead lies the scenic St. Josaphat’s Chapel and the spectacular view that takes in Mt. Washington, the Liberty, Fort Pitt and West End Bridges, the roofs of the South Side and the City beyond the Monongahela River. A bench was installed through the efforts of a neighbor. Feel free to sit and take in the view! Keep left and descend the 80 steps to Barry St. These 4-foot wide steps were built in 1950.

Turn right and ascend these steps, built in 1928. The Oakley St. Steps mosaic was completed in 2016. The first of its kind in Pittsburgh, the installation was designed by artist Laura Jean McLaughlin, who led a group of 100 community volunteers in assembling the tiny mosaics on mesh. The finished panels cover 200 square feet and were mortared and grouted onto 77 of the 98 risers to McCord St. The project was community-designed, funded and created. Notice the foundations of long gone houses on the left as you climb over the mosaic. Cross McCord St. and climb another 63 steps to Shelley St. Take a break. You’ve just climbed the equivalent of 12 floors.

Each fall, Pittsburgh hosts a 50-mile bike race that goes up 13 of its steepest hills. Barry St. is the start of one that rises through the South Side Slopes via Eleanor St. The event this year is Sat., Oct. 24.

At the bottom of Barry, turn right. Walk east along Josephine for 50 feet to the Oakley Way Steps on the right, which are opposite S. 27th St.

On the left are three of eight townhouses built in 2003 by the South Side Local Development Company in cooperation with the SSSNA. The new homes had to be shoe-horned into the hillside between existing homes. Continue walking Up Oakley Way.

Climb 22 steps to Stella St. and then 98 steps to Mission St.

Turn left, and keeping to the left side, descend 25 steps to McCord St. The next 49 steps on Barry were completely rebuilt this past summer. The Slopes and other neighborhoods depend on the city to both maintain and rebuild public stairs as needed. At the bottom of Barry is a shale cliff on the right where two caves were used by a distributor for beer storage. Cinder blocks seal the entrances, but the brick arches can still be seen.

Located at the eastern terminus of Leticoe St., these 3-ft. wide wooden steps were rebuilt by the City of Pittsburgh in the summer of 2021. There are 69 steps. At the top is Barry St.

Make left and stay right as you descend 5 steps behind the church. Stay right and descend 23 steps past Eleanor St. Steps to rejoin Leticoe. Continue up Leticoe. In the 2500 block, just past the crest of the hill, look left to the houses tucked behind houses. Close quarters! Continue to Kosciusko Way, named for one of the Polish generals who assisted America in its War for Independence.

Dedicated in 1916 to serve a Polish parish established in 1901, the Roman Catholic Church was named for St. Josaphat (Josephat Kuntsevych), a bishop and martyr born in Poland in 1580. The building is Romanesque with a Byzantium influence evident in the arches, pillars and bell tower. The main altar held relics of St. Josaphat. In the rear, beneath the choir balcony, hung a picture of the Black Madonna. The church closed permanently after a section of ceiling collapsed about the casket of the last caretaker during his funeral mass. The school was converted into four living units. The church itself is being transformed into a community wellness center. Many Polish descendants continue to inhabit this section of the Slopes. The names of former residents who served in World Wars I & II are seen on the memorial tucked into the hillside across Mission St. from the church.