StepTrek Route: Goldroute 2021

Make right and walk 50 feet to German Square.

Make left and climb 57 steps to S. 10th St. Pedestrian Bridge, a sister to S. 15th St. Bridge, erected in the same year. Stop mid-span and look left to view the spectacular St. Michael church on the hillside. Continue across the railroad tracks and climb 49 steps to Fritz St.

The Knoxville Incline (1889-1960) began one street down on Bradish St. It followed the hollow going uphill to Fritz St. and Allentown. A deep trough carved into the ground permitted the incline to dock at street level. Later renamed the Pittsburgh Incline, it boarded horses, wagons, carts and passengers and was the last remaining of two city inclines to curve up the hill. The track extended 2,644 feet and was the longest incline in the city. During the Depression, it cost three cents to ride. Continue on Freyburg to S. 10th St.

Use caution as you make left and cross S. 12th St. Between 1117 and 1111 Freyburg was where a stone wall vaulted the Knoxville Incline over Freyburg on its climb to the hilltop. Its foundation remains.

Take a right and keep right as you walk to Freyburg St.

Make left and walk along this shady street of mostly brick houses to S. 12th St.

To the right is the former Polska Szkola built in 1898. Continue down S. 15th St. one half block to Breed St. A couple of doors down S. 15th St., on the left, is St. Adalbert Church. This is the sole active Roman Catholic church in the South Side since the consolidation among local parishes.

At the request of SSSNA & Slopes residents, the City and railroad completed this footbridge and the other at S. 10th St. in 2002. The trestle is made of the same COR-TEN steel as the UPMC (former U.S. Steel) tower downtown. The brown rust serves as a protective coating over the steel frame. The bridges reinstated pedestrian access between the Slopes and Flats. Another SSSNA effort brought safety lighting to the two bridges. At the end of the bridge, descend 59 steps.

Continue past Clinton to set of steps dropping through the trees. Descend the 60 stairs to the footbridge over the Norfolk Southern Railroad.

Make right before St. Michael Church and descend the 26 steps along left side to Clinton St.