StepTrek Route: Gold Route 2026

Make right to return to StepTrek staging area. From here you can join the Black/East Route. Please see map and directions.

Descend 99 steps to S. 21st St. The bottom 15 steps were poured in 2025.

Cross at light to opposite side. Then cross Mission St. to Mission St. Steps behind PRT bus stop.

Turn right and walk to S. 18th St.

Cross Oporto and take left. Keep right to descend 26 steps to Gregory St. Continue down to Pius St.

Make left and walk to Oporto St. and Steps.

Take right and climb 38 steps to Magdalene St. Most of the Yard Way steps date back to 1944 and number 314 in total. They are the longest set of stairs on this side of the Slopes. In addition to providing a fascinating tour of this hillside neighborhood, StepTrek encourages the city to make repairs to existing stairways for public access and safety.

In 1849, a deadly cholera plague struck Pittsburgh. The parish could not find enough burial places for its deceased members. Parishioners prayed to St. Roch and vowed to keep a day holy if the plague would cease. It did. Another plague hit the South Side in 1853 but no members of St. Michael died. Cholera Day is observed each August in Prince of Peace Parish on the South Side, the successor to St. Michael Parish.

Make left. The brick complex on the right includes the Burning Bush, which once offered a retreat center for quiet meditation in overnight rooms.

Just past the Burning Bush, at 44 Pius is the former St. Michael’s Madchen Schule and previous home of the Veronica’s Veil playhouse. The theater hosted a series of plays throughout the year but was most famous for its Passion play, Veronica’s Veil. Performed during Lent, it was said to be the longest running play in American community theater. These buildings were part of St. Michael’s Parish.