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Devil’s Pool has long been a legendary natural swimming hole and oasis in the middle of Wissahickon Valley Park. Above the water body is the impressive old stone arch, built in the 1890s.
Every summer, locals descend with floaties, pups, grills, snacks and speakers to escape the oppressive summer sun. The brave ones cannonball from a 15-foot rock, making a giant splash.
With this week’s intense heat wave, such a public amenity is all the more vital.
Still, despite the natural beauty of Devil’s Pool, the water is filled with harmful chemicals and runoff. The Philadelphia Water Department on its website notes that it “does not recommend swimming in any river or creek in Philadelphia,” citing exposure to bacteria that can cause gastrointestinal illness.
Why is Devil’s Pool not recommended for swimming?
At Devil’s Pool, signs asking guests to leave the spot as they found it are often ignored. Hikers leave trash behind and even tag large boulders with spray paint.
The group Friends of Wissahickon sends a handful of employees every Sunday to clean up the space.
“We got here around nine and have been bagging a bunch of things,” said Mateo Keitzman, a seasonal employee of FOW. The group, with help from locals, had piled over 20 large trash bags along Cresheim Creek — five times as many as their usual pick up.
“Fourth of July is the biggest trash event of the summer,” Keitzman noted.
“I wouldn’t be swimming here today,” he said. “The Wissahickon itself is not the best water to swim in, really, at any time.”
The area is downstream of the Valley Green Inn, home to numerous waterfowl that leave droppings. It’s in the center of the Wissahickon and Cresheim Creek, so runoff flows directly to this area — especially after a large storm like the one last night.
“Because it’s all from the streets, from the woods, people leave trash here,” Keitzman said. “There was trash here before it started raining, and then it rained, and now it’s all leaching in.”
Couple Acey Calhoun and Harold Mack, fans of the Wissahickon waters, brought along a large floaty Sunday morning. They arrived even before FOW employees to clean up the area.
“We started the first batch of trash bags and at first it was all over,” Calhoun said. “We had grills, unused food, broken glass bottles, cans just all over the place. So we took an initiative. We brought trash bags from home and started to bag them up.”
Mack said they don’t swim in the water until they clean up.
“Be mindful that this is broken glass, these bottle tops,” he said. “They leave the staph infection. They leave the bacterial infection. They’re not kind on our animals that have to live inside of the ponds and the creeks.”
Advisories and trash ignored on hot summer days for a splash
Despite warnings from officials and trash bags piled to the side, dozens of people were still arriving in the area to have some fun, swim and cool off.
Miguel Garcia, who lives in Oxford Circle, came with two friends.
“I’ve been like this,” said Garcia, who had just come out of the water still dripping. “Like this, but without the water, just sweating.”
He said he didn’t care that the city doesn’t advise people to swim in Devil’s Pool.
“We got showers at home,” he noted, before heading to jump 15 feet into the water. “I’ll go take a shower afterwards.”
Junior and Franklin Reyes came to the Wissahickon to swim with their family. Junior moved to Philadelphia from Guatemala a decade ago, and Franklin, his nephew, translated for him.
“He said he’s very happy to be here,” Franklin said. “It’s very nice to cool off since it’s very hot outside.”
The pair were happy to enjoy the day and beat the heat. They too weren’t worried about the water quality.
Friends of Wissahickon welcome volunteers
Keitzman said that anyone can come and join FOW to help clean up the area.
“We have volunteer days almost every day of the week,” he said. “It’s more than just trash cleanups, there’s also plantings and clearing invasive species and helping with trails and stuff.”
Mack said that he is politically active, and he hopes that the city would make greater efforts to spruce up the city’s natural spaces and create stricter enforcements around littering, underage drinking and noise pollution around Devil’s Pool.
“We need more things done for the people, the smaller people, and not just the big main events,” Mack said — alluding to last night’s $15.5 million concert.
“We value nature,” Calhoun said. “I value nature. This is where I come to get a peace of mind. I would appreciate it if other people would appreciate nature the same way that we do.”
