⑥Jogging in the woods @ Hollow Run Trail, Panther Hollow Trail, Bridle Trail, Anderson Playground

Keeping up a good workout schedule has always been important to me. Because I was ill most of my childhood, ever since I started to live far away from home for high school study at the age of 15, my parents have always been worried. One of Chinese traditional mentality is that children’s body belongs to their parents. Taking care of the body is a superficial yet important way of respecting our parents. So besides the university gym, the Panther Hollow Trail, Hollow Run Trail and Bridle Trail in the neighborhood have been good enablers for me to include a recharging workout into my weekly activity, if not daily.


The three trails I use A LOT loops together as a whole, you can easily make acquaintance in a one hour workout. You would find people walk their one, two, three or even five dogs in the mornings and evenings, take a stroll on weekends, bike or jog in early mornings or late evenings during weekdays. You could also see a lot Jewish families during Rosh Hashanah holding their bibles to confess to the water in the Panther Hollow Lake and worship their god in meditations. Sometimes, students would practice their play under those stone bridges, runners would have their race event on the Hollow Run Trail, and schools would organize their pupils to do a little bit adventure along the trail.

I like the trails in every season, for its beauty just like the endless stream that keeps flowing out, waiting to be discovered. I personally like to either fast walk on both trails, or jog on one of them. If I am alone, I would stop at the entrance of Bridle Trail in Schenley Park to sit on one of those two benches, or stop at the Panther Hollow Lake, enjoy a little bit peace that meditation brings to that busy mind. One thing I need to do better is to remind to bring some bread for those ducks!


Anderson Playground is the conjunction point of both Bridle (left) and Hollow Run (right) trails. There is a swimming pool only several seconds away. It’s a busy playground during summer time, kids would play, families would have BBQ, and friends would get together to play Frisbee, not so much for the winter. I learned how to swing on this playground and would always stop by to swing for a good while if not in any haste. One thing about having a playground close to your apartment that you might not like is people would play music very loud in a nice summer day, even at 10 o’clock in the evening. When this situation happens, you wish two magic words can fall from the sky: Rain and Winter. :)

Beer winning trivia @ Walk/Run Trails, Anderson Playground

1. Panther Hollow Lake is a man-made lake, created in 1880s. It was once the center of a busy
picnic and recreational area that included a boat house adjacent to the lake from which couples
could rent boats for an afternoon. The boathouse was razed in the 1930s.

2. Two stone bridges in the Panther Hollow Lake area were built using TUFA, a variety of limestone, formed by the precipitation of carbonate minerals from ambient temperature water bodies, in 1908. The same building material was also used for the original Palm Court that is still visible to this date in the Phipps Conservatory and Botanic Garden.


Your ID @ Panther Hollow

Is the train track shown in above picture still functioning?
Is there a shelter on Anderson Playground?