Cramer Hill Waterfront Park

What was once a landfill from the 1930s-1970s is now a stunning 62-acre park. Cramer Hill Waterfront Park in Cramer Hill, Camden, offers a variety of attractions and amenities for people of all ages. Located on the confounds of the Delaware and Cooper Rivers, the waterfront park is an ecological hotspot offering residents access to the waterfront for the first time in nearly a century. Wildlife thrives throughout the park, with over 375,000 trees installed throughout the park, along with bald eagle perch poles and basking turtle docks.

As visitors roam the park, they can encounter informational signs that provide educational information about the restoration of the site, the ecological life on site, and the buildings seen when viewing the Philadelphia skyline. A series of paved trails connect throughout the park allowing visitors to bike, run, walk, and take advantage of various exercise stations. Other unique features of the park include a fishing plaza, kayak launch, shoreline access, a children’s playground, a grass amphitheater, and plenty of observation areas. Ongoing community activity is always happening in the park, including the community garden, a New-View art installation site, photo tours, and bike tours.

Transforming the park not only rid the neighborhood of an eyesore but ultimately helped with other issues, such as illegal dumping, flooding, and crime in the Cramer Hill neighborhood, while helping the more significant effort to clean the Delaware River. Ultimately, Cramer Hill Waterfront Park exemplifies the importance of equitable and inclusive access to the city’s most incredible natural asset – its waterways. This generational project would not have been possible without the nearly twenty-year commitment from all levels of government to these residents. It is a true example of a public and private partnership that involves authentic community outreach and environmental justice at its core.