Yesterday's walk was a walk, not a hike, in Allentown's Cedar Creek Parkway, a very pleasant city park along the tributary of the Lehigh River. We walked a leisurely 1.2 mile loop from a parking area near the basketball courts and swimming pool to the Malcolm Gross Rose Garden and back. Aside from a short section of sidewalk along the entrance to the parking area, most of the rest of the walk was on brick pathways weaving amongst waterways amid an arboretum like setting.
A clear highlight of this park and walk was the Malcolm Gross Rose Garden with dozens of pergolas installed for displaying a climbing rose on each side and examples of different roses planted in a triangular or L shaped plot on each side. While the climbers did not have identifying labels, most of the smaller roses did. Allentown offers this rose garden as a first come, first served location for wedding photographs and even small marriage ceremonies. For us, we may use their pergola and rose planting design as inspiration for our front sidewalk.
