The Levee Loop Trail wraps around Brodhead Creek for four and a half scenic miles. A large portion is atop a levee that protects downtown Stroudsburg and East Stroudsburg from flooding. In fact, the levee was built after a destructive and dangerous flood in 1955. While it seems impossible to believe, the large hills on either side of the creek were built to the level that the floodwaters reached in 1955.

The Loop, aptly named, can begin and end anywhere along its path. Many local runners and walkers will use just a section of it for their daily exercise. It can be accessed from Yetter Park, Creekview Park, Stokes Mill Park and more. The official trailhead is at Dansbury Park in East Stroudsburg.

The entire trail sits in Monroe County. It is an active greenway that locals often use to bike or walk into and out of town. The trail runs through East Stroudsburg Borough, goes over the Interborough Veteran’s Bridge into Stroudsburg Borough, continues up into Stroud Township, crosses back over the Brodhead Creek at Mill Creek Bridge and heads back down into East Stroudsburg. A trail map is available online.

The trail provides access to the creek for fishers, as well as a convenient in-town option for birders, walkers, runners and bikers. Much of the trail is easily accessible to people of all abilities, with fairly even terrain and a substrate of either gravel or grass throughout. Please note that there are a few areas with uneven terrain, including a one-mile wooded section between Creekview Park and Mill Creek Bridge, a small inclined section south of East Stroudsburg High School and a small area south of Dansbury Park.

A highlight of the Levee Loop Trail is Yetter Park, where you can find a disc golf course. There is also a beautiful rock feature in the creek that creates a lovely falling water effect just under Mill Creek Bridge.

If you wanted to extend your journey further, the trail connects to the Brodhead Greenway on its northwestern corner, the Stroudsburg side of Mill Creek Bridge. This greenway follows the creek for another mile and a half northward, past Brodhead Creek Water Authority and through two more Stroud Township parks.

Stroud Region Open Space and Recreation Commission (SROSRC) was founded in 2003 to unify the local Stroud Area parks systems. Our mission is to connect the community with recreational programs, greenways, trails, parks, recreation amenities and natural areas throughout the region. SROSRC partners with Stroudsburg and East Stroudsburg Boroughs, Stroud Township and Stroudsburg and East Stroudsburg Area School Districts. SROSRC employs three full-time staff year-round, and summer seasonal staff grow our team to about 100.

Beyond managing a popular summer day camp and two pools, our organization runs many recreational programs. The Friends of SROSRC runs several large, seasonal fundraising events as well. The Levee Loop Trail Race & Fitness Walk fundraises for trail development efforts in our region. This year, after a short hiatus, the race started up again as an annual event. It brought together more than 60 enthusiastic community members, over thirty of which competed in the race on the length of the Levee Loop Trail.

SROSRC also holds a weekly, hour-long “Wednesday Walk” on a portion of the trail, starting at the Dansbury Park Trailhead. The walk is refreshing, sociable and lightly interpretive, as we welcome seasonal flora and wildlife sightings. We meet at the Levee Loop Trailhead every Wednesday at 10 a.m. in the summer months and 12:15 p.m. during the cooler months. Another similar trail program, “Saturday Strolls,” takes place at the north parking lot of Pinebrook Park on every first Saturday of the month. This program walks along the previously mentioned Brodhead Greenway. Both of these walks are on fairly even ground and accessible to anyone comfortable on grass or gravel.

We have a lot of other recreational programs to offer as well: Zumba and Yoga in the Parks, Movies in the Park, the Daddy & Daughter Dance, periodical free dog training sessions, snowshoeing sessions and more! For more information and registration, please visit our website.

Our volunteer opportunities are largely in trail maintenance and landscape projects. Volunteers are also much appreciated during larger events. Volunteer naturalists are very welcome to help us understand our natural world on our walks and strolls.

Our office is located in the Day Street Community Center at 15 Day Street in East Stroudsburg. We are open from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday.

The Levee Loop offers easy access to some of the area’s most popular attractions. The Dansbury Park Levee Loop Trailhead is just a ten-minute walk from downtown East Stroudsburg’s Crystal Street, where you’ll find ice cream, a winery tasting room and several tasty, casual restaurants and bars. Pocono Cinema is a short walk down the road for a movie.

The southern corner of the trail in Stroudsburg is a ten-minute walk or less from downtown Stroudsburg’s Main Street, where you’ll find art galleries, cafés, bars, specialty shops, an escape room and the Sherman Theater. Both downtown areas have so much life and are fun for both locals and visitors to explore.