All 223 miles of Philly’s park trails have been mapped with Google Trekker

Nine months from now, people across the world will be able to explore every inch of Philadelphia’s park trails on the internet.

That’s right: You can experience nationally recognized public spaces such as Fairmount Park — recently dubbed one of America’s Great Public Spaces — in three dimensions via Google Street View. Without even getting up off the couch.

That’s largely due to the work of Conor Michaud and Gint Stirbys. Earlier this year, the two were contracted by the city to strap a 50-pound Google Trekker to their backs and hike all 223 miles of park within six months.

The Trekker itself (pretty much the same rig Google uses on Street View cars) was loaned out to Parks and Rec when the department pitched Google the idea earlier this year.

As of this week, the job has been done. Once Google gets all those images processed in about nine months, Philadelphia will be the first major metro to have undertaken this kind of project.

Let’s just hope the images inspire Philadelphians to get out and trek(ker) the parks for themselves.