We've been working with the Park and Recreation Department over the past several months on a plan to upgrade and expand the trails at Essex Park to support cross country skiing in the winter and running and walking during the spring, summer, and fall. The overwhelming popularity of the trails on the east side of Quarry Hill indicated to us that a similar arrangement on the northwest side of the city would be welcomed and provide variety as well as distribute the user traffic. The Park Board approved RASC's proposal at it's May meeting and we completed the paper work with the City last week and are now cleared to start work.
Over the next couple weeks, we'll organize work evenings to begin cleanup and trimming of the existing trails prior to re-grading. One very nice aspect of the project is that there is already an existing network of wide trails that only need minor clearing along the edges. There is also very little buckthorne in Essex Park so the work should be a bit more pleasant than what we experienced at Quarry Hill.
For those interested in the longterm plan, the proposal is attached below. Please watch the RASC News emails and the bulletin board for opportunities to come out and help for a couple hours!
