Author: Kelly, Laura

Shout-Out to Jack Walsh and the Derby Greenway!

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This is the fascinating story of the Derby Greenway brought to you by one of its longest-and-strongest advocates. Many thanks go to Derby’s own Jack Walsh – co-Chair of the Naugatuck River Greenway Advisory Committee, Chair of the Derby Greenway Committee, and former Valley United Way President/COO, Derby Park & Recreation Commission Chair, high school teacher, and basketball coach.

In 2000, the Healthy Valley project, which evaluated quality of life issues in the Lower Naugatuck Valley (LNV), revealed community-wide interest in a greenway, with potential for becoming part of a conceptual larger greenway between Massachusetts and the Long Island Sound along the Housatonic River. This came after decades of Naugatuck River clean-up following the Clean Water Act, revitalizing its water quality, riparian habitat, and riverfront. Rick Dunne, Derby’s Director of Plan and Development at the time, submitted a grant in 1995 to fund the placement of the trail on flood control levee walls along the Naugatuck and Housatonic Rivers. After successful placement and routing around railroad corridors, the greenway has been highly used since opening, helping to inspire the building of greenways in other Valley towns that will connect as part of the in-progress 44-mile Naugatuck Valley Greenway Trail from Torrington to Derby.

Jack and the Greenway Committee immediately saw the importance of measuring trail use on the Derby Greenway. The first method was a 2006 program that encouraged users to manually report their mileage and activities by way of a community website as part of the Healthy Valley project. In 2017, a study published by NVCOG and partners showed the economic and health benefits of the Naugatuck River Greenway, part of the groundwork for the CT Trail Census program. Today, Jack and other CT Trail Census volunteers in Derby have collected over 300 hours of manual trail use counts to enhance accuracy of data collected by our infrared pedestrian counters.

The Derby Greenway runs 1.7 miles along two rivers through the smallest city in Connecticut. People come from all over the Naugatuck River Valley to the second-busiest multi-use trail in the state. At the entrance, there is a restored historic fountain, Derby Hall of Fame, and a plaque from the US Department of the Interior designating the trail as a keystone project of the “America’s Great Outdoors” program.

For more on this unique example of immense success in community-driven river clean-up and ongoing trail development, check out this video produced by the National Park Service!

Shout-Out to Trail Census Volunteer Barbara!

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It’s a treat for us to shout out Trail Census star volunteer Barbara Amodio! Barbara is an East Coast Greenway Alliance CT Ambassador and a founding member of Bike Walk Bolton, a volunteer organization advocating the expansion of safe, practical and accessible trails in their community. Starting in 2012, Barbara bicycled sections of the East Coast Greenway each year until she completed the entire corridor from Maine to Florida. The experience drew her closer to trails at home and the organizations working to increasing their safety and accessibility for users.
     As a leader in these organizations as well as the Hop River Trail Alliance, she applied for a grant opportunity to fund the installment of trail use counters on the Hop River Trail through our CT Trail Census program. Barbara and fellow trail stewards have been involved since our program’s beginning, gathering trail use data that aids in advocating for expansion of trails and safety features by showing where people use trails, even where it may not be obvious! For example, when a new connection was constructed between the Hop River State Park Trail and the Charter Oak Greenway in Manchester, trail use data demonstrated an increase in trail activity. She is also looking forward to measuring differences in trail use before and after installation of daytime lighting in the Hop River Trail Tunnel – coming soon!
     Of her years of trail work and advocacy, Barbara is particularly proud of the Hop River Trail Alliance’s work to obtain funding for signage along the entire Hop River Trail, and continually helping trail corridors connect across CT. She is also proud that, thanks to the efforts of Bike Walk Bolton using Connecticut Trail Census data, the entire Hop River Trail is now ADA accessible. We, too, are proud to partner with Barbara, the East Coast Greenway Alliance, Bike Walk Bolton, and the Hop River Trail Alliance!

Shout-Out to Fairfield Conservation Department!

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We would like to recognize Fairfield Conservation Department! This department was the first of its kind in the state, with open space areas that provide views of forest, lake, river, salt marsh, and more. I spoke with director Tim Bishop, who is interested in updating and modernizing Fairfield’s open space trail maps so that more people have access to accurate information about outdoor recreation opportunities available in town. This may even include helping Fairfield residents find new trails they never knew about! This is exactly what we love to help with at CT Trail Finder, and have worked with them to publish nine of their trails on https://www.cttrailfinder.com/.

Grace Richardson Open Space Area, Fairfield, CT. Also pictured are Conservation Director Tim Bishop and the Town of Fairfield seal.

Fairfield continues to protect parcels to enhance connectivity between open space areas, providing trail users with more options and safer corridors. Another of Tim’s goals is to make maps for some larger trail networks available on Avenza. We are thrilled about our partnership with Tim and the Fairfield Conservation Department and about providing services that can help them meet their goals! 

Shout-Out to Westport Conservation Department!

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A warm shout-out goes to Westport Conservation and Parks and Recreation Departments!

Bench overlooking the river on a Westport town trail
View from Saugatuck River Trails

The CT Trail Finder team is proud to work with them to create a digital guide to the open space area trails managed by the town and partners (shout-out to Aspetuck Land Trust)! A sincere thank you to Colin Kelly, Conservation Department Director, who spoke with me about how Westport’s original illustrated open space maps and the CT Trail Finder online maps have complemented each other.

As one example, Colin gave credit to student interns who have been using the illustrated trail maps to guide them in collecting geospatial trail data using Avenza.
We are excited to help our Westport partners build a digital trail database to help trail users find outdoor recreation features, like shoreline access. We also enjoy seeing the creative approaches that Colin and partners have used to connect smaller trails, paths, and public recreation areas together to help people imagine new ways to explore Westport open space, such as the Saugatuck River Trails. Find a new Westport trail to enjoy this week!

Shout-Out to the Still River Greenway Committee!

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It’s our pleasure to highlight the managers of the Still River Greenway, a multi-use paved trail along the Still River in Brookfield, CT. Many thanks go to Jay Annis, Still River Greenway Committee Chair, longtime Brookfield resident, and outdoor recreation enthusiast, for speaking with me.

wide flat pathway on a sunny day with green vegetation around
Still River Greenway
Following a Brookfield resident survey in 2001 that revealed a desire for a walking/biking path, Jay was tapped to lead the committee that would bring such a path to life. After 15 years of work with the Parks and Recreation Department, the Still River Greenway Committee saw the greenway opened in 2016. Now, the collaboration continues with an extension of the greenway as part of the in-progress Norwalk River Valley Trail. From Jay himself, “our town project has changed into a much bigger project that benefits everyone”.
Still River Greenway is in the CT Trail Census program, with trail use count data going back to 2017, assisting advocates with garnering support. It was also published on CT Trail Finder in 2024, viewed as a way to promote trail use and support for trail projects, and to encourage enjoyment of local experiences when pairing trails with trailside services. We sincerely appreciate our partnership across the CT Trails Program! Explore the trail here!

Shout-Out to Quiet Corner NEMBA!

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Photo: CT Trail Finder; QCNEMBA

We’re pleased to feature an exciting new partnership! On CT Trail Finder, Quiet Corner New England Mountain Bike Association (QCNEMBA) helped publish Pomfret Forest, an extensive multi-use trail system directly off the Air Line State Park Trail in Pomfret, that they have designed with mountain bikers in mind. Many thanks to Christian Smutnick, QCNEMBA Vice President, for speaking with me about their recent work building, maintaining, and connecting folks to trails in the northeast corner of CT.

QCNEMBA shares our goal of increasing trail accessibility – such as with our interactive trail maps open for anyone to access from a web browser. They often map their own trails, which helped streamline CT Trail Finder map preparation. They are also interested in connections between trails and local businesses through tourism, tying in with our trailside services. QCNEMBA is active with unique programs, such as Wednesday Women’s rides (pictured here), and Gear Locker, in which used mountain bikes are donated, quality-assessed, and lent to new riders to help reduce initial cost barriers.

Pomfret Forest is a victory for QCNEMBA, and an awesome addition to CT Trail Finder – go check it out!

CT Trail Symposium 2024 Recap

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by Laura Kelly

The 6th annual trail symposium was a fantastic day! Manchester Community College was a great host. The campus is beautiful –  if you’re ever wandering that way (it’s right off the Charter Oak Greenway!), it’s worth visiting. The theme of the day was “Trail Toolbox: Sharing Tips, Tools, and Triumph’s on Connecticut’s Trails and Beyond”, and I learned a lot.

The day started with some networking, meeting new folks and reconnecting with many long-time colleagues and partners. This was a highlight of the symposium for me. Then the morning continued with the keynote presentations in the auditorium. Bruce Donald (CT Greenways Council, East Coast Greenway) kicked things off with a warm welcome, and then Kim Bradley (CT DEEP) and Rista Malanca (Northwest Hills COG) described the successes and future direction for the CT Rec Trails Grant Program. Naugatuck Valley COG gave us a glimpse into the progress and design for the ongoing Naugatuck River Greenway Trail project. It was exciting to learn about trail successes and hard work paying off!

Kim Bradley (CT DEEP) catching us up on the achievements of the Rec Trails Grant Program

The final presentation for the morning was a panel of representatives from Connecticut, Maine, and federal governments discussing questions from both the moderator (Mick Ferraro) and the audience about building community with trail user groups. It seemed to me that the crowd enjoyed taking stock of shared challenges, and talking about tips for addressing them based on one another’s experiences.

After more networking and great conversation during lunch, the breakout sessions began. Topics ranged from the indigenous history of the New England Trail (Jay Levy, Mohegan Tribe; Claire Cain, CT Forest and Park Association [CFPA]), to trail building (Rob Butterworth, Deep River Land Trust, CFPA), to engaging high school students in volunteer trail programs (Shoreline Greenway Trail, led by Dan Buckley). Emily Wilson also presented on CT Trail Finder and Trail Census, recapping our project accomplishments and answering questions.

UConn graduate student Nick Harms presenting a poster on his research about mobile data methods of estimating trail use counts

We ended the day with a bike ride and walk on the Charter Oak Greenway, led by Bike Walk Bolton and Hop River Trail Alliance. It was very nice to get some fresh air after a day inside, continue chatting with new acquaintances, and enjoy a trail that was new to me. I’m looking forward to seeing you all again next year!

Walkers and cyclists gather outside after the end of the symposium

Walkers and cyclists gathering outside the college after the symposium to enjoy fresh air and some more conversation

Shout-Out to Joshua’s Trust!

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We want to shout out our partnership with Joshua’s Trust! The land trust organization has been operating since 1966 preserving land in Northeastern Connecticut, with many team members, volunteers, and stewards pouring their hearts and souls in. A special shout-out goes to Paul Pribula – mapping whiz, former JT board member, and current volunteer steward – who spoke with me about starting the GIS mapping process at the organization. Paul is proud to be part of the large team effort at JT, naming many other Most Valuable Players in their constant efforts for land preservation to protect local flora and fauna and boost climate change resilience. We are thrilled to help share trail maps and information and connect JT’s trail maps with other trail networks in the Northeast region, by which visitors can enjoy the fruits of their decades of labor and admire all the local lands have to offer.

Photo: CT Trail Finder; Coney Rock Preserve

 

Shout-Out to Farmington Canal Heritage and River Trails!

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We want to shout out Farmington Canal Heritage Trail and Farmington River Trail managers and volunteers for all their work with CT Trail Finder! The time, care, and miles they have put in to keep trail info up-to-date, easy to access, and helpful has been invaluable to us and trail users alike. A special shout-out to volunteer Norm Berg, who collected coordinates and descriptive information for points of interest, infrastructure, accessibility, amenities, and parking lot conditions, while coordinating with us to get the best information onto CT Trail Finder so trail users know what to expect. Norm also talks with people on the trail, getting to know what they need and sharing that knowledge with us, and promotes CT Trail Finder via signage and word-of-mouth. We really appreciate working with Norm and all our volunteers!

A paved trail with a wooden bridge extends through a deciduous forest with green spring leaves. A person with a white and red shirt and a green helmet is bicycling on the trail.
Photo: Norm Berg; Farmington Canal Heritage Trail

Welcome Laura!

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We have a new team member! Laura Kelly Laura stands smiling on a dirt trail at the base of a stone staircase. She has sandy hair and is wearing a teal sweatshirt and brown backpack.is the new CT Trails Program coordinator, supporting CT Trail Finder, CT Trail Census, and the CT Trails Program. She is finishing up her master’s degree in the Department of Natural Resources and the Environment with a focus on trail use levels, access, and the perceived quality of trail user experiences. She cares deeply about public land access and management, and she is really enjoying meeting trails professionals and advocates from around the state. Laura was born and raised north of Pittsburgh, PA, and she received her B.S. in Biology at Juniata College. She loves hiking, reading, jigsaw puzzles, and her pet tortoises.