SCA Hits the Trails from New York to Seattle
This National Trails Day, SCA volunteers were at work from coast to coast improving our nation’s trails — from wilderness spaces in the Adirondacks to urban park paths in Manhattan.
Over Trails Day weekend, New York led the way with five National Trails Day events across the state. In New York City, SCA volunteers teamed up with corporate partners REI and The North Face to improve trails at Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx — including the park’s famed cross-country trail, which winds through hundreds of peaceful acres in Van Cortlandt Forest. Meanwhile, just to the south in Manhattan, members of SCA’s Hudson Valley Corps took to the waterfront to improve urban trails in Hudson River Park, creating new trailside educational spaces complete with log benches.
Further north in the Hudson Valley, SCA members joined Scenic Hudson to install new signage at Esopus Meadows Preserve, and teamed up with New York State Parks to remove invasive species, install split-rail fencing, and create stream crossings at Grafton Lakes State Park and Saratoga Spa State Park.
Elsewhere across the country, SCA volunteers hit the trails in Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, and Washington state. Outside Seattle, SCA joined local students to improve trails in Cleveland Memorial Forest. In Pittsburgh, SCA volunteers worked with the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy to maintain trail corridor in South Side Park. And in Concord, New Hampshire, members of SCA’s New Hampshire Corps and Manchester Community Crew teamed up with NH Audubon to repair trail bridges at the Silk Farm Wildlife Sanctuary.
SCA also hosted two corporate service events on the trail this week. On June 4th, SCA
joined employees of Southwest Airlines and other local companies to remove invasives and plant native species along the Skyline Trail on the Trinity River Corridor in Dallas. And back on the East Coast, SCA and American Eagle beautified the East River Greenway in Manhattan on June 10th by planting roses and building new stone borders in an area of East River Park damaged by Hurricane Sandy.
This National Trails Day, SCA was proud to partner with the
American Hiking Society, co-promoting service events to young trailblazers across the nation and logging outcomes to help AHS tally youth participation. SCA and AHS also teamed up for a
National Trails Day Photo Contest. Winners will be announced soon — so stay tuned for awesome snapshots from an awesome National Trails Day 2014!
