This year our dedicated Trail Work Crew completed extensive improvements on both hiking trails and wide, woods roads. South Mountain Conservancy recognizes the need for proactive maintenance in the Reservation and our stalwart Trail Work Crew has put in great effort and over 1,500 hours in 2023 to make these vital improvements. 

Continued monthly Trail Work sessions led by John Verzani and Dennis Percher improved drainage along the Zoo Loop and Lenape, reestablished the trail to the soon-to-be-paved West Falls Parking, and opened up culverts (drainage pipes beneath woods roads) and swales (channels feeding water to them) on the Pingry Trail. The goals of all these efforts are two-fold: to repair eroded and muddy areas and improve drainage systems built a century ago so the reservation becomes more resilient to the heavy rain events projected with climate change. To that end, we are urging the County to purchase a backhoe that will allow the deepening of swales beyond what the conservancy can do with picks and shovels.

In addition to the monthly work sessions, Dave Berry assembled several productive SWAT (Special Work and Tools) Teams twice a week in the spring and fall to also improve drainage. Working on the Lenape, Elmdale and Turtle Back Trails, they found ways to divert water quickly away, reduce pooling and muddy sections using trenches, water bars, drainage dips with stepping stones. They often recreated the Y-shaped drainage ditches and cross-trail dips evident along many hiking trails in the park. The SWAT Teams will reemerge next spring. If you are looking for exercise and comradery with these teams or the monthly Sunday sessions, look for Announcements here and on Meetup.

Finally, we have been fortunate to have students from the Student Conservation Association (SCA) program at Fedcap High school in West Orange and other volunteers working on the Pingry and River trails cleaning out ditches and culvert pipes that had become clogged with leaves and silt. Student groups from Seton Hall Prep and the Newark Academy as well as several Scout projects (for example, the recently rebuilt Tulip Springs steps and the bridge at Mayapple Hill picnic area) also contributed to keeping our trails in good condition.