The newly completed woodland trail and fishing access point are the latest installation in a five year project at Mianus River Park, CT. Following recommendations from the Mianus River Park Ecological Master Plan which we developed in 2013, our team set out to design a better entrance to the park that would enhance the user experience while protecting the local environment. In the past, high visitation rates and excessive foot traffic have caused ongoing shoreline erosion, sedimentation of the riverbanks, and loss of understory vegetation. In order to redirect foot traffic while improving the park experience, a new trail was constructed with crushed stone edged with cut-to-fit timber (made from nearby fallen trees), and is ADA accessible, allowing expanded access to the riverfront. The new access point does not impact existing stream channel dynamics as it relies on an existing boulder cluster in the river. In addition to the new access point, we are improving shoreline restoration via plantings of native species of willows, buttonbush, and dogwoods. The new trail is the first of a two phase construction effort that will eventually link hikers to the existing network of trails, as opposed to the current condition which requires visitors to travel uphill along an asphalt road for several hundred feet.

To read more about the Mianus River Park Ecological Master Plan, you can click here.