Completion of phase 1 celebrated with virtual dedication. A Sept. 18 ribbon-cutting officially opened the improved trail system at Penn State Behrend’s Wintergreen Gorge. Chancellor Ralph Ford, third from left, was joined by Harborcreek Township Supervisor Tim May, State Sen. Dan Laughlin and Erie County Executive Kathy Dahlkemper.
This past fall, Penn State Behrend formally opened the renovated trail system in Wintergreen Gorge, a Natural Heritage Area on and adjacent to the Behrend campus, with a ribbon-cutting ceremony.
The event, which was limited in attendance due to the pandemic, marked the completion of a $690,000 project, intended to reduce erosion in the gorge while improving public access to the property, which is now ADA-accessible for the first time.
Funding for the project, which began in 2013, was provided by the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development, the Erie County Department of Planning and Community Development, and Penn State.
The improvements include a 165-foot boardwalk, which extends the primary trail over a wetland area. The structure will encourage visitors to remain on the trail, which is the spine of a 14-mile network of pathways that include informal “shortcuts,” which have accelerated erosion in the gorge.
The primary trail has been topped with a compacted aggregate, making it accessible to visitors in wheelchairs and those with strollers. The project also created a new trailhead at Cooper Road, where a parking area now offers space for seventeen vehicles.
Behrend has secured $380,000 in funding for the next phase of work, which will begin in the fall of 2021 to extend the aggregate-topped path to Trout Run.