SERVICES PROVIDED

• Trail assessment
• Preliminary Opinion of Cost

PROJECT ELEMENTS

• High traffic trail
• Sensitive site
• Natural surface trails

PROJECT DETAILS

Penn Trails worked with Friends of the Wissahickon in 2022 on two pieces within the greater Wissahickon Valley Park Trail System. The project consisted of assessment of one mile of highly-trafficked rugged trail and conceptual design for a seperate piece of trail to provide a new access and trailhead up a steep slope.

The assessed portion of trail showed severe wear and tear from heavy use and erosion due to increased upslope development. By breaking work into categorized based on intensity, the trail assessment outlined ways to prioritize, phase, and structure the work in order to best balance staffing resources and funding. Station logs were generated outlining every area for maintenance and repair along the trail, allowing for accurate cost estimation.

The conceptual design provided a sustainable conceptual design to create a new trailhead and access area, carefully winding its way up a steep slope environment to connect with the existing trail system.