Crow’s Nest: Trail Conditions

By Daniel Barringer, Preserve Manager. Photo by Pete Smyrl.

Much as I would like to manage a “no apologies” preserve, I have to ask your pardon for the condition of many of our trails this summer. We’ve had so much rain that many of the grassy trails along field edges cannot be mowed. I haven’t gotten stuck (yet this year), though even if I don’t need to be towed out the mower can tear up the trails which makes drainage problem worse.

So not only are the trails soggy, but the grass growing in them is long. As pictured above, the Creek Trail is occasionally flooded. If you wear knee-high waterproof boots I think you’ll find yourself comfortable in the mud or high grass. Meanwhile I keep saying, “We’ll catch up with the grass sometime soon.” But the rain continues…

I am pleased that the land here—unpaved, natural forest and meadow—is so good at soaking up the rain. This prevents downstream flooding and recharges our region’s groundwater for times that are not so wet.