Recreation
F&W has assisted a variety clients with the planning, construction, and maintenance of recreational trails used for hiking, walking, cross-country skiing, and more. We can help create a comprehensive recreation plan that best suits the needs of the landowner. Our trail assessment work has been used successfully to help secure significant grants for trail improvement projects. To discuss planning and/or implementing a recreation project, please call 860-349-7007 or email [email protected]. Sample Projects Fisher Farm Trail F&W has assisted the Town of Avon with constructing four miles of hiking trails within the Fisher Farm open space property that wind along the Farmington River, near hay fields and through a white pine forest. The project involved laying out the trail in cooperation with the Town’s Planning Department, clearing and blazing the trails, constructing two footbridges, and preparing an informational map and brochure. While valuable on their own, the Fisher Farm trails were also designed by F&W to connect to the adjacent Fisher Meadows trail system, providing the public with a significant outdoor recreation opportunity. F&W's full Fisher Farms trail brochure is available here. Wallingford Trails In 2006, the Wallingford Conservation Commission and Parks and Recreation Department commissioned F&W to prepare detailed maps of the trails inside Lufbery Park and Tyler Mill Preserve - both located in the town of Wallingford - and to provide recommendations regarding the maintenance of those trails. Also included were recommendations for improving overall access and recreational uses of the Tyler Mill Preserve. This report was used by the Town to secure a $40,000 Recreational Trails Grant from the CT DEEP in 2009. A similar report was prepared for the Town's Ferguson Woods property in 2009. F&W has subsequently blazed many miles of these trails - along with trails in Wallingford's Bertini Park - improved signage and stream crossings, and addressed drainage issues on trails. Outdoor Classroom F&W designed and constructed a 50-seat outdoor classroom on the grounds of the Roaring Brook School in Avon. The facility, which is set in a grove of white pine, oak, and sugar maple trees, will provide an outstanding wooded setting for classes to learn about nature and the environment. Accessibility was a key consideration in the design of this project so that children in the entire K-6 range could make use of the outdoor classroom. Accompanying the classroom is a quarter-mile trail that F&W laid out and cleared to wind through Roaring Brook School’s forest. |