Hiker safety a main concern in connecting North Country Trail
While state lines are not enough to break up the route of the North Country Trail, the 4,800-mile path that goes through northern Butler County is disrupted frequently by roads, highways and private property.
Tom Moustos, a regional coordinator for the North Country Trail Association, said that along with the regular maintenance staff performs on the trail, the organization is working behind the scenes to procure agreements with property owners to close gaps along the trail and keep hikers from having to walk on roads.
Moustos said the safety of hikers is one reason the association is trying to connect the trail.
“There are still many, many miles to go on roads, and one way to get around that is to go on private lands,” Moustos said. “The easiest thing to do is build the trail, getting to that point is the hardest part.”
The North Country Trail goes through Moraine and McConnells Mill state parks and Jennings Environmental Education Center, but there is a gap between Moraine and McConnells Mill that Moustos hopes to connect within the next few years.
The trail follows a ”road walk between the two parks,” but Moustos said there is potential to work with a local nonprofit to connect the trail off-road.
Wil Taylor, manager of Jennings Environmental Education Center, said the trail, which he estimated has 30 to 40 miles in Butler County, draws hikers. He said only about 1 mile of trail is within Jennings, but the route that runs through it makes it attractive to visitors.
“A lot of people do the overnight between here and Moraine; they park here and go to Moraine, camp out overnight and then come back,” Taylor said. “People come all the time to hike it. It has national notoriety, people use it as a stop on a trip.”
Taylor also said when it comes to maintenance, the park staff will maintain most of the trails, including the North Country Trail, on a day-to-day basis. The North Country Trails Association may do larger projects or repair jobs, he said.
“North Country Trails Association will come routinely and check things out, and if they see something, they will provide the labor or volunteers,” he said. “If we were to reach out to them, if we had a specific project in mind, we would work in concert with the association. It's a really good partnership.”
Moustos said about 85% of the work performed by the association is trail maintenance, and the rest is behind-the-scenes planning and negotiating to connect pieces of the trail.
Dustin Drew, manager of Moraine and McConnells Mill state parks, also said the partnership with the association is beneficial, and he is alerted when progress is made in connecting the trail between the two parks.
One of the main roadblocks to maintaining a continuous trail is privately owned land, which often breaks up the main route. Moustos said this can force hikers to go around private property to get back on the official route.
Moustos said negotiating with landowners is one of the main methods the association uses to connect the trail, and negotiations are taking place all the time.
“We go out there and make a relationship, talk about the benefits about the trail being on the land, and then if they say yes, we do a handshake agreement,” he said. “The biggest (concern) people have is vandalism and trespassers, but in general our hikers are responsible, and they don't vandalize or go off trail. That's the biggest thing is convincing people that this won't lead to trespassing or anything.”
Additionally, Moustos said Pennsylvania has laws that if someone is injured on a trail while on a section of private property, the landowner cannot be held responsible. Moustos said while some landowners are difficult or not open to hosting a section of trail, others are more easily convinced.
“Me and other people would say, ‘A trail going through your backyard is awesome,’” Moustos said.
Most of the work the association will undertake this summer, aside from maintenance, is trail planning and negotiating. Building the trail, he said, is actually the easy part.
Trail workers will mostly be performing maintenance around the county in the summer months, when the brush has stopped growing so quickly. Cleanup and repairs on sections of the trail will continue until winter hits, Moustos said.
Despite the challenges in connecting and building the trail, Moustos is optimistic about its development on a local level.
“They are very doable projects in Butler County,” Moustos said.
The trail connects Vermont and North Dakota, passing through eight states.
