They rise from the West Channel Pond to Native American mounds and a wide view of the merger of Rocky River’s east and west branches. Cleveland Metroparks wants to be there for you and for a hundred and three years, we've been there for this community and we continue to be here for this community. The club gave $16,000 and many volunteer hours to help build the trail. “They do a really nice job constructing and reconstructing the trails. In 2016, these iconic 155 steps replaced a shorter, narrower stairs. It’s a fact you immediately understand watching Ralph Protano construct trails for the Cleveland Metroparks. © 2020 Advance Local Media LLC. We try to give the terrain the last word, because it can’t speak for itself.”. “Anyone performing the design and layout process needs to be well experienced in trail construction, maintenance and terrain assessments,” explains Protano.
It takes years of practice (not just one project) in the brush and mud to gain the type of experience necessary to be a competent trail designer. Lookout Ridge Trail will be dedicated on April 20, the 100th anniversary of the Cleveland Hiking Club.
--Royalview Trail, Mill Stream Run Reservation. Grant Segall/The Plain Dealer, There are 155 steps in the new Fort Hill Stairs, built in 2016. There’s art to a natural trail. To give to the Cleveland Metroparks Trails Fund, see clevelandmetroparks.com/parks/get-involved/donate/trails-fund or call 216-635-3261.
Since the Cleveland Metroparks are basically in our own backyard, we went out to visit Protano on a project site in the Bedford Reservation. Grant Segall/The Plain Dealer. All rights reserved (About Us). Then there are 100 miles of paved trails for bicycles, strollers and more. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. A mom and a child walk along the recently renovated West Channel Pond Trail at Rocky River Reservation. The 102-year-old Cleveland Metroparks system has added about 26 miles of trails with natural surfaces since 2012 and replaced another six miles.
Chuck Crow/The Plain Dealer. Protano sometimes uses stretches of paths made by deer. “The equipment we use is generated by the site,” Protano says. Crews increase the flow by adding a few notches and bits of stonework. This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Chuck Crow/The Plain Dealer, Trail improvements in the Cleveland Metroparks, Fort Hill welcomes hikers with two legs or four.
“Of course, a key to successful trail building is owning the right equipment, but it’s much more than that too,” says Protano, Cleveland Metroparks trails development manager.
It continued with Off the Beaten Path — an accredited Professional Trail Builders Association contractor in New England — and working as a roving technician from southern Virginia to Maine for the Appalachian Trail Conservancy. Has been a source of joy and inspiration to you. “People talk about loving nature to death,” says Ralph Protano, trails development manager. Protano expects to spend $235,000 on trail work this year. All those boots tend to turn trails into troughs of water and ice, then stray to dryer ground. “In reality, it really boils down to sound design and layout practices. Chuck Crow/The Plain Dealer, The Lookout Ridge Trail is at West Creek Reservation in Parma. Mike Kezdi is a contributing editor to Compact Equipment. Protano is an expert at that balancing act. But, that’s not his biggest challenge today. Today, the crew counts among its equipment arsenal: a Caterpillar 300.9D mini excavator, a newly-acquired Canycom S25A heavy-duty tracked carrier, a pair of Canycom BFP602 walk-behind rubber track carriers and a variety of hand tools including a Hilti Combihammer.