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Essex Park Trails:

For Walking, Hiking, Running, Cross Country Skiing, and other Outdoor Pursuits

Trail Development Proposal

2008 - 2011

Revision 0.7

04/21/2008

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Table of Contents 1 Opportunity and Vision..................................................................................................................................... 3

1.1 Relationship and Comparison to the Quarry Hill Sports Trails................................................................... 3 2 Site Overview ................................................................................................................................................... 5 3 Trail Location Options ...................................................................................................................................... 7

3.1 Challenges ............................................................................................................................................... 10 3.2 Winter Walking Traffic .............................................................................................................................. 11 3.3 Trail Summary .......................................................................................................................................... 11

4 Trail Development Plan.................................................................................................................................. 12 4.1 Tour .......................................................................................................................................................... 12 4.2 Existing Trails ........................................................................................................................................... 15

4.2.1 Bike Paths........................................................................................................................................ 15 4.2.2 Edge Trails....................................................................................................................................... 15 4.2.3 Woods Trails.................................................................................................................................... 15

4.3 New Trails ................................................................................................................................................ 15 4.3.1 Field/Edge Trails.............................................................................................................................. 15 4.3.2 Woods Trails.................................................................................................................................... 15

4.4 Phased Development ............................................................................................................................... 15 4.4.1 Phase 1............................................................................................................................................ 15 4.4.2 Phase 2............................................................................................................................................ 16 4.4.3 Phase 3............................................................................................................................................ 16

5 Signage .......................................................................................................................................................... 16 5.1 Directions and Information ....................................................................................................................... 16 5.2 Safety ....................................................................................................................................................... 16 5.3 Proper Use ............................................................................................................................................... 16 5.4 Seasonal Use ........................................................................................................................................... 17

6 Ski Trail Grooming ......................................................................................................................................... 17 6.1 Equipment ................................................................................................................................................ 17 6.2 Storage..................................................................................................................................................... 17 6.3 Mowing ..................................................................................................................................................... 17

7 Preliminary Cost Estimate.............................................................................................................................. 17 7.1 Preliminary Cost Summary....................................................................................................................... 19

8 Warming Hut .................................................................................................................................................. 19 9 Other ideas..................................................................................................................................................... 20

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1 Opportunity and Vision Essex Park is in the process of being put back into a more natural state after construction associated with the Rochester Sewage System Expansion Project. This affected the south half of the park with the installation of 2 lift pump structures and an access road connecting them. When construction is complete by mid 2008, this area is slated to be reseeded in prairie grass by the Rochester Park and Recreation Department. The remainder of the park has a number of wide woods trails and bike paths that are loosely interconnected. These trails are used for walking today with occasional mowing or clearing by the park department. The opportunity exists to enhance these existing trails with a few well-placed interconnections as well as layout a network of new trails in the prairie restoration area. This set of trails would provide access to all areas of the park as well as provide a venue for cross country skiing in the winter, and walking, hiking, or running during the remainder of the year. It is also a goal of the park department to establish a network of fire breaks in the prairie area. Wide trails would accomplish this and provide maintenance access for park personnel. The wide multi-use grass trail development at Quarry Hill Park has unquestionably demonstrated the popularity of this type of trail network. Cross Country ski use the last two years has been larger than anyone imagined. Use during the spring, summer, and fall by walkers, cross country teams, and area runners has risen substantially. Requests by local groups to hold running or trail jogging events on the trails have had to be turned down since this type of use in not necessarily harmonious with the Quarry Hill Nature Center charter. Essex Park provides another site that is very suitable to this type of trail system. The terrain is hilly with a creek running through the middle. The southern field area is predominantly north facing and when planted with prairie grass, would hold snow for ski trails very well. The north half of the park is wooded with a couple small field areas. The woods provide good shade and snow holding capability while both field areas are on the north side of steep ridges and thus well shaded. Walks through the park this winter at several different times indicate that the site is well suited to managed ski trails and able to provide quality skiing similar to what’s being enjoyed at Quarry Hill. Warm season use would be equally good once an interconnected trail network is established. Essex Park does not have a program staff or other program emphasis. Thus it is hoped that the park trails could be used for organized trail runs or ski events put on by established local clubs or schools.

1.1 Relationship and Comparison to the Quarry Hill Sports Trails This project is designed to be complimentary with the trails developed at Quarry Hill. It is intended to provide an additional option for carefully managed high quality ski trails for skiers in the winter and well graded grassed trails for outdoor activities in the warm months. The following table summarizes the two trail facilities from the perspective of a ‘trail user’. Characteristic Quarry Hill Park Essex Park Trails Four Season Multi-Use Trail

- 10-15’ wide with a level grass or wood chip surface

~4.5 km ~6.4 km

- Paved Bike Path + Park ~3.6 km ~1.6 km - Bridges used as an integral part of ski trails 0 2 - Total Trail Distance ~8.1 km -> 10.3 km as skied ~ 8km -> tbd as skied Activities Walking, jogging, running, snowshoeing,

skiing, dogs on leash Yes Yes

Biking off of paved surfaces No No 4-Season Facilities Large Paved Parking Area Yes Yes Indoor Meeting Rooms Yes No Indoor Rest Rooms Yes No

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3-Season Facilities Open Pavilion Yes Yes Pavilion Rest Rooms Yes Yes Winter Facilities Rest Rooms Yes – Nature Center No – will need Porta-John Heated Warming Area Yes – Nature Center Possibly via existing barn Equipment Rental (Skis, Snowshoes) Yes No Event Capability Rochester Nordic Ski Team Practice Site Yes Yes Competitive 3-Season Events on Trails No Yes Competitive Winter Events on Trails No Yes External Construction Impacts Project Names Erosion Ctrl 2006-08

Sewer Expansion 2008-? Sewer Expansion 2007-08 55th St Bridge 2009-10

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2 Site Overview The following aerial photos are included to introduce the site and illustrate existing and future development.

Figure 1 – Aerial view of Essex Park

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Figure 2 – Aerial view showing park boundaries, bike paths, sewer infrastructure, and other areas of future work or impact (courtesy of Denny Stotz).

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3 Trail Location Options The map below illustrates both existing and proposed new trails in the park. The color coding is explained by the key on the lower right corner of the map. Each trail segment is numbered for reference throughout the remainder of the document. Figure 4 is a full page version of the map. It is helpful to print this map as a reference.

Figure 3 Trail Map showing existing bike paths, trails, and new proposed trail network.

36 -

35 –

34 –

33 - ~400m

28 – 20m

27 – 350m

26 – 750m

25 – 200m

32 – 200m

31 – 250m

30 – 360m

29 – 80m

40 – 180m24 – 70m20 – 270m16 – 110m12 – 380m8 - 100m4 - 180m

39 – 600m23 – 180m19 – 50m15 – 50m11 – 500m7 – 420m3 – 800m

38 -22 – 80m18 – 160m14 – 300m10 – 90m6 – 440m2 – 190m

37 -21 – 430m17 – 60m13 – 380m9 – 100m5 – 210m1 – 220m

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1

2

3

18

20

2122

23

24

25

26

27

28 29

30

8 9 10

11

16 12

13 14

15

31

32

4

56

7

17

19

3940

Existing Bike PathExisting Wide TrailField – Mow/GradeWoods – Clear/GradeBike Path – 3 Season

N

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Figure 4: Page Sized Map of Existing and Proposed Trail Network

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36 -

35 –

34 –

33 -

~400

m

28 –

20m

27 –

350m

26 –

750m

25 –

200m

32 –

200m

31 –

250m

30 –

360m

29 –

80m

40 –

180m

24 –

70m

20 –

270m

16 –

110m

12 –

380m

8 -1

00m

4 -1

80m

39 –

600m

23 –

180m

19 –

50m

15 –

50m

11 –

500m

7 –

420m

3 –

800m

38 -

22 –

80m

18 –

160m

14 –

300m

10 –

90m

6 –

440m

2 –

190m

37 -

21 –

430m

17 –

60m

13 –

380m

9 –

100m

5 –

210m

1 –

220m

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1

2

3

18

20

212223

24

25

26

27

2829

30

89

10

11

1612

1314

15

31

32

4

56

7

17 19

3940

Exis

ting

Bike

Pat

hEx

istin

g W

ide

Trai

lFi

eld

–M

ow/G

rade

Woo

ds –

Cle

ar/G

rade

Bike

Pat

h –

3 Se

ason

N

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Figure 5 Trail network plotted on the Essex Park Topo Map (2’ and 10’ contour lines)

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The following table itemizes the length of the trails segments illustrated on Figure 3. Trails are placed in one of 4 categories; bike, edge, field, woods. The bike trails exist today. Most of the woods trails also exist with only a couple small additions and/or modifications required. The ‘edge’ trails are defined as trails in a field along the woods edge. The ‘field’ trails are those trails that would be in an open field and thus require planting of proper high grasses to provide shelter from the wind. This table is intended to illustrate the length of trails suitable for skiing.

Trail Segment #

Length (meters) Type Exist

1 220 edge y 2 190 woods y 3 800 field n 4 180 edge y 5 210 bike y 6 440 bike y 7 420 bike y 8 100 field n 9 100 woods y

10 90 woods y 11 500 woods y 12 380 woods y 13 380 bike y 14 300 field n 15 50 woods n

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16 110 woods y 17 60 woods n 18 160 field n 19 50 edge n 20 270 edge n 21 430 field n 22 80 field n 23 180 bike y 24 70 field n 25 200 field n 26 750 edge n 27 350 field n 28 20 field n 29 80 field n 30 360 field n 31 250 woods y 32 200 woods n 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 0 bike - 600 y 40 0 bike - 180 y

Total 7980 Existing Trail 3650 New Trail 4330 Bike Trail 1630 Edge Trail 1470 Field Trail 2950 Woods Trail 1930

Note: Trail segment 39 and 40 are existing bike trails but are not included in the Total since they would not be used for skiing. They would be available as part of a loop course in the warm weather months. Trail distances are estimates at this point. While many have been measured with a GPS, others have only been laid out on the map and measured on paper to calculate distance. Once the snow clears, exact routes will be decided upon, flagged, and measured. The total trail surface available for skiing is estimated to be 7980m. This compares to ~8km of trail surface at Quarry Hill that corresponds to ~10.3km of ski trail once the out-and-back loops are totaled.

3.1 Challenges The site does have a few unique characteristics to be addressed. The creek that helps provide such varied terrain is crossed by two bridges. It will be necessary to haul snow in the beginning of the season to build up the base on these. This may have to be repeated during thaws. The bridges are 10’ wide with railings and can

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easily handle the width and weight of grooming equipment. We envision putting snow fence along both sides in the winter to provide shade as well as prevent wind from removing the snow. The intersection of the sewer access road, the western bridge, and the bike path occurs in front of the bridge. We’ll have to mark this carefully in the winter for the RPU plow truck so they can leave the snow on the bike path that turns onto the bridge, while clearing the access road to their facilities. A similar arrangement has worked at Quarry Hill by the west pump house and should not pose a significant problem. There are also at least 2 spots on the existing woods trails that have sharp turns at the base of hills or have rock outcroppings on the trail. The down hill turns can be handled via caution signs for the first year or two with these sections eventually being modified to provide more gradual transitions. The rock has to be assessed to see if it can be removed. If not, initial walk-throughs indicate that this trail section can be bypassed. The possible bypass will require removing some small scrub trees but no large established oaks or other quality species need to be disturbed.

3.2 Winter Walking Traffic When ski trails are packed, it is inevitable that non-skiers find them easy to walk on. The existing Essex trails exhibit a single lane walking track from winter users. They appear to have far less traffic than Quarry Hill however that traffic will increase once they’re packed. We believe that if a 3 foot wide packed walking path is provided and clear signs posted to indicate its intended use, most people will follow those directions. If we start this practice at the beginning of the season, it should work reasonably well.

3.3 Trail Summary This site has the potential to offer excellent undulating trails that would provide a challenging course for both casual skiers as well as those training for longer races. The topography of the site with the ridges on the north side and the elevated east and west hills leading to a central bowl on the south side, provide ample opportunity to route trails in a continual chain of up and down sequences. The end result will be a great ski trail in the winter, and a very nice park to walk or run in during the warm seasons.

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4 Trail Development Plan

4.1 Tour Words often leave much to the imagination of the reader thus there’s nothing like a picture to illustrate what the trails look like today. While these could be packed and skied on as is, brush clearing along with selective grading and re-seeding would bring them to the quality level of the Quarry Hill trails with very little effort.

Figure 6 Segment #1 looking ESE Figure 7 Segment #2 Looking SE

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Figure 8 Segment #4 looking West Figure 9 Bridge #1

Figure 10 Segment 9 heading East Figure 11 Segment 13 looking East

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Figure 12 Segment 14 facing East Figure 13 Segment 12

Figure 14 Segment #7 looking South

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4.2 Existing Trails

4.2.1 Bike Paths The existing bike paths require very little effort to use as ski trails. They will be walked and cleared of overhanging brush from the sides to provide enough room for the packed walking path and the ski trail. The grass shoulders would also be mowed shorter to enable grooming with minimal snow. There are some areas where the asphalt surface is several inches below the adjacent grass berm. These areas should have this transition beveled with a box blade and reseeded. It would also be advantageous to mow at least one shoulder throughout the summer for walkers and joggers who want a more forgiving surface.

4.2.2 Edge Trails Trail segment #1 is the best example of an existing edge trail. All that is needed here is brush clearing along the woods side of the trails, mowing, and selective leveling of any humps or bumps.

4.2.3 Woods Trails The existing woods trails are typically very wide ranging from 15’ – 20’. The two exceptions to this are trail segment #11 that runs on the downhill side of a ridge and the existing trail on the west side of the park running along the north side of the creek (note: this trail was recently added on the maps number 33). These segments are on the order of 8’ to 10’ wide and will be widened slightly as permitted by the grade. All of these trails have either sparse grass or a dirt/wood chip surface. Initially, only brush clearing and selective grading and reseeding is needed to make them into good ski trails. It would also be advantageous to spread more woodchips in selected areas.

4.3 New Trails

4.3.1 Field/Edge Trails These trails will be relatively easy to create. In most cases, they can be simply mowed through the existing grass and then roto-tilled, leveled and reseeded. Segments along a woods edge or fence line will require some brush removal however this is minimal. On the south side of the park, we’ll need to discuss the sequence of this work with the prairie reseeding done by the park department. The simplest plan may be to have the park department complete its work and let the grasses establish themselves the first season. The following spring, RASC can then grade the new field trails and reseed them with a sunny grass seed that will withstand heavy foot traffic.

4.3.2 Woods Trails There are only a few areas that will need to be developed through existing woods. These are trails segments 15, 17, 32, and possible modifications to 7 and 11. These will need to be carefully assessed and flagged, however initial walk-throughs indicate that only scrub species such as box elder or ironwood need to be removed.

4.4 Phased Development A staged approach seems to be prudent. Since trail work is predominantly done by volunteers, it’s important not to over extend the available work force. We would like to phase the work over a 2.5 - 3.5 year period as outlined below. Project length is contingent on fund-raising success. Ideally Phases I, II, and III will occur in 2008, 2009, and 2010. If fund raising in 2008 is not sufficient to meet the needs for equipment purchase, then an additional year may be needed to raise sufficient funds which will result in a project completion date no later than 2011.

4.4.1 Phase 1 1) Clear brush on existing bike, edge and woods trails 2) Mow and level trail segment #3. 3) Clear trail segment #15 to enable a return loop from the NE field. 4) If possible, grade and mow one perimeter trail in the south field.

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5) Groom Ski trails for the 2008/2009 season, contingent on funding availability, otherwise continue fundraising and groom for the 2009/2010 season

4.4.2 Phase 2 1) Mow, grade, and reseed the South field and edge trails – approximate distance 3 Km 2) Groom Ski trails for the winter season.

4.4.3 Phase 3 1) Clear and grade segments 17 and 32. Do upgrades to segments 7 and 11. 2) Groom Ski trails for the winter season.

5 Signage Trail signs inform users where the trails are, when to exercise caution, and what to do. All seasonal signs for XC skiing would be installed prior to ground-freeze, typically the second half of November, and removed when the spring thaw arrives.

5.1 Directions and Information A large trail map will be posted at the trail head located off the main parking lot. There should also be enough room to acknowledge major donors. A location hasn’t been selected at this time. We need to see if there are existing locations that could be used.

5.2 Safety There are several areas on the trails that should be signed. These include caution signs for sharp turns on steep hills, warnings prior to the bridges, and removable trail closed signs.

5.3 Proper Use We need to clearly mark walking paths vs. ski trails. The following sign examples are candidates to be placed at areas where walkers would typically enter the trails. There are at least 7 locations where these would be needed.

Sign to direct Walkers, Dogs And

Snowshoers To their packed trail.

Sign to direct skiers to the groomed ski

trails

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5.4 Seasonal Use It is often helpful to post XC Skier symbols at access road or bike trail crossings that may be inadvertently plowed in the winter. These will serve to remind park personnel not to plow these areas in the winter.

6 Ski Trail Grooming

6.1 Equipment The following sections itemize the equipment required for ski trail grooming and ideas to leverage items currently owned. Snowmobile – A ‘work’ snowmobile is required. The following options exist: 1) use club member’s snowmobile similar to the current arrangement at Schmidt Park, 2) acquire a suitable trailer and have the ability to transport and use the RASC snowmobile housed at Quarry Hill as needed, 3) long-term, acquire a second club snowmobile and house it at Essex Park. Packer – This can be any one of the following items listed in order of increasing preference: 1) snowmobile, 2) use one of the two RASC Otter sleds, 3) construct a second packing drag, 4) purchase a roller. Groomer – 1) use the Schmidt Park equipment, currently a home-made comber, a scarifying drag, and a track setter – all 4’ wide, 2) alternately and preferably, purchase a second YTS Ginzu or Tidd-Tech G2 groomer. If a new groomer can’t be purchased, then consider a modest investment to create a 7’ wide comber. This will limit the number of passes on each trail segment, saving volunteer time. The savings in fuel will also pay for itself in one or two years. Track Setter – 1) use the existing RASC stand-alone track setter; 2) purchase an integrated track setter with the new groomer. Misc. – There are a variety of small items needed. These include things like a flashlight, snow shovel, bungees, wiring for another snowmobile, etc.

6.2 Storage At a minimum, on-site seasonal storage of a snowmobile at Essex Park is needed. Off season storage can most likely be accommodated by careful use of the existing Quarry Hill shed space. Grooming drags will also need a place to be stored seasonally at Essex Park. They can sit outside but should not be an easy target for theft or vandalism thus should not sit adjacent to the parking area.

6.3 Mowing Our experience at Quarry Hill during the 2007 summer was that frequent mowing using a blade mower (not a flail mower) helped establish the young grass well. We need to find a way to have this type of mowing occur in both parks.

7 Preliminary Cost Estimate There are three major cost components to ski trail development and grooming.

1) Trail Development – accounting for seed, mulch, and fuel for grading, raking, and seeding, one kilometer of trail costs ~$500 to develop when the work is done by volunteers.

2) When work is contracted to Kyle Herring, 5 days of effort for grading costs approximately $2500 + seed

and mulch.

Grooming Equipment – This is the major outlay.

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3) Table 1 illustrates the various options which range from $1750 to $15750.

4) Trail Grooming – using today’s fuel prices, each mile of trail grooming costs approximately $1. A trail of length ‘x miles’ takes 2.5’x’ miles to fully groom. Thus for a 6 mile trail, each grooming costs ~$15. Grooming occurs in a season an average of every 2-3 days. Assuming a 75 day season, ~$375 to ~$575 is needed depending on grooming frequency.

Table 1: Grooming Equipment Cost Options

Item Minimum Funding Moderate Funding Full Funding Snowmobile $0 $0 $10,000Packer $0 $0 $0Groomer and Track Setter $750 $4750 $4750Misc $1000 $1000 $1000Total $1750 $5750.00 $15,750.00

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7.1 Preliminary Cost Summary

Projected Essex Park Trail Development Costs 4/16/2008

Trail Construction Expenses Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Labor volunteer volunteer volunteer

ChainSaws/Brush Cutters volunteer volunteer volunteer

Fuel, Seed, Fertilizer Mulch $1,500 $1,500 $1,000

Light Grading (~80 hrs/yr) Donated Donated Donated

Commercial Grading n/a n/a $3,000 Ski Trail Grooming Equipment Work Snowmobile $9,250 0 0

(incl. grooming skis, shipping, wiring, safety equip.)

XC Ski Trail Groomer

84" YTS Ginzu Groomer $4,750

Signs $250 $250 Grooming Expenses Fuel $500 $510 $525 Maintenance $205 $210 Totals $23,450 $16,250 $2,465 $4,735

8 Warming Hut A long-term option to discuss would be the inclusion of a warming hut for winter activities. This was initially envisioned to be similar to the 3 sided lean-to’s found on the Douglas Trail, only larger. Discussions with the Park Department however indicate that the existing small red barn located at the parking lot has an existing LP furnace and has been a warming hut in the past. It may be possible to make this available to RASC for use during club activities such as Ski Team practice, races, clinics and teaching sessions. It would definitely not be staffed by any Park personnel but RASC would have access as needed.

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Figure 15 Douglas Trail Warming Hut

9 Other ideas The network of trails in the south field will have a large number of intersections. In order to groom efficiently, it will be helpful to have turn around areas for the snowmobile at some intersections. These will be circular areas approximately 40 feet in diameter. It may be interesting to plant the fringe of these areas with a high concentration of native wild flowers.