"Many hands make light the work."

Overview:
Trail is in excellent shape from the county access for the D & H (0.9 mi north of Wurtsboro via Rt 209) north to McDonald Rd. Start trail project at McDonald Rd, 1.2 mi N of Wurtsboro (Sullivan St & Rt 209), go north toward tow path's crossing of Rt 209 in Summitville. Via McDonald Rd, it's 0.5 mi to new bridge and start of trail. Minutes below start at this bridge and go north. All trees described as felled refer to the work of humans not beavers. Items to bring: water, first aid kit, cell phone, sharpened mattock (pick-mattock), rake, hoe, shovel, gloves, log saw.

Jump ahead on this page to two tables of detailed trailbuilding notes, Sullivan County D & H Canal Linear Park:
From McDonald Rd heading north
From Rt 209 heading south

Table of detailed trailbuilding notes from McDonald Rd heading north
"A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step."

minutes into walk bridge number notes, work to be done
6
trail jct on right
7
beaver dam to monitor
9 1 item 4 pile on right
13
Lead Mines Dock (small sign on R facing N); item 4 pile on right. Trail elevation here is closest to water level.
17
huge white pine felled into canal, could be used as a foot bridge if one wanted. Sullivan County owns land on other side up to the base on the far side of the berme (ridge).
18 _ Fill needed on trail to bridge under another white pine. Rutted, wetter, more sedge grass hummocks.

11 Wet trail.
21
item 4 pile on right; trail drier N of here.
22
second cable 7-8' above trail, stretching taughtly across canal
23 15 Trail getting soggy again
24 16 grade approaches with item 4. Stopped here on 10-18-97.
25 17 grade approaches with item 4.
26 18 grade approaches with item 4. Trail needs fill, too.

19 grade approaches with item 4.

21 grade approaches with item 4.

22 grade approaches with item 4. Tree felled into canal on L
29 23 Nail down two replacement planks on bridge.


Fill is also needed for the 23rd bridge. Wet trail after this.

24 grade approaches with item 4.

25 grade approaches with item 4.

26 grade approaches with item 4.
30 28 grade approaches with item 4.

29 grade approaches with item 4. Trim overhanging branches between 29th & 30th bridges.

30 grade approaches with item 4.

31 grade approaches with item 4.

32 heavy brushhog work, hummock removal; grade approaches with item 4.

33 grade approaches with item 4.
32 34 grade approaches with item 4. Brushhog when stone wall ("Swamp Bridge") is visible on L.
33 35 grade approaches with item 4. This bridge is in line w/ N end of Swamp Bridge.


There are 17 more bridges N of here to Rt 209, a total of 52 bridges from Rt 209 to McDonald Rd.

Table of detailed trailbuilding notes from Rt 209 heading south
Remember: "You can eat an elephant if you do it one bite at a time."
From the north (from Rt 209): one can drive 0.4 miles to largest piles of item 4 and rip-rap and as much as 0.6 miles total from Rt 209. Measurements below go south from lg piles of item 4 and rip-rap 0.4 miles from Rt 209. All bridges are 7 feet wide.

minutes into walk bridge number notes, work to be done
5 (0.6mi) path on left (runs about 85 feet to rail trail); smaller piles of item 4 & rip-rap
8 5 start brushhogging.
9 6 use string trimmer to trim back reeds encroaching on trail
9 9 grade approaches with item 4. Stopped here 10-26-97.
10 10 For bridges 10, 11 and 12: grade approaches with item 4; trail much lower than bridge surface; more rip-rap needed
10 11 for approaches; use fill to raise trail surface between these bridges; more sedge grass hummocks here than before.
11 12 (See above two lines.)
11 13 grade approaches with item 4.
12 14 grade approaches with item 4.
13 15 grade approaches with item 4.
13 16 grade approaches with item 4. Barberries (with thorns) need to be removed between bridges 12 & 13: use weedwhacker.
14 17 grade approaches with item 4.
14 18 (18th bridge from Rt 209 is the 35th bridge from McDonald Rd.)

Further notes: Very few trees down across canal from Rt 209 south to Swamp Bridge area. Water appears to be about 2-3 ft deep. South of bridge 12, weed-clearing is needed. For Swamp Bridge area, improve drainage by clearing sluiceways to trail bridges on non-canal side of trail. This is the wettest section of the 2.4 miles from McD Rd to Rt 209, can be accessed from the north most easily.

Every little bit of action helps move the project a step closer to completion. 

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