Freeholder Director Tom Pullion announced that the Freeholder Board adopted a resolution supporting the Circuit Trails Coalition and committed to building 18 miles of trails by 2025. When complete, the Circuit Trails will be a vast network of approximate 800 miles of multi-use trails connecting urban, suburban and rural communities in nine counties in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. The Circuit Trails Coalition is a collaboration of more than 65 non-profit agencies and foundations working to advance completion of the trail network.
“Burlington County is one of the leaders in the State and Nation in land preservation with over 67,000 acres of protected farmland and open space. The Freeholder Board is proud to be able to provide our residents with many more passive recreational opportunities,” said Freeholder Director Pullion. “Passage of this resolution not only demonstrates our commitment to the Circuit Trails but also shows our commitment to land preservation and development of the County Parks System.”
Currently, over 300 miles of trails have been constructed and are open for use through the Circuit Trails network. The Coalition has set a goal of having 500 miles of trails completed by 2025.
Five County trails projects will add more than 18 miles of trails to the regional trail network by 2025. The Kinkora Trail was completed in 2016 and four trail projects are now in various stages of development. They include:
- Kinkora Trail –3.15-mile trail completed in 2016 that connects Mansfield Community Park to Springfield Veteran’s Memorial Park
- Arney’s Mount, Phase I – 2.2-mile trail with construction anticipated to start in the Spring of 2019
- Arney’s Mount, Fairgrounds Connector – 3.5-mile trail that will connect the new trail at Arney’s Mount to the County Fairgrounds. Construction could begin as early as 2020.
- Delaware River Heritage Trail, Route 130 Bypass – 5.5-mile trail that will connect the existing DRHT in Fieldsboro to the Roebling Museum in Florence with a connection through Crystal Lake Park in Mansfield
- Rancocas Creek Greenway, Amico Island Park to Pennington Park – 4.0-mile trail construction anticipated to be complete in 2020
“The Board is looking forward to the completion of these trails so that more of our residents can enjoy the beauty of Burlington County,” added Director Pullion.
County residents have free access to 1,000 acres of developed parkland where they can enjoy 39 miles of park trails and more than 11 miles of regional trails. Last year, there were more than one million visitors to county parks.
The Circuit Trails Coalition set a goal to obtain 100 resolutions supporting 500 miles of trails completed by 2025. At last night’s Freeholder Meeting, the Board’s resolution was officially the 100th resolution in support of the interconnected regional trail system.
Some of the region’s most iconic trails — the Schuylkill River Trail and Schuylkill Banks Boardwalk, the Manayunk Bridge, Cooper River Trail, Pennypack Trail, Chester Valley Trail — are part of the more than 300 miles that currently make up the Circuit Trails. For more information on the Circuit Trails network visit: https://circuittrails.org/