State parks officials appear to finally be taking steps toward fixing a washed out section of trail at Ames Nowell State Park after years of erosion and at least one major injury.
Department of Conservation & Recreation officials last week reached out to Abington’s Conservation Commission as a first step toward making long needed repairs to a critical trail junction along the southwest edge of Cleveland Pond.
Commission Chairman Paul Bunker said he has a meeting scheduled for Feb. 1 with representatives from the Department’s Trails and Greenways Division to discuss short-term and long-term fixes to the washed out trail.
“At this meeting they should be able to give a ball park schedule for the short term repairs,” Bunker said. “The date for short term repairs will have to be relatively quick to avoid any potential damages to the wetlands/pond.”
Ames Nowell features a popular walking path that runs along the dam at the pond’s southern edge, and over to trail marker W01, which serves as the starting point for multiple trails that go off into the park’s western acreage. It’s one of the park’s high-traffic areas, a bottleneck surrounded by multiple visitor-friendly features. For hikers and bikers, its the only access point to the westside trails from inside the park. Younger visitors love climbing the large, terraced boulder on the trail’s edge. Photographers often use the spot to snap shots looking back across the pond at the dock, boat launch, and tree-lined shore. The corner is also popular with fishermen; there’s a small plaque fixed to a rock in memory of one fisherman who loved casting lines in that area.
However, the trail slopes sharply between the W01 marker and the pond’s edge. A number of heavy rain storms in recent years has carved deep gouges along a 20-yard section near the shoreline, leaving the area hard to navigate.
Nearly two years ago, a man in his 70s tripped while maneuvering through the washedout stretch and suffered a head injury that required an emergency response by Abington Fire.
However, it wasn’t until the last couple weeks that park officials put up sawhorses and signs warning people of the dangerous footing.
“Our team is aware of the situation at Ames Nowell State Park and is working to restore access while ensuring public safety and working towards a more sustainable trail design,” a DCR spokeswoman said last week when asked by Abington News for a status update.
Bunker said a department representative reached out after Abington News made its initial inquiry.
Even though it’s a state park, state environemental rules require DCR to meet with the Abington Conservation Commission before scheduling any work in or near environmentally sensitive areas.
Bunker said he visited the spot during last Saturday’s rain storm and saw multiple streams of water running off into the pond. While it’s natural for storm water to run off towards the pond, the water is dragging silt with it, causing the pond’s shoreline to fill in
The erosion has undermined the shoreline so much that the fisherman’s memorial stone has been dislodged and tipped over in the pond.
Park officials have made at least one previous attempt years ago to stabilize the area; long, wooden timbers are visible along the path, however, the ground beneath sections of the the timbers has washed away.
The Ames Nowell Master Plan Committee, which was charged with collecting and prioritizing needs for the park, presented its final recommendations back in May 2022. It’s still looking to schedule a time to meet with DCR officials to present its report.
[DISCLOSURE: The author of this article was chairman of the Ames Nowell Master Plan Committee.]
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