Delaware’s new rail trail connects 75 miles of trails

The two mile Pomeroy and Newark Rail Trail now connects to an existing path in Newark and leads bikers, hikers and walkers to all sorts of recreational opportunities.

 The trail connects to Newark’s Main Street shopping district, to public transit stops, state parks, and many other locations.  Today, state leaders cut the ribbon on the trail that has been in the making for the past decade.  

Newark’s director of Parks and Recreation Charlie Emerson is confident the new trail will be just as successful as the trail it connects to, the James R. Hall trail.  “It’s also part of the East Coast Greenway, and two years ago in 2010, was designed a National Recreation Trail.”

The trail is built on what was once a railroad line, a connection designers incorporated into the trail’s motif.  The trail has benches constructed using former rail wheels, and there are informational kiosks along the way that include information about the railroad and includes some historic photographs.  The two mile trail is lighted 24 hours a day for use around the clock and features emergency call boxes as a precaution.

The trail’s ability to connect so many miles of other existing trails has Delaware’s Secretary for the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control excited.  “It actually ties together 75 miles of other trails, so this two mile segment, connecting the two miles from the James Hall trail up here by the reservoir with the 40 miles in White Clay Creek State Park, it could serve a million people who live within 20 miles  of where we are right now.”  Collin O’Mara was quick to add that he hopes all one million people don’t visit at the same time, but the opportunity is there.  “It’s going to create Newark as the destination in this part of New Castle County.  It really does lay a strong foundation for the type of work that we hope to happen in every other place.”

The opening of a new trail is the latest event in an ongoing effort to make Delaware more bike-able and walkable.  Earlier this summer, state leaders announced plans for a massive trail along the banks of the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal.