The Brandywine Conservancy in Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania released its final feasibility study for the Brandywine Creek Water Trail.
The study outlines recommendations for a formalized route along the Brandywine Creek for recreational use, enhanced by connections to land trails.
“Well a water trail in general allows proper signage and good stewardship tips and ideas while people are canoeing, kayaking or whatever down a waterway. When you’re on the water it’s sometimes difficult to orient yourself,” said Ellen Ferretti - the director of the Brandywine Conservancy.
She says the Water Trail Project focuses on the east and west branches of the Brandywine, from Coatesville and Downingtown in Pennsylvania to the Brandywine Creek State Park in New Castle County.
Ferretti says the study’s recommendations include improving safe public access and put-in locations.
“By that I mean places where people can put-in and take-out; there’s enough parking. There’s also ADA accessibility as applicable. Sometimes you’ll see fishing piers; there’s an array of things that can happen," said Ferretti. "But rather than people entering the waterway willy-nilly, these provide formal places with proper amenities.”
The completed Brandywine Creek Water Trail will be a 22-mile water route that improves access to the waterway for recreational and educational use, while protecting and enhancing its various natural, scenic, cultural and historic resources.
The final report containing a list of recommendations can be found here.
