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Notes from the Countryside

The outdoors at your front door Notes from the Countryside With Mary Felley

Since quantity of disposable income may not be a big feature of our lives this year, it’s a good time to focus back onto quality of life. When I think about places I have lived that gave me the most contentment and enjoyment, one thing stands out that had nothing to do with quantity and everything to do with quality of life: easy access to trails and the countryside.

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In college, I was lucky enough to live near a public golf course that maintained cross-country ski trails in the winter. I could ski from my dorm right onto the golf course, into the woods and down to the river. It was magical. When I lived in Hong Kong, a major country park was only a five-minute ferry ride and a short walk from my apartment. In fact, all of Hong Kong’s 14 country parks were accessible by public transport: bus, subway, ferry or just a short walk from downtown. More than 150 square miles of lands were open to the public free of charge through these parks, providing a never-ending variety of hiking, beaches and beautiful scenery—often with a friendly pub or restaurant within walking distance of the trailhead.

I hadn’t given much thought until recently to how important it has been to me to have natural lands and trails to enjoy whenever I want to get outdoors. This is ironic, since my work at Countryside Conservancy involves both trail development and providing natural lands for public enjoyment.

I now live in Dalton and it’s a great place to live. In terms of open space, we’re lucky enough to have Lackawanna State Park and several nearby Conservancy preserves just 10 minutes up the road. But I would love it even more if I could step out my front door and easily head straight into nature on foot, on a bike or cross-country skis.

Countryside Conservancy is working on one effort that will help create more opportunities for hiking, running, biking and skiing in several local communities. We are working to develop a non-motorized recreational trail extending from Clarks Summit to Factoryville and eventually to Lake Winola. The working name for the project is the “Trolley Trail,” because it largely follows the right-of-way of the Northern Electric Railway. This was an electric-powered trolley line that operated in our region from 1907 to 1932. In its heyday it connected communities from Scranton all the way into Susquehanna County, linking the city to Chinchilla, Clarks Summit, Glenburn, Dalton, Factoryville, Lake Winola, Nicholson, Hop Bottom, Brooklyn and Montrose.

The Conservancy is focusing its rail-trail efforts on just a short section of the original line, the seven miles from Clarks Summit to Factoryville. When complete, this trail will provide a great amenity to local communities, as a jogging path, a safe bike route for kids to get to parks and Little League fields or, snow permitting, a cross-country ski trail.

If you’re interested in learning more about the Northern Electric, the Conservancy has copies of The Northern Electric, a great photographic history by local author Norm Brauer, available for sale. The book tells the largely forgotten story of the Northern Electric Railway through more than 200 pages of photos, history, anecdotes and business records, plus foldout maps.

The book sells for $33.39, including sales tax and shipping and handling. Book sales support Conservancy operations, including Trolley Trail development. Call the Conservancy office at 945-6995 to order your copy.

Mary Felley is the Executive Director of the Countryside Conservancy. Contact her at 945-6995 or cconserv@epix.net