As of August 1, the Quabbin to Cardigan Partnership has awarded five Q2C Trail Grants totaling just over $31,000 in its first round.

The projects awarded grants are:

Project: Building a Trailwork Community
Sponsor: Sunapee-Ragged-Kearsarge Greenway Coalition (SRK)…
Category: Trail Maintenance & Improvement; Volunteer capacity building
Award: $2,622
Miles of trail improved: 4 mi. +/-
Summary: Q2C is funding a series of outdoor workdays this summer and fall, aimed at attracting and training new volunteers to help maintain and improve the SRK Greenway, a 75-mile loop hiking trail in the Sunapee/Kearsarge area of NH.

Project: Barlow Trail Repair, Winslow State Park
Sponsor: Sunapee-Ragged-Kearsarge Greenway Coalition (SRK) / Student Conservation Association (SCA)
Category: Trail Maintenance & Improvement
Award: $9,700
Miles of trail improved: 1.8 mi.
Summary: Q2C is funding much-needed repairs on this heavily-used hiking trail up Mount Kearsarge in Winslow State Park in NH. The work is being done by a SCA trail crew of Manchester high school students, who are living and working on-site for a two-week “hitch.” The SCA crew is being assisted by local volunteers from the SRK Greenway Coalition, as part of their volunteer-recruitment effort discussed above.

Project: Monadnock-Sunapee Greenway Repair
Sponsor: Monadnock-Sunapee Greenway Trail Club (MSGTC) / Student Conservation Association (SCA)
Category: Trail Maintenance & Improvement
Award: $9,700
Miles of trail improved: 5 mi. +/-
Summary: Q2C is funding much-needed repairs on several sections of hiking trail in Pillsbury State Park that are part the Monadnock-to-Sunapee Greenway, a 48-mile through trail connecting the two peaks. The work was done earlier this month by SCA’s Manchester trail crew, again over a two-week hitch, assisted by local volunteers from the Monadnock-Sunapee Greenway Trail Club.

Project: Calhoun Forest-Porcupine Fall Loop Trail
Sponsor: Monadnock Conservancy / Student Conservation Association (SCA)
Category: Trail development; Volunteer capacity building
Award: $7,925
Miles of trail created: 0.5 mi.
Summary: Q2C is funding the development of a new half-mile trail on the Monadnock Conservancy’s Calhoun Forest, with the aim of attracting and training a network of local trail volunteers/leaders in their service area in southwest New Hampshire. The training and on-the-ground trail construction will be led by Conservancy and SCA staff.

Project: Trails of Chesterfield
Sponsor: Town of Chesterfield, NH
Miles of trail: NA
Category: Trail Enhancement
Award: $1,400
Summary: Q2C is funding three outdoor kiosks, to be installed in high-traffic areas of town, that will provide town residents and visitors with a map and user information on the town’s extensive hiking trail system

Photo courtesy the Forest Society.