McClelland Park Trails Offer Residents Urban Green Space

Maitham Basha-Agha

Dogs are the new kids. We buy them sweaters when it's cold and take them swimming when it's hot. We get them vaccinated each year and skip work when they're sick. Some dogs even attend daycare and make friends.

In fact, more households have dogs than kids. The demand for establishments to become more pet-friendly is greater than ever. According to the Trust for Public Land, dog parks currently lead urban park growth in most major cities. Last year, the city of Erie embraced this trend with the dedication of its first public dog park at McClelland Park off of East 26th Street near McClelland Avenue.

Now, thanks to the efforts of a few city employees and the Sierra Club's Lake Erie Group, in addition to funding support from grants and local donors, McClelland Park also offers updated trails and walkways throughout its 56-acre woodland and wetlands system. Possibly most impressive is the width of the Wetlands Rim and Main Loop trails, on which wheelchair hikers can safely pass in opposite directions.

The Sierra Club Foundation awarded the McClelland Park project a $10,000 grant – one of only nine awarded nationally last year – with the goal of "[protecting] close-to-home natural spaces so that access to the outdoors is equitable and available to all communities."

So this year, when you're tempted to take that country drive to admire the fall foliage, think instead about the new trails. And make walking the new driving.

Ti Sumner can be reached at TSumner@ErieReader.com