What a summer youth trail crew built in Dumbarton Oaks Park

A Student Conservation Association (SCA) trail crew spent a summer of six weeks in Rock Creek Park in Washington, D.C., restoring trails for visitors. They worked in Dumbarton Oaks Park, a 27-acre section of Rock Creek Park near Georgetown, and in that time did more than seven major projects that restored existing trails and widened access. A National Park Service article tells what they built.

The crew

The crew had 12 members: 10 students from local high schools and two crew leaders. Their main jobs were maintaining dams, building a set of check steps, restoring a staircase, clearing debris and building several erosion prevention structures.

The bog bridge

Many members named the bog bridge as a favorite project. The spot had been a row of log stumps in a muddy, wet stretch of trail, serving as a makeshift bridge. Describing the site, the students said the logs hindered access, and jumping from log to log was a poor choice for the older residents who use the trail often. The new bridge lets runoff pass through and gives visitors a solid platform to walk on, so more people can cross.

The staircase

On the Clifton Hill Walk Trail the crew restored a staircase next to ground eroded by stormwater. Because of the erosion, people had skipped the steps and made another, much more uneven path. The crew used a variety of tools to place each step. With no level on hand to check that the steps were parallel to the ground, they used a water bottle as a level, on several projects. Finally they closed off the edge of the trail so that visitors would use the stairs.

More than trail work

Each Friday in the six weeks was an environmental education day, spent on team building, professional development and fun. The crew visited Great Falls Park and the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, attended an NPS career panel and met the park's superintendent and the Park Service's director. The experiences introduced them to different conservation jobs. For some it was the first trail work, and for others the first time outdoors. Students said that perseverance and teamwork carried them through challenges, including daily 90-degree heat.

The partner

The crew came through the Student Conservation Association, one of the National Park Service's long-standing youth partners. The article says the SCA was celebrating its 65th anniversary and placing its 100,000th member that year, and had offered youth hands-on service at Rock Creek Park and other parks for 20 years. Its mission is to build the next generation of conservation leaders.

Sources

• National Park Service, "At Dumbarton Oaks Park: A Youth Conservation Crew's Trail to Success" (https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/at-dumbarton-oaks-park-a-youth-conservation-crew-s-trail-to-success.htm). The crew's group photographs and the students' names are left out. Rewritten in hubnx's own words.