For years, multiple puddles and soggy areas on Trails 3 and 4 in Phillips Creek State Forest have discouraged trail users, especially in the spring and early summer.

Thus, when IMPACT was founded in 2021, a top priority was to build drainage systems and make other improvements to Trails 3 and 4—at more than two dozen sites—to provide year-round accessibility for hikers, equestrians, and cross-country skiers.

To support this work, IMPACT won a $99,414 grant from Parks and Trails New York in 2024 and raised an additional $11,046—a required “match”—from local donors including a $6,000 from the Bethesda Foundation of Hornell.

As the project got underway, IMPACT discovered that repairs needed on Trail 3 were more extensive than anticipated and concentrated all its efforts on this trail

One of the methods of improving drainage on Trail 3 was to install culverts to carry downhill-flowing water to pass under—rather than over a trail segment. A second method, used in multiple places, was to build stone drains, applying the technique, as illustrated below.

Ater leveling the trail surface with a bulldozer, geotextile material (with a durability of 50! years) was laid down. The fabric was topped with rocks and folded over them, after which tread fill material (usually gravel) was laid down.

IMPACT president Glenn Gebhard and board member Nate Foster examine a badly flooded section of Trail 3 in the spring of 2025.

Hikers who participated in IMPACT’s Moonlight Hike in early spring 2026, enjoyed the newly repaired and resurfaced sections of Trail 3.