Friends of Pine Grove Furnace State Park Receive Grant Award

The South Mountain Partnership announced on Friday, January 22, that the Friends of Pine

Grove Furnace State Park has been awarded a grant of $15,000 to improve the 1.7 mile

Mountain Creek Trail in Pine Grove Furnace State Park. The grant will help pay for a new fifty

foot bridge on the trail. Once completed, Mountain Creek Trail will connect the Laurel Lake and

Fuller Lake picnic areas of the park. Total project costs will be about $45,000.

Andre Weltman, Chairman of the Friends group, said “Improving the trail and building a foot bridge

is the first step in creating a system of trails to increase day-hike options in Pine Grove Furnace State

Park.”

The Mountain Creek Trail Improvement Project was one of 6 mini-grants totaling $74,000

funded by the South Mountain Partnership. The mini-grant program is a competitive program

to fund projects that protect and promote the landscape resources of the South Mountain

Region. Funding to administer the program is provided to the Appalachian Trail Conservancy

via DCNR’s Community Conservation Partnership Program and the Environmental Stewardship

Fund.

Based in Boiling Springs, the South Mountain Partnership is a collective of citizens, businesses,

county and municipal bodies, educational institutions and not-for-profit organizations striving

to preserve the unique culture and physical landscape of South Mountain while enhancing the

public’s awareness.

This grant is in addition to a grant for $21,730 provided by the Cumberland County Area

Economic Development Corporation.

“Volunteers will begin working on the trail improvements this April on Earth Day,” Mr. Weltman

said.