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09/29/2021 08:30 AMRecent additions to the 650-acre Rockland Preserve, including a new natural playground, have further enhanced this expansive and beautiful park and more improvements are coming.
Jason Engelhardt, a Daniel Hand High School educator and Rockland Preserve Committee member, was a primary force behind the park’s 2017 bike trail system installation and he and the committee are continuing to grow the park’s popularity with recent enhancements.
The park’s single-track bike trails, a dirt “pump track” for bikers, and other trail enhancements have made the park a draw for active recreationalists. The committee is now working on improvements that have allowed this once-wild section of woods to evolve into a cohesive blend of nature and amenities for residents to enjoy.
Last fall the park’s new playground was opened, but the pandemic overshadowed what should have been a crucial introduction of the park to residents.
“This is such a beautiful park and we really want people to take advantage of it. The goal here is to get people out and using the playground and pump track but also to get them into the woods and enjoying this tremendous area,” said Engelhardt. “We really want people to know what’s here and to enjoy it.”
According to Engelhardt, the committee strived to maximize its allotted funds as far as it could. In addition to the all-natural, wheelchair accessible playground built, they also were able to add a sand box, which is ringed with toys and trucks, but also a play house and a small library created and built by Eagle Scout Vincent Calia-Bogan.
“I actually studied a lot to see what would and wouldn’t work. When I was on vacation or traveling, I would to see what other towns were doing and how their playgrounds were constructed. I wanted kind of the best of all the projects I saw,” Engelhardt said. “We also really made an effort to stretch the funds and do as much as we could with the available money.”
Engelhardt and the committee were committed to an all-natural look to the structure and to making it accessible to all.
“The entire structure is natural, nothing plastic or blue. We wanted it to fit in with the preserve. It was really important to us to make it accessible. We want this to be enjoyed by all. We want to tell the town about what was achieved here. It is great that you can just pull up, roll out, and play.” Engelhardt said.
These additions are hopefully not the last, according to Engelhardt. According to Engelhardt, area has been left to expand and erect other structures in the future. The playground will soon be a base for native species of plants in and around it allowing it to blend into the natural setting, and there are also plans in the works to construct a permanent bathroom facility as well.
According to Engelhardt, a lot of thought went into the design. Engelhardt said that the ultimate goal wasn’t to just provide a first-class playground, but to provide an invitation into all the beauty this 650-acre park holds for residents.
“The response has been very positive. We worked with and talked to neighbors about out plans and tried to deal with any issues neighbor to neighbor. Kids obviously love this place, but you can see that adults love it too-the single-track trails system is huge and really fun,” said Engelhardt. “The preserve is the perfect antidote to some of the COVID issues we have been facing. Get that mask off and get into the woods.”
Mountain biking, pump track biking, sand box adventures, and now a multi-story, wheelchair accessible playground, centered around 650 prime acres of woods are just a shore drive from downtown. Rockland Preserve is located on Durham Road approximately 6.5 miles north of the Route 79/Route 80 traffic circle just across from Samantha Drive.