Hawk Mountain Sanctuary received the Trail Accessibility Award for its ADA-approved Silhouette Trail from the American Trails National and International Trails Awards Program during the 2017 International Trails Symposium on May 9.
The National and International Trails Awards Program, hosted by the American Trails organization, recognizes the tremendous contributions and successes of exemplary people and organizations across the globe who are working to advance trails. The awards are presented every two years. The Trail Accessibility Award recognizes a successful trail project that demonstrates the integration of accessibility characteristics into its design and construction.
The Hawk Mountain Silhouette Trail, recently opened in summer of 2015, is a 900-foot, accessible trail that serves as an alternative route to the Sanctuary’s South Lookout, where hawk-watching and educational programs occur. It includes a trail-side display of full-sized, in-flight, metal silhouettes of endangered birds of prey, adding an element of education to the wheelchair-accessible trail. A free brochure describing the displayed raptors and their importance is available at the Hawk Mountain Visitor Center and for download at hawkmountain.org.
American Trails is pursuing a national infrastructure of trails and greenways that serves a full range of activities. Through education, partnerships, and timely information resources, American Trails promotes the creation, conservation, and broad enjoyment of quality trails and greenways that offer places of solace, health, fitness, recreation, and transportation for all Americans. American Trails is the only national nonprofit organization working on behalf of all trail types.
The 2,500-acre Hawk Mountain Sanctuary is the world’s first refuge for birds of prey and is open to the public year-round by trail-fee or membership, which in turn supports the non-profit organization’s raptor conservation mission and local-to-global research, training, and education programs. To learn more about Hawk Mountain or other programs, call 610-756-6961 or visit www.hawkmountain.org.
