Resources For River Towns: Parks And Trails Toolkit

Susquehanna Greenway Partnership: Kids need 60 minutes of daily physical activity to maintain good health. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, less than 30 percent of youth achieve this goal. Additionally, more than 25 percent of adults report no leisure-time physical activity.

Being physically active is one of the most important steps we can all take to improve our health!  

To encourage outdoor activity, the CDC developed a parks and trails toolkit that will help communities create parks with expanded health benefits. Parks and trails along the Susquehanna Greenway can improve health in several ways including:

-- Increased physical activity- walkable access to appropriate sites motivates people to participate in physical activity and to do so more frequently;

-- Improved mental health- parks can serve as a venue for stress reduction;

-- Environmental benefits- parks can reduce air and water pollution, protect hazard areas (e.g., floodplains, unstable slopes) from inappropriate development, and mitigate urban heat islands;

-- Community interaction- parks can provide meeting places for neighbors;

-- Reduce injury- parks and trails can provide safe spaces for people to play and exercise, away from busy streets and commercial zones.

The CDC Parks And Trails Assessment Toolkit is available online.

For information on recreational opportunities along the Susquehanna River, visit the Susquehanna Greenway Partnership website.