Wissahickon Trails, a nonprofit that maintains the Montgomery County portion of the Wissahickon Valley, has completed a multi-decade effort to link 436 acres of open space with one trail.

The organization installed the final segment of a nine-mile trail system in Whitpain and Whitemarsh Townships last fall, thanks to a trail easement granted by the owner of Willow Lake Farm. The newly completed trail system now allows visitors to walk between Armentrout Preserve, Camp Woods, Briar Hill Preserve, Willow Lake Preserve and Whitpain Township’s Prophecy Creek Park.

The “5 Preserves, 1 Trail Initiative” is more than 35 years in the making, said Gail Farmer, executive director of Wissahickon Trails. The organization spent those decades securing land parcels and building trail segments with the help of different partners. The recent trail easement granted by Willow Lake Farm owner Ellen Lea was the final piece of the puzzle.

“It’s incredibly rewarding, and we feel so much gratitude. It really takes a village,” Farmer said.

Wissahickon Trails has received $2.5 million in private donations for the initiative and $1.7 million from Whitpain Township, Montgomery County, the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, and PECO Energy Co., according to a news release.

The installation for the final trail segment was funded by PECO and a private donation honoring longtime community activists and philanthropists Phil and Barbara Albright. PECO donated $10,000 to the initiative in 2023 and has a 20-year partnership with Wissahickon Trails, a spokesperson for PECO confirmed.

Wissahickon Trails’ most recent land acquisition was in 2022, when it gained 10 acres in Whitpain Township, Farmer said.

Now that the new trail segment is installed, Wissahickon Trails is planning guided hikes this spring to promote the connection.

Wissahickon Trails, which was founded as the Wissahickon Valley Watershed Association in 1957, aims to protect ecosystems in the Wissahickon watershed and increase people’s access to open space.

“One of the most rewarding aspects is working with all these people who care and really want to do something good for the community, in terms of open space preservation and trail access,” Farmer said.

Lea’s family has been supporting Wissahickon Trails’ efforts for decades. Her mother, Jane O’Neill, donated conservation easements on 108 acres of her farm to Wissahickon Trails back in 1993. Her family donated the land to be preserved by Wissahickon Trails in 2022, creating Willow Lake Preserve. Lea then granted a trail easement for Willow Lake Farm, now a private residence and horse farm, to complete the “5 Preserves, 1 Trail initiative.”

“It’s really important to us that we keep the trails at Willow Lake Preserve open for people to enjoy. Because once open space is gone, it’s gone forever,” Lea said in the release. “When my mother originally partnered with Wissahickon Trails in 1993 to allow public access to what would become the 108-acre Willow Lake Preserve, the idea was that equestrians and walkers could both be here and enjoy the land. It’s a piece of heaven on earth.”

In the future, Wissahickon Trails staffers hope to connect the trail with the Green Ribbon and Cross County Trails, two major pathways in Montgomery County.

“All I can say at this point is that is an ambition of ours,” Farmer said. “It’s still a work in progress.”