Enjoying nature at the Connetquot River State Park Preserve is about to become even better after the state park received a $100,000 donation to construct more accessible trails.

The John C. Dunphy Private Foundation Inc. donated $100,000 to the Friends of Connetquot River State Park Preserve earlier in May to make the park’s signature Red Trail more accessible and Americans with Disabilities Act-compliant.

The project, which now enters phase 1, and is expected to begin construction later this year, will create a wheelchair-accessible pathway through the park preserve, and is expected as of now to finish around next summer, according to Friends of Connetquot River State Park Preserve.

“We are honored to support Friends of Connetquot River State Park Preserve in their mission to expand accessibility at one of Long Island’s most treasured natural spaces,” said Karlyn B. Grasso, secretary and communications officer for the John C. Dunphy Private Foundation Inc. “This initiative reflects our core commitment to projects that foster inclusion, improve lives, and connect people with the environment.”

The accessible trail will include boardwalks along more marshy and muddy sections to help visitors of all abilities take advantage of the park’s scenery and services. The money will also help rebuild new bridges over the swampier parts of the trail.

Connetquot State Park’s 3.4-mile red trail connects the Visitor’s Center, which used to house the Southside Sportsmen’s Club in the 19th century, to the park’s Fish Hatchery, known for its different species of trout.

Tens of thousands of rainbow and brown trout eggs have hatched at the site every year for over a century. The hatchery is one of the oldest in the country and is where rainbow trout was first introduced on the East Coast, according to Richard Remmer of the Long Island State Parks Commission and Friends of Connetquot Park River State Park Preserve.

“Several hundred thousand visitors a year come to the Connetquot River State Park Preserve,” Remmer said. “And altogether, the preserve is 3,473 acres, and unless you’re in a car, much of that is not truly accessible. This will be a great expansion of accessibility at a wonderful site.”

Connetquot River State Park Preserve already features handicap-accessible fishing sections on the fishing piers. Still, the new improvements will help those in wheelchairs better access these sections from the park’s entrance.

For nearly 30 years, the Friends of Connetquot River State Park Preserve have worked to conserve the preserve and raised hundreds of thousands of dollars to fund restoration projects.

According to Friends of Connetquot River State Park Preserve president Janetmarie Soley, the nonprofit organization had secured other donations for its trail improvement project from the Greenbelt Trail Conference, which will help improve bridges. A test section of the trail was constructed with the support of Goldman Sachs last year.

Other private-public restoration project partnerships the Friends of Connetquot River State Park Preserve have secured over the years include the restoration of a 19th-century stained-glass window and tin ceiling at the former Sportsmen’s Club and the full restoration of the Nicoll Grist Mill.

The John C. Dunphy Private Foundation, which donated the $100,000 to construct the new accessible trail, also helped fund some of the Friends of Connetquot River State Park Preserve’s previous initiatives. The foundation is also “dedicated to improving the quality of life for the people and service organizations within our local communities—and wherever the spirit may lead.”