Location: Williams County, North Dakota
Client: North Dakota Parks and Recreation Department
Background
The Coteau Trail (formerly known as the Prairie Nature Trail) at Lewis and Clark State Park was in need of reconstruction. Even though it is a rugged, primitive-style gravel nature trail, the intent of the reconstruction was to make the trail more user-friendly for park visitors where feasible.
Check out this video about the Coteau Trail created by the
North Dakota Parks and Recreation!
The Project
Houston Engineering, Inc. (HEI) was contracted by the North Dakota Parks and Recreation Department to provide surveying, civil engineering, landscape architecture design, and environmental permitting services.
Additionally, HEI provided construction plans outlining those areas of trail improvements identified, provided standard details for other areas of improvements, and helped in the creation of educational signage.
Critical areas of approximately 1 mile of the trail were reconstructed. Improvements included the following:
- Renovation of two sets of stairs
- Leveling out areas of the trail for safer use by visitors
- Re-establishment of the trail lost to wetlands
- Reconstructed boardwalk across wetlands to reconnect portions of the trail
- Additional educational signage to extend the length of the existing interpretive path located along Coteau Trail.
Construction was completed in the summer of 2022 and is open to park visitors to enjoy.
Project Highlights
This project improved the trail to be more user-friendly to visitors of the Lewis and Clark State Park.