Pleasant Valley Park Volunteers is an informal group of citizens that strongly support preserving Pleasant Valley Park for the enjoyment of future generations, preserving open space, and the protecting the environment.

In 2010 the PV Park Volunteers merged with other groups to form the Murrysville Trail Alliance (MTA)

The Murrysville Trail Alliance is a group of volunteers that work to build opportunities and accommodations for hiking and cycling in Murrysville. The MTA publicizes hiking and cycling opportunities; plans trail walks and trail work days; and works to promote and develop new trail accommodations.

Throughout 2010 the MTA will meet at 7 pm on third Tuesdays in the conference room on the main level of the municipal building (go to the main entrance of the building and look for our sign). Please join us!

Volunteers are needed to help build and maintain trails, remove old fencing,  build signs, inventory flora and fauna, and possibly add some landscaping to the parking lot.

Pleasant Valley Park Activities Calendar

Since 2004, a conservative estimate is that PV Park Volunteers have devoted more than 1040 hours on trail work, planning meetings, and development of the PV Park web site as of 4/30/2009.

National Public Land Day
The Pleasant Valley Park volunteers and the Murrysville 4-H Conservation Club usually participate in National Public Land Day doing trail work or cleaning out trash.

Trail Work in Pleasant Valley Park.
From April to October on most Wednesday evenings at 5:30pm, daylight and weather permitting, PV Park Volunteers meet in the parking lot, then do some trail work.

Jolene and Bonnie did some work with an electric weed trimmer on a section of trail that loops into a part of the one meadow, while the guys worked on
bench-cutting another section of the trail.

Jonathan put up a "Trail" sign above the parking lot - to help
visitors find the beginning of the trail. He put it a little higher up than
the other one - so even when cars park in front of it - people might still
be able to see it from the Trail Map Mailbox.

Trail Work Day on May 9, 2007
The evening trail work on 5/11 was a big success! We had 11 hard working volunteers and 4 or 5 wheelbarrows, so we were able to place the fabric, stone, and limestone dust on over 100 feet of trail in one evening (more).

Trail Work Day on April 1, 2007
The “joke” was on Mother Nature when despite a mini-monsoon and gloomy forecast 48 people showed up for the Trail Work Day at Pleasant Valley Park in Murrysville, PA on Sunday April 1, 2007. (More) (Article)

Financial Contributions Needed to Support Pleasant Valley Park
While good things can be accomplished through volunteer labor, these projects will often have some cost for material or the cost for contracted services. The parking lot is a good example where money was required for the gravel, fencing, concrete bumpers, and cost of grading and spreading gravel.

• Materials will need to be purchased to construct at least four trail bridges at about $100-150 each.
• Materials costing about $300 are needed  to construct a bulletin board for parking lot.
• Costs of providing copies of park and trail maps
• Costs for mowing fields and farm roads if not done by a volunteer.

Volunteer Accomplishments
Parking Lot
In 2005, Council approved the P. V. Park Volunteer's plan to construct a parking lot for use by Park visitors. The Volunteers raised funds and provided labor necessary to complete the parking lot in October 2005. The parking lot was built without using any tax money.   The parking lot is vital, since without a parking lot, the public couldn't access the property; and public use of the property will increase support for keeping the Park.

The parking lot is located on the left side of the road approximately as shown on this map. Use caution when entering or exiting the parking lot because of traffic on Pleasant Valley Rd.

In 2006, the P.V. Park Volunteers prepared a design for creating an initial network of trails in the Park. The Municipal Administration reviewed the design, and Council approved building the trails. 

Hiking / Mt. Biking Trail
The first section of the trail, approximately a mile long was cleared, marked and open for public use in October 2006. The trail, marked with yellow blazes starts just up hill from the parking lot.  The completed hiking trail is mostly in the woods and follows terrain contours. The Pleasant Valley Park Volunteers have completed 2.5 miles of trails that  are open for hiking and mountain biking. 

Pleasant Valley Park Trail Map Ver. 3 - 8 1/2" X 11" suitable for printing.

P.V. Park Volunteers Construct Bridge on New Hiking Trail.

4-H Conservation Club cleaning up trash in park.

  
On 8/29/07 PV Park Volunteers installed drain pipes on trail

Web Site
Creating and maintaining this web site for Pleasant Valley Park is a volunteer effort by Edward K. Straub