At the Southern Delaware Tourism Awards ceremony this week, Cape Henlopen State Park's Gordons Pond Trail and Junction & Breakwater Trail earned Best Attraction honors for 2016.
The nomination for the trails reads: "The trails have allowed thousands of people to travel between the coastal communities of Lewes and Rehoboth Beach without using cars and adding to traffic on Coastal Highway, and have resulted in increased accommodations-tax revenue, increased economic impact for area restaurants and retailers, an increase in bike passengers on the Cape May-Lewes Ferry and greatly increased demand for the publication 'Great Walks and Trails in Sussex County.'"
The nomination also notes the trails hosted 62,000 visitors in 2015 and had already hosted 53,000 visitors during the first nine months of 2016.
These trails and dozens of others in Sussex County add immeasurably to the quality of life for residents and are one more reason why Sussex grows each year in its allure as a destination. The many economic benefits of trails will be enhanced even further when the network extends westward to Georgetown via the rail-trail being constructed along the railroad right-of-way between Lewes and Georgetown.
That connecting trail will further enhance the county's critically important tourism industry and offer an off-road transportation alternative to the thousands of residents living in existing communities, and more springing up, along the Route 9 corridor.
The more quickly the next segments are constructed, the sooner residents and visitors can enjoy the trails' benefits.
The trails have an even more important benefit - their contribution to healthy lifestyles by encouraging people to get outdoors. Like many states, Delaware is investing significant dollars in providing infrastructure such as trails to get people - especially children - outside. It's estimated that 70 percent of the healthcare costs in this country relate to lifestyle choices such as smoking and poor diet.
The one sure way to help contain healthcare costs is to get children outdoors where activity comes naturally and leads to healthier living. When it comes to trails, Sussex has a head start and should continue pushing forward.
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Editorials are considered and written by Cape Gazette Editorial Board members, including Publisher Chris Rausch, Editor Jen Ellingsworth, News Editor Nick Roth and reporters Ron MacArthur and Chris Flood.
