{"id":166797,"date":"2026-04-15T19:00:15","date_gmt":"2026-04-15T19:00:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/166797\/"},"modified":"2026-04-15T19:00:15","modified_gmt":"2026-04-15T19:00:15","slug":"lehigh-university-opens-first-public-trail-in-forest-park","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/166797\/","title":{"rendered":"Lehigh University Opens First Public Trail in Forest Park"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>A Shared Vision of the Lehigh Campus<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">The Forest Park Initiative is a direct result of Lehigh\u2019s Inspiring the Future Makers Strategy and its accompanying 2025 campus master plan, <a href=\"https:\/\/facilities.lehigh.edu\/making-future-plan-lehigh-campus\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Making the Future<\/a>, which includes a strategic vision for connecting the entire campus through safe, multi-modal transportation. The newly accessible areas will eventually offer a network of woodland trails linking various parts of the university and nearby Bethlehem for mobility, recreation, and contemplation. <\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Associate Vice President for Facilities and Campus Planning Nancy Rogo Trainer explained that phase one of the Forest Park Initiative is part of a multi-year plan implementing the broader goals of Making the Future. <\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">\u201cIn the coming years, as we activate more of the forest through additional trails, research and engagement, we will also be improving our campus infrastructure in ways that will further encourage walking and cycling,\u201d she noted. \u201cThese projects will take time, but they will result in vital connections between the Mountaintop and Historic Core districts of the university.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Supporting A Healthy Regenerative Forest <\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Future phases of the Forest Park initiative will include additional trails as well as greater active management of the forest to ensure its long-term sustainability. The plan will encourage the regeneration of desirable tree species.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">President Joseph Helble, \u201882 expressed his enthusiasm for this moment in Lehigh\u2019s history. \u201cThe Forest and the Mountaintop are such unique Lehigh spaces, and I\u2019m excited to see the Forest Park Initiative realized in this way through the opening of this initial trail,\u2019\u201d he said. \u201cThis milestone marks a new era of access and stewardship for the university and the broader Lehigh Valley.\u201d<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\"><a href=\"https:\/\/facilities.lehigh.edu\/forest-park-initiative\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Follow this link<\/a> for more information regarding the trails, including a map and FAQ.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Story by Hillary Kwiatek<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A Shared Vision of the Lehigh Campus The Forest Park Initiative is a direct result of Lehigh\u2019s Inspiring&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":166798,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[153,155,154],"class_list":["post-166797","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-bethlehem","tag-bethlehem","tag-bethlehem-headlines","tag-bethlehem-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/166797","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=166797"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/166797\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/166798"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=166797"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=166797"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=166797"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}