Each year River Walk contracts with Greenagers to provide an internship for local youth. Interns provide for River Walk’s trail maintenance while learning about environmental conservation.

Bethany Sweet is the new intern working for Greenagers this summer. You can find her at the Housatonic River Walk in Great Barrington during the afternoons on Tuesdays and Fridays. She is currently a student at Berkshire Community College studying Environmental Science, so she is excited for this opportunity to learn more about local
ecosystems. Bethany will be using the knowledge from her classes as well as skills learned at River Walk to care for this unique community space.

An amazing team of 18 volunteers from Big Y’s Great Barrington and Lee stores teamed up to make a big difference at River Walk. They were welcomed by the GBLC River Walk Director Christine Ward and Greenagers River Walk Trail leaders Elia Del Molino and Jonah Gray. Thank you to Big Y Employee Service Representatives Carla Russo and Dena Welch for helping to organize this powerful day of service.

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Creating learning opportunities for local youth to build strong connections to the environment is one of River Walk’s most important goals.

River Walk contracts with Greenagers to help maintain the trail through our River Walk internship program. This year Jonah Gray, Greenagers Trails Coordinator, will supervise local interns at River Walk. Jonah was previously a Trail Crew Leader with Greenagers for three seasons. He worked at River Walk in 2024 and 2025 on some of our major improvement projects. Jonah brings an excellent skill set and great enthusiasm for his new role.

Be sure to say hi to Jonah and our Greenager interns when you hit the trail this season!

Come enjoy the trail!

Thankfully, the snow and ice have melted away. All are welcome to walk along the trail and watch the surging Housatonic River as snowmelt makes its way to the Atlantic Ocean.

We are working to protect the historic northern red oak adjacent to the downstream section of River Walk on Bridge Street. Northern red oak trees provide food and shelter to a myriad of creatures and have been documented to host over 1,000 different species.

To protect this keystone northern red oak, we need to protect its root system from compaction and its trunk from damage. Currently the wire fencing around the trunk protects this valuable tree from beavers. In the next few months you will notice a new fence made from repurposed fence rails and bittersweet vines to protect the root zone from compaction by both vehicle and foot traffic. Please read the entire blog post here.