Tidal Trail

Reinvigorating Interest in Recreation along the Delaware River

The Pennsylvania Environmental Council (PEC), which works to get people out and using the state's natural resources, decided that here in southeastern Pennsylvania, the Delaware River is a terrific resource that we don't use very much.

PEC senior vice president Patrick Starr said it was hard for people to know how to use it: "We knew there were lots of great places to visit along the river, but we didn't know where all the access points were, and we wanted to make it easy for people to find all those points. And we wanted to make it easy for users to connect with each other as well…We want people who live in our region to become champions of the river. And I don't mean just walk down and look at the river. I want to see them to use the river."

To that end, PEC commissioned new maps and a web site, TidalTrail.org, which Interpret Green designed and built. The challenge was to create a new online presence that created community in addition to providing information. Interpret Green’s mission was to create a foundation and infrastructure to connect those who want to experience the river with those who can make it happen, and to further support the user community.

Through interactive maps, an events calendar, a blog and photo albums, an online community was seeded that can now grow and flourish. Users can participate in blog discussions, rate individual map locations, and share trip photos. Another interesting feature of the website is fly-over video of the river, with pop-up comments throughout.

To keep production costs down, Interpret Green utilized the Google suite of tools for content management. Interpret Green also added important instructional, safety and stewardship information necessary for anyone interested in getting out on the river.