The Jack A. Markell Trail - a marsh walk from the Riverfront toward New Castle

I must have driven past this marsh a few hundred times on I-95 before I ever walked into it. That's the funny thing about the Russell W. Peterson Urban Wildlife Refuge. It sits right at the south end of the Wilmington Riverfront, between the highway and the Christina River, and most people only ever see it at 60 miles an hour.

Late fall is a good time to fix that, once the bugs give up for the year. The Jack A. Markell Trail runs straight through the middle of the marsh on an elevated boardwalk. You can do a short out-and-back with a stroller or keep going all the way to Old New Castle.

What you're walking into

The Peterson refuge is 212 acres of freshwater tidal marsh along the Christina, according to both the Delaware Nature Society and Delaware Greenways. (The historical marker on the trail says 238 acres, so you'll see both numbers around.) The marker also tells you what this place used to be called: the Old Wilmington Marsh, or Dravo Marsh.

The refuge is named for Russell W. Peterson, who was governor of Delaware from 1969 to 1973. He's the governor who championed the Coastal Zone Act, the 1971 law that keeps heavy industry off Delaware's coast. The University of Delaware's library exhibit on the act says he spent his single term largely on getting it passed. He also had a soft spot for this particular marsh, and Delaware Public Media reported in 2011 that he visited it often with his wife, June.

How a dumping ground became a refuge

This marsh did not always look like a nature preserve. When I-95 went in around 1968, the land here took construction debris and dredge spoils, according to the Federal Highway Administration and Delaware Public Media. Invasive phragmites took over most of it.

In 1998 the Riverfront Development Corporation bought the land, and the state's environmental agency started pulling out the fill and fighting back the invasive grass. Restoration came in phases over the next decade, and in 2009 the DuPont Environmental Education Center opened at the edge of the marsh, along with the trails and boardwalk that connect it to the rest of the Riverfront. Both of those dates show up in the FHWA write-up and the Delaware Public Media story.

Today the Delaware Nature Society runs the center and lists bald eagles, wood ducks, river otters and painted turtles among the marsh's regulars. I've never seen an otter here. I keep going back anyway.

The Markell Trail

The Jack A. Markell Trail opened in September 2018 and links the Wilmington Riverfront to Battery Park in historic New Castle. The state's announcement and WHYY both put the full route at 7.9 miles. About 5.5 miles of that is the off-road trail itself, and the rest is the Riverwalk plus one on-road stretch through Old New Castle, per Delaware Greenways.

Most of the off-road part follows an old freight rail line that was turned into a paved path, which Delaware Greenways and the trail's engineers, WRA, both describe. It's also part of the East Coast Greenway, the long-distance route that runs from Maine to Florida.

The trail is named for former governor Jack Markell, who pushed a statewide trails program while he was in office.

How I'd walk it

Start at the DuPont Environmental Education Center, 1400 Delmarva Lane. To get there, take Justison Street past the Riverfront shops and follow Shipyard Drive until it turns into Delmarva Lane. The center is the trailhead.

From the center, head out onto the boardwalk. It lifts you up over the marsh, and this time of year you're looking out over cattails toward the Christina. Keep going and you'll reach the 300-foot pedestrian and bike bridge over the Christina River, which both the state and Delaware Greenways list as part of the project. That bridge is a good turnaround if you've got kids or just want an easy hour.

If you want the whole thing, keep going south toward New Castle. The path runs through woods and old rail corridor before it reaches the town. Plan on a long walk or an easy bike ride, and remember you have to come back.

Before you go, take a lap on the quarter-mile pond loop next to the center. It's accessible, it's open sunrise to sunset every day, and it's the quickest way to get right out into the marsh.

Useful bits

• Cost: free. The trail is free, and so is the education center, according to the Delaware Nature Society and Riverfront Wilmington.
• Hours: the trail is open dawn to dusk. The center's visitor building is open Tuesday through Saturday 10 to 4 and Sunday noon to 4, and closed Mondays.
• Parking: the lot at the center is small. Riverfront Wilmington says there's more free parking at the Shipyard Shops lot and the Commuter Lot on Justison Street.
• Tunnels: Delaware Greenways warns that the trail goes through two tunnels, one under I-295 and one under Route 13, and that the lights aren't always working. A headlamp or bike light is a good idea.
• Bikes: Riverfront Wilmington says bikes can be rented at the education center, or at Riverwalk Mini Golf in season.
• Dogs: leashed pets are welcome at the center, per the Delaware Nature Society.

Free marsh walks this week and next

The Delaware Nature Society runs short, free drop-in programs at the center, so you can tack one onto your walk. These are on its calendar:

• Netting in the Marsh: Saturday, Oct 31, 1 to 1:30pm. Dip nets, tadpoles and snails.
• Meet Marsh Animals: Saturdays, Oct 31 and Nov 7, 1:45 to 2:15pm. A naturalist-guided boardwalk stroll plus a look at the center's live animals.
• Storytime at the Marsh: Wednesday, Nov 4, 10:45 to 11:30am.

The short version

Park at the DuPont Environmental Education Center, walk the boardwalk out over the Peterson marsh to the Christina River bridge, and turn around. It costs nothing, and it's the side of the Riverfront I wish more of my neighbors knew about.