The Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control has adopted the White Clay Creek Master Plan. The plan presents a vision and framework for White Clay Creek State Park for the next 10 years.

The master plan, created by DNREC’s Division of Parks and Recreation, includes 10 implementation strategies that group individual action items by theme or location.

Top strategies include:

• Infrastructure improvements to the White Clay Creek Nature Center area
• Relocation of the park office to the Maxwell House

Others include:

• Development of partnerships to help with stewardship of the park
• Adaptive reuse of historic structures
• Protection and enhancement of ecology and natural resources
• Reconfiguration of some vehicular ingress/egress and parking area
• Programming and signage
• Trails and camping

The division also created a calendar, available at the park office, with dates when Creek and Thompson Station road segments are open to vehicular traffic.

The public was integral in the creation and approval of the master plan. Signage, social media, emails, a kickoff event and press release were used to get the word out about the process.

The division held four open houses and conducted an online survey to gather public input before drafting the plan.

To encourage open dialogue with park users and those interested in the park, the division held an open house on the preliminary draft master plan and welcomed written and electronic comments.

A final public meeting was held in August.

More than 1,200 participants provided feedback. All comments received were thoroughly evaluated for inclusion in the plan.

White Clay Creek State Park offers scenic and recreational open space among 3,689 acres and nearly 40 miles of trails in northern Delaware. The park is popular for hiking, bicycling, trail running and fishing. It includes accessible fishing docks, a disc golf course, a pavilion, bandshell, playground, agricultural concessionaires, public golf course, and diverse natural areas. It is next to the University of Delaware and City of Newark.

2021 Proposed Final Draft Plan

The Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control held a virtual meeting on Monday, Aug. 2, for the public to review and comment on the proposed final draft of the White Clay Creek State Park Master Plan. View a recording of the meeting.

All comments submitted at the meeting or in writing prior to Tuesday, Aug. 17, were reviewed before the White Clay Creek State Park Master Plan was finalized.

2019 Draft

In 2019, the division released a draft of the master plan and a draft Trail Plan for review and comment. They were the subject of a July 2019 open house.

Past Public Involvement

Public involvement in the planning process began with an initial survey in 2018 (Summary of Results).

The division held four open houses that year to gather public interest and ideas before creating the draft White Clay Creek State Park Master Plan. Each open house focused on different aspects of the plan.

Open House Presentations and Displays

Related Links

White Clay Creek State Park webpage

Current Park Map

Draft 2006 Master Plan (Never finalized)

2011 Trail Plan

Related Topics:  outdoors and recreation, parks, planning, recreation, white clay