Press Release

November 21, 2007                                                

 

ADK Welcomes Plan for National Scenic Trail in Adirondacks

 

The Adirondack Mountain Club (ADK) welcomes plans to extend the North Country National Scenic Trail through the Adirondacks.

The state Department of Environmental Conservation has released a Draft Adirondack Park Trail Plan for the North Country National Scenic Trail (NCNST), which describes a proposed route across the central region of the Adirondack Park “A new long-distance trail running east to west through the Adirondack Park will offer abundant hiking opportunities and enhance the Adirondacks’ reputation as a premier eco-tourism destination,” said ADK Executive Director Neil F. Woodworth. “This trail would be a great complement to the 132-mile Northville-Placid Trail, which follows a north-south route.”

ADK members began working on the Northville-Placid  Trail soon after the club was formed in 1922, and completed it two years later. NCNST is a federally recognized National Trail that is expected to stretch across 4,600 miles in the northern United States. About 2,000 miles have been completed. 

ADK supports DEC’s preferred route, the so-called Central Route, for the Adirondack portion of the NCNST. The Central Route would cross nine areas of the Adirondack Forest Preserve: Black River Wild Forest, West Canada Lake Wilderness Moose River Plains Wild Forest, Jessup River Wild Forest, Siamese Ponds Wilderness, Hudson Gorge Primitive Area, Vanderwhacker Mountain Wild Forest, Hoffman Notch Wilderness and Hammond Pond Wild Forest.

The proposed 140-mile route would enter the park near Boonville, Oneida County, head to the south end of Indian Lake, then proceed northeast, eventually reaching Crown Point in Essex County. The trail would also cross Herkimer, Hamilton and Warren counties.

The Central Route would require less new trail construction than the Northern and Southern Route alternatives. The Central Route follows about 70 miles of existing foot trails, and about 47 miles of new trails would be needed to complete the proposed route. Another 27 miles of temporary connectors would be used initially to make connections along the route.

The Northern Route was the original route designated by Congress, but it was abandoned because of widespread opposition in the 1980s. That route would have crossed the High Peaks Wilderness, which was already being heavily used by visitors. 

DEC conducted three public hearings on the draft plan in December. You can access the Draft Plan here.

The Adirondack Mountain Club is a nonprofit membership organization dedicated to protecting New York’s Forest Preserve and other wild lands and waters through conservation and advocacy, environmental education and responsible recreation.