The Mohonk Preserve’s Testimonial Gatehouse Trailhead opened today, May 23, just in time for Memorial Day weekend. This announcement came just days after the Mohonk Preserve had reopened the majority of its trails to the public after shutting down during the height of the COVID-19 public health crisis.
While every imaginable event has been canceled, closed or postponed until further notice, the one thing that remains constant and steady and available is the great outdoors. There are endless opportunities here.
With nearly every business closed, parks, nature preserves and rail trails across the Hudson Valley are seeing more use than ever before. For those who use them, the fresh air and exercise are a welcome reprieve from lockdown-induced cabin fever. For others, the sight of full parking lots (especially with out-of-state plates) and groups of people are cause for alarm; they could be spreading the virus.
All through the winter that wasn’t, I stared at the fly box wondering which fly to use on opening day of trout season.
Pat Tarsio, Sr. started the Newburgh lanes in 1959 with professional bowler Lou Campi, also known as “Wrongfoot Louie,” and it has stayed in the Tarsio family for six decades.
The trail has been open for a while and if you’re a rail trail regular, you’ve probably walked it. The new agreement makes what was a temporary agreement permanent.
The Open Space Institute has announced a new partnership with the Shawangunk Nordic Ski Association, to maintain cross country skiing paths at its River-to-Ridge Trail. The grooming will provide consistent trail conditions and improve the public’s access to the land during winter months, conditions permitting.
Having heard enthusiastic reports from friends who’ve walked or biked the Ashokan Rail Trail since the October 18 opening of the West Hurley trailhead, I was curious to get a look at the western section, which opened on Thanksgiving Day. I live in Phoenicia, so the trailhead on Route 28A near Boiceville is only eight minutes away.
The Open Space Institute (OSI) has announced its acquisition of two forested parcels of land adjacent to the Catskill Park’s Sundown Wild Forest in the Town of Olive. The properties, totaling 871 acres, have the potential to serve as an eastern access point to the 3000-foot-high Ashokan High Point hiking trail.
The western section of the Ashokan Reservoir rail-trail, northern Ulster County’s latest public recreation attraction, will formally open on Thanksgiving Day, according to a county government press release. It has been closed due to construction activities.