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Trails group buys key Ridge parcel
Times Herald-Record
By Dave Richardson
April 14, 2006

Deerpark - Miles of new trails are about to open up to Orange County hikers, thanks to a deal that will link the Shawangunk Ridge Trail to nearby Port Jervis and Deerpark.

The New York-New Jersey Trail Conference, a nonprofit land preservation group, recently bought 267 acres in Deerpark. The $1.1 million purchase caps three years of negotiations with the property's owners and links 635 acres of adjacent land in Deerpark and Greenville owned by the group.

All of that land will be transferred to the state and added to the Huckleberry Ridge State Forest, nearly tripling the forest's size - from more than 500 acres to about 1,400.

The state will pay property taxes on the land to the towns.

The land will be open for public use, creating a haven for hikers, skiers and hunters.

"It's a key piece of land," said Ed Goodell, the group's executive director. "We're very happy."

Spread out along both sides of Interstate 84 just east of Port Jervis, the expanded state forest will provide hikers with gorgeous vistas of the city and the valley it sits in. It will also provide access to the busy Shawangunk Ridge Trail, which runs through eastern Orange County, crossing Sullivan and Ulster counties all the way to the Hudson River.

Miles of new trails will be created for hikers. Another trail planned for the western edge of the new parcel will extend into Port Jervis itself, giving hiking-happy visitors plenty of options.

"They can take the train to Otisville, for example, and then hike all the way to Port Jervis where they can catch another train and go wherever they want," Goodell said.

www.recordonline.com/archive/2006/04/14/news-drtrails-04-14.html