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Trail Conference Extends Protected Trail Corridor

The latest Trail Conference land purchase on the Shawangunk Ridge sets the stage for a new footpath that will link the Shawangunk Ridge Trail to the train-serviced City of Port Jervis.

The New York/New Jersey Trail Conference has bought a key 267-acre parcel located on the western flank of the Shawangunk Ridge, immediately east of Port Jervis in the Orange County towns of Deerpark and Greenville. The property is at the southern point of the Shawangunk Ridge, near the New York-New Jersey-Pennsylvania border.

A trail through it, to be blazed later this year, will connect the southern section of the Shawangunk Ridge Trail to the Delaware River Heritage Trail in the City of Port Jervis. When this trail connection is made, hikers will be able to take a train into Port Jervis and hike to the Shawangunk Ridge Trail, turning north toward Otisville or south toward the Shawangunk Ridge Trail's junction with the Appalachian Trail at High Point State Park in New Jersey.

The property also connects to another 635 acres of Trail Conference-owned lands in Deerpark and Greenville. All of these lands are to be transferred to the State of New York and added to Huckleberry Ridge State Forest, nearly tripling the forest's size to over 1,400 acres from its current 500+ acres. The state is expected pay property taxes to the towns.

This acquisition has long been a high priority for the Trail Conference, which for years has been actively protecting and enhancing a network of long-distance trail corridors in our region. Years of discussions and negotiations between the Trail Conference and the property's owners, Salvatore and Vito Cardinale, preceded this success. It represents the single largest acquisition that the Conference has completed to date.

The features of the property are striking. It covers most of the western flank of the Shawangunk Ridge, providing a clear view of the nearby valley, the still rural Route 209 corridor. Young pin-oaks and re-sprouting American Chestnut trees are plentiful. Several streams and numerous informal trails cross the property. To the north it is bordered by active Metro- North/Norfolk Southern railroad tracks.

The NY/NJ Trail Conference is a not-for-profit federation of 10,000 individuals and more than 100 area hiking clubs with a combined membership of 150,000 people. Since 1920, its three-fold mission of protection, stewardship, and education has placed it at the center of efforts to preserve and provide access to hiking lands in the nation's most densely populated region, allowing families to enjoy the outdoors together.

For more information about the Trail Conference and its land protection program, visit www.nynjtc.org.