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Trail Program Blazed New Ground
Stop, look, and listen. These simple lessons for surviving city traffic became guidelines for nature education and appreciation in a program co-sponsored by the New York-New Jersey Trail Conference and the Palisades Interstate Park Commission.
Volunteers from the Mahwah-based Trail Conference led residents from the metropolitan area on interpretive walks along the Appalachian Trail (AT) in Harriman State Park. Small groups departed from the Tiorati picnic area on Saturday mornings and hiked for a mile and a half. The first-come, first served programs were free and ran from the last Saturday in June to the last Saturday in August. A total of 80 new hikers, ranging in age from 8 to 75+, walked in July.
"Woods walking is a wonderful activity for families," said Trail Conference executive director Ed Goodell. "It can be as easy or as challenging as you like. It’s an inexpensive outing. It’s a great way to enjoy and learn about our area’s natural beauty. In the New York and New Jersey region, we are very fortunate in the number of parks available to us, many accessible by public transportation. The guided walks with Trail Conference members at Harriman are an excellent introduction to hiking in our area."
Carol Ash, PIPC’s executive director, added, "We’re so happy that so many participated in this year’s walks in the woods. There’s so much to see, if we just look. Opening up the woodlands experience to a new group of walkers is just one of the many benefits of the longstanding partnership between PIPC and the Trail Conference. Let’s have many more."
The Harriman walks offered families many opportunities to see and enjoy nature up close and personal. They looked at trees and examined the varying textures of bark. They listened to and identified bird songs. Participants also learned how to protect and maintain nature’s beauty by following "Leave No Trace" principles: observe and touch, but do not take anything from the woods; don’t litter; and limit group size. And they learned about hiking: what to bring, how to read a trail map, how the trails are built and by whom. They even saw signs of recent trail work by volunteer maintainers: fresh white blazes, clipped brush, and downed sections of trees removed from the trail.
The NY/NJ Trail Conference-an affiliation of individuals and hiking clubs-oversees maintenance of 1,500 miles of footpaths in northern New Jersey and southern New York, including 163 miles of AT that extend through the two states.
For more information about hiking, contact the NY/NJ Trail Conference at 201-512-9348.
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