A group of municipalities and organizations have a plan to connect a series of trails on the west side of Lake George, NY, aiming to make the region a world-class hiking and biking destination. There are opportunities for hiking and biking in the area, but if implemented, the trail connection plan could entice people to visit the area specifically for those activities,...
Learn MoreThe New York state Department of Environmental Conservation is preparing a recreation management plan for the 3,200-acre Sacandaga West Conservation Easement lands in Fulton County. The Sacandaga West Conservation Easement lands consist of six separate tracts in close proximity in the towns of Mayfield and Bleecker. “While there are currently few developed...
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The Finger Lakes Trail Conference invites you to participate in the 4th annual “Hiking 101″ Hike Series. Hiking 101 is a series of four guided hikes which are geared towards the novice hiker, who may have little or no actual hiking experience. This year’s hike series will take place in Steuben County, NY and sample some of the beautiful and varied footpaths on the...
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About 99 percent of the Appalachian Trail resides in a protected corridor on National Park Service (NPS), National Forest Service or state-owned land. This lengthy acquisition process began back during the Johnson and Carter administrations. Every once in a while, for various reasons, the AT has to be moved — relocated — within the corridor. Moving a hiking trail from...
Learn MoreNew York state has purchased 2,460 acres along Lake George in the southeastern Adirondacks, including two small mountains with hiking trails and panoramic views of the 32-mile-long lake. The purchases, using $1.8 million from the state’s Environmental Protection Fund, will help protect the scenery and water quality of Lake George and its watershed. Department of...
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Thousands of people have hiked the 46 High Peaks of the Adirondacks. Now Saranac Lake Mayor Clyde Rabideau wants them to conquer the Saranac Lake 6. Rabideau unveiled his latest tourism initiative – dubbed “the Saranac Lake 6er” program – during a Community Spotlight presentation to the state Adirondack Park Agency Board of Commissioners....
Learn MoreThe members of a group known as the Wednesday Women’s Hiking Cooperative have lost count of the precise number of years and outings they’ve undertaken, but they remember the companionship and the scenery. Organized through a reliable and unobtrusive email network, the group resists being over-organized. No bylaws or officers or fees. They just like to be outside. One of...
Learn More“We need to clear these trails so people can go for a hike.” After Hurricane Sandy hit, northern Westchester’s preserves, reservations and parks took a huge hit as hundreds of trees were knocked over, many obstructing hiking trails. Others hung at precarious angles, presenting a danger should they fall. But thanks to the Westchester Land Trust’s cadre of stewards and...
Learn MoreAfter weeks of chopping up fallen trees with his ax, clipping unruly shrubs and picking up debris along miles of Long Island’s hiking trails hit hard by superstorm Sandy, the time had come for Bill Raftery of East Islip to retire his old work gloves. But Sunday, wearing new gloves, Raftery and a dozen other volunteers helped rebuild parts of a boardwalk at...
Learn MoreFlooding due to Hurricane Sandy has released “unprecedented” pollution of the Hudson River, watchdog organization Riverkeeper warns, as the effects of the “superstorm” continue to unfold. The storm surge from Sandy caused flood levels to the river in New York, and allowed pollution from various contaminants from industrial and residential sites,...
Learn MoreU.S. Forest Service officials in Vermont and New York are urging extra caution for those who may want to venture out in the woods in the days following the storm. The Forest Service says overhead dangers may remain present even after the weather clears, with branches or even whole trees set to fall. Another concern is that streams and rivers may be swollen from the rains...
Learn MoreThe newly constructed 2.5-mile trail to the western end of the Jay Mountain Ridge is complete and available for public use, the New York Department of Environmental Conservation announced. The trail bypasses the steep and eroded sections of an existing “herd path” that had been the primary access to mountain’s summit. “DEC is pleased to provide...
Learn MoreIf you want to hike in the Adirondacks, Crown Point Town Supervisor Charles Harrington thinks you should pay for the privilege. He wants to explore charging a fee for use of public hiking trails. “This should be thoroughly explored,” he said. “This (public discussion) is the channel we should be using.” He said fees could generate a lot of revenue for the state. “The...
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Instead of bemoaning the existence of a tourist train, a local advocacy group is trying to highlight the economic benefits of a year-round, multi-use recreational trail between Lake Placid and Old Forge, NY. A new study was conducted by the national Rails-to-Trails Conservancy following weeks of detailed analysis by the RTC’s Northeast office. It showed that a...
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It is hard to describe the excitement and anticipation felt leading up to the culmination of a goal to climb all 46 of the Adirondack High Peaks. The anticipation of a child awaiting Santa Claus’ arrival comes close. The author slept little the previous night – and would have headed out in the wee hours of the morning if she did not have two dear friends accompanying her...
Learn MoreThe Adirondack Mountain Club (ADK) has released the fourth edition of “Adirondack Mountain Club Eastern Trails,” a complete guidebook to trails in the Pharaoh Lakes region, the Lake George area and trails north and east of the Great Sacandaga Lake. This completely revised and updated guide includes popular trails up Buck, Black and Tongue mountains, as well as Crane and...
Learn MoreJim Zajac bent down to pick the leaves off of a bayberry plant as he looked out over the Montauk shoreline. Leaves in hand, he gently crushed them and inhaled their fragrance. Even after taking countless hikes through the narrow trails along the East End, Zajac is still surprised by the beauty found along the hundreds of miles of trails in Eastern Long Island. As...
Learn MoreThe gash of brown rock rises amid thick green hardwood forest on Cascade Mountain, making a wide new alternate route up one of the most popular peaks in the Adirondacks. Last summer’s downpours spawned by Tropical Storm Irene blew northward across New York, creating landslides that washed away soil, trees and vegetation, leaving new ways for backcountry hikers to...
Learn MoreJerry Levine grew up as a city kid who never owned a pair of sneakers during most of his childhood. Thanks to an anxious and protective mother, he could barely catch a ball and only learned to ride a bike as a teenager. Now the 82-year-old advertising executive from Cortlandt, NY is a sportsman with a passion and a major commitment. He’s made up for a sedentary youth in...
Learn MoreLast month, passengers on the Metro-North Railroad trains that run along the Hudson River looked up from their tepid coffee and their iPads to find the familiar view transformed. Just south of Hastings-on-Hudson, it looked as if a giant hand had carved a gash in the umber face of the Palisades, the wall of jagged cliffs that towers over the west bank of the river,...
Learn MoreA replacement for one of the most well-traveled and iconic bridges in the Adirondack High Peaks was completed and opened to hikers June 17th as crews continue to repair backcountry trail damage from Tropical Storm Irene in August. The bridge across Marcy Dam in a popular hiking region near Lake Placid has been a favorite photo spot for generations of hikers who would...
Learn MoreDespite gloomy weather, more than 40 hikers showed up to celebrate the opening of the new Cheney Mountain trail in Moriah, NY. Hikers in brightly colored rain slickers lined up at a registration table set up under a canvas canopy at the trailhead. Those who showed up the first day got a Cheney Mountain patch. The 1,161-foot-high mountain is shaped like a loaf of bread,...
Learn MoreWhat better way to reintroduce northern Manhattan parks to residents and friends than through a neighborhood celebration that takes you hiking through the secret and not-so-secret parks and finishes up with a big outdoor party? Hike the Heights, an annual community-wide hike-and-party, is now in its eighth year. It will take place this Saturday, June 2nd on National...
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I am Jeff Clark, founder of Internet Brothers, producer of this blog, and passionate about hiking. My regular hiking companions have designated me the lead hiker, so I suppose that makes me the slowest Meanderthal. I live in Western NC near the Blue Ridge and Great Smoky Mountains. Pisgah and Nantahala National Forests are just out my door, so the content will focus on these areas, but let me know what you would like to see on the site. 
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