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77-738: John Boyd Thacher State Park is a state park located 15 miles (24 km) southwest of Albany, New York , near Voorheesville , in Albany County on State Route 157 . Located mostly atop the Helderberg Escarpment , the park has several hiking trails that offer panoramic views of the Green Mountains in Vermont and the Taconic Mountains of the Hudson Valley . The Indian Ladder Trail

154-516: A land lease from the U.S. government , while Mackinac National Park was handed down to become the first of the Michigan state parks . As with national parks, facilities at state parks are often leased to concessionaires to operate. Breaks Interstate Park is operated under an interstate compact by Virginia state parks , although it is also one of the Kentucky state parks , straddling both sides of

231-601: A 23-mile (37 km) section of trail between Phoenicia and Platte Clove without any road crossings. To the south of Phoenicia, from the Burroughs Range Trail near Wittenberg Mountain , a new section of trail has been constructed for the Long Path. This route crosses Cross Mountain, Mount Pleasant and Romer Mountain. It comes out on Lane Street in Phoenicia. This section opened on Trails Day June 7, 2014. This has eliminated

308-492: A bird conservation area. This conservation area was modelled on the National Audubon Society's Important Bird Areas Program which was signed into law in 1997. There are some 171 species of bird to be seen in the park, many of which are in the "of concern" status. These include: There is also a prolific variety of flowers, plants and trees within the park. As the park is a preserve, all species are protected within

385-572: A few exceptions such as Anza-Borrego Desert State Park in California, and Wood-Tikchik State Park in Alaska, the largest state park in the United States . In addition to preserving natural landscapes and providing recreational opportunities, many state parks also serve as important educational resources . They often offer guided tours, interpretive programs, and exhibits that help visitors learn about

462-579: A new trail across its Platte Clove Preserve. It was added to the Long Path, and allowed for a rerouting of the route along existing trails to take in Indian Head Mountain and its views of the Hudson Valley , as well as eliminating a road walk that previously existed. In 2007 the road walk on Route 214 was eliminated. Volunteers extended the Warner Creek Trail with a direct connection between Silver hollow Notch and Plateau Mountain. This created

539-766: A new trail would then be constructed to link up with the current LP along the ridge near Wurtsboro . The result was the Shawangunk Ridge Trail, a 71-mile (114 km) connector which drew on a possible AT relocation that had first been considered in 1965, before the National Scenic Trails Act made it possible to protect the existing route. The SRT starts at the Appalachian Trail in High Point State Park in New Jersey. The Long Path meets up with

616-437: A possible ending point. To Schaefer, once this route was scouted, it was finished, per his concept ... "(it) exist(s) as soon as the route had been field explored and then marked on a topo map, and so had become available to the person who appreciates such things." However, very few of these people could be counted among the hiking community of the day, to whom a trail was something to follow, and they had difficulty grasping

693-407: A region using compass and "topo" map, and that in a meandering way would lead such persons to most of the interesting scenic vistas, rock formations, choice or unique vegetation, historical sites and similar items that a certain type of outdoors person enjoys. He wrote to an official at Harriman that: There would be no cutting or blazing, for this trail would be a truly wild walk that wouldn't erode

770-683: A restaurant) for lodging at some parks. These typically use "Resort" in the name, such as "_____ Resort State Park" in West Virginia state parks and "_____ State Resort Park" in neighboring Kentucky state parks , which has 17 such resort parks, the most of any state. Other states use the Resort name inconsistently (like DeGray Lake Resort State Park , the only one out of three resorts in Arkansas state parks ), or have only one such park ( South Carolina state parks ' Hickory Knob State Resort Park ), or do not use

847-860: A route over Wallface Mountain to join the Northville-Placid Trail by way of Henderson Lake and the Preston Ponds; a climb over Mount Van Hoevenberg and traverse of the Sentinel Range Wilderness Area to emerge at Jay, New York ; and possible routes to the Canadian border, either to the Thousand Islands to the west or along the Chateaugay River to the north. Curiously, Schaefer's account in Torrey's column never mentions Whiteface as

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924-730: A series of columns to it the next year, scouted a "trail" from the city to the Catskills, while Schaefer and his brother did the same for the northern half. Several alternative endpoints were envisioned: the "History" chapter of the Guide to the Long Path places the end at Whiteface Mountain in the Adirondack High Peaks , but Torrey's column of August 21, 1934 places the terminus at the Adirondak Loj at Lake Clear of Heart (now called Heart Lake). The column further discusses possible extensions:

1001-559: A series of limestones of early Devonian age and is one of the most fossiliferous regions in the United States. The park is a window in to New York's geological history, as the rocks here take us back in time hundreds of millions of years. In the 1800s, some of the world's most renowned pioneering geologists, such as Charles Lyell and Amos Eaton , visited this location due to its robust fossil assemblage. During this time James Hall , New York's first state paleontologist, frequently visited

1078-603: A state to preserve a location on account of its natural beauty, historic interest, or recreational potential. There are state parks under the administration of the government of each U.S. state , some of the Mexican states , and in Brazil . The term is also used in the Australian states of Victoria and New South Wales . The equivalent term used in Canada, Argentina, South Africa, and Belgium,

1155-445: A trail. "Schaefer envisioned resourceful hikers making use of what they found along the way," say historians Guy and Laura Waterman — whether hikers' trails, back roads, abandoned wood roads, tow paths, creek beds, game trails, plus occasional bushwhacks where that appeared to offer the most interesting route." They quote him describing the Long Path as: ...[A] route that a person having good "woods" sense could use to move across

1232-413: Is provincial park . Similar systems of local government maintained parks exist in other countries, but the terminology varies. State parks are thus similar to national parks , but under state rather than federal administration. Similarly, local government entities below state level may maintain parks, e.g., regional parks or county parks . In general, state parks are smaller than national parks, with

1309-449: Is Hailes Cave. This cave has 3,700 feet of mapped passages with about 2 miles of potentially unmapped passages. The park also contains glacial features, common to this region, in the form of striated bedrock and glacial erratics. State park State parks are parks or other protected areas managed at the sub-national level within those nations which use "state" as a political subdivision. State parks are typically established by

1386-671: Is a more massive limestone, appears bluish in color, and contains corals and brachiopods , notably gypidula coeymansensis . The gradational contact between the Manlius and Coeymans Formations represents a transgression, or rise in sea level. Overlying the Coeymans Formation, at the top of the escarpment, the Kalkberg Formation contains brachiopods and crinoids and is interpreted as even deeper marine deposits. The New Scotland Formation contains interbedded shale and sandstone; an exposure

1463-560: Is available all year except in the spring. Snow conditions may make hiking difficult. The trail is circular, about 6 miles (10 km) long through wooded areas. The Long Path proposed by Vincent Schaefer of Schenectady is a long-distance hiking trail begun in the 1960s. The trail runs from the George Washington Bridge in New York City and ends at Thacher Park, a distance of 347.35 miles (559.01 km) The park

1540-453: Is designated as a wildlife preserve. There are strict regulations on the non-removal of fossils, rocks, plants, animals and birds from the park. There are also rules on the use of snowmobiles during winter and damage to the park. Breach of the regulations can lead to prosecution. In April 2004, the then New York State Governor George Pataki , announced that 1,800 acres (7.3 km) of Thacher Park and nearby Thompson Lake were to be turned into

1617-783: Is found in Minelot Creek, up creek of the Paint Mine parking area. The Becraft Formation overlies the New Scotland Formation and is a coarse-grained limestone with abundant crinoid debris; it is best exposed in the northern section of the park near Carrick Road, where an unconformity separates the Becraft and overlying Oriskany Sandstone. Due to its predominant limestone bedrock, the park features karst topography which includes numerous disappearing streams, caves, sinkholes, and grikes. The park contains about 40 caves. The longest documented cave

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1694-551: Is likely that the Adirondack Mountain Club or some other group based in the region will have management responsibilities for those sections. Throughout most of its length, whether on or off the road, the Long Path is indicated by a 2-by-4-inch (5 by 10 cm) aqua blaze. In some areas where blazes have not been repainted in some time, older light blue blazes may be found, but the distinctive aqua (sometimes referred to, incorrectly, in some guidebooks as teal ) indicates

1771-602: Is most likely that the most prominent feature of the park, the Helderberg Escarpment got its name from the Dutch Helder meaning bright or light and Berg meaning mountain. In early 2010 the Governor of New York, David Paterson, announced that due to the state's massive budget deficit certain areas of the budget would have to be trimmed in order for the state to maintain proper functions. In his budget cuts, Paterson listed

1848-497: Is open from early summer to mid- November, 8:00 am until sunset, weather permitting. All other trails are open year-round. It is located on the Helderberg Escarpment, one of the best fossil-bearing formations in the US. There are over 12 miles (20 km) of trails in the park including the famous Indian Ladder Trail. Volleyball courts, children’s play areas and numerous cooking/barbecue areas both open and covered. Nearby at Thompson's Lake ,

1925-673: Is the Emma Treadwell Thacher Nature Center , which opened in July 2001 and has permanent and occasional displays for the public to view. The center also offers educational programs and visitor information. From the top of the escarpment, which reaches 1300 ft (400 m), there are fine views of the Hudson and Mohawk Valleys as well as spectacular panoramas of the Adirondacks and Green Mountains of Vermont . The history of

2002-571: Is the route currently recommended by the Trail Conference for anyone considering a thru-hike of the LP, due to its better capacity for camping and fewer road walks, despite the additional 22 miles (35 km) it adds to the trip. However, if doing the Long Path as individual day hikes, it is best to remain on the main trail. Taking the AT one misses the entire north end of Harriman State Park, Schunemunk Mountain and

2079-575: Is to become a state forest outside the park and a new Wild Forest within it. It will also allow for the relocation of the Long Path off roads to follow the Vernooy Kill. The relocation would rejoin the present Long Path route at Vernooy Falls west of Riggsville in the Ulster County township of Rochester . In late 2001, the Catskill Center for Conservation and Development allowed the construction of

2156-527: The Civilian Conservation Corps and Works Progress Administration . Long Path When conceived in the 1930s, it was to be the antithesis of a hiking trail, with neither a designated route nor blazes , simply a list of points of interest hikers could find their own routes to. However, increasing development after World War II in Orange and Rockland counties made that less workable, and it

2233-663: The Sam's Point Preserve in the Shawangunks to VerKeerderkill Falls , was cut a decade later. In 1991, Vince Schaefer prepared a guide to the Long Path north (LPN) section, consisting of a set of five sets of short descriptions of 80+ "Landmarks" with accompanying topographic map locations. The guide was crafted as a hiker's pocket-sized book, entitled Field Guide to the Landmarks of the Long Path of New York: Northern Section -- Gilboa to Whiteface Mt. , prepared by Vincent J Schaefer 1931-1991 with

2310-484: The (southern) Adirondack Blue Line , just north of Lake Desolation, the Long Path took on a "Forever-Wild" character, becoming a bushwhack, a landmark-to-landmark trek through the southern and central park into the High Peaks, following log roads, existing trails, and low volume roads to eventually reach the top of Whiteface Mountain, with its climate observation tower — SUNY's "Schaefer Observatory" of 1980 Olympic fame — as

2387-801: The 369-mile (594 km) journey in 12 days, 5 hours, and 17 minutes. In 2009, Jacob Aronson fulfilled Vincent Schaefer's original concept of hiking from the George Washington Bridge to Schaefer Observatory atop Whiteface Mountain in the Adirondacks. He arrived in Altamont, New York , on July 6 to complete his thru-hike of the Long Path in 27 days. Using a combination of road walks and the Northville-Placid Trail , he made his way from Altamont to Lake Placid , where he climbed nearby Whiteface Mountain on July 25, 46 days after he began hiking. On July 26, 2013 Daniel J. Rosenthal of Sunderland, Vermont , became

John Boyd Thacher State Park - Misplaced Pages Continue

2464-579: The Catskill Center's Platte Clove Preserve follows green diamond-shaped metal markers with the Center's logo on it. Finally, the section in Thacher State Park follows aqua plastic markers with the LP logo. The Shawangunk Ridge Trail uses either the aqua blazes or blue NYSDEC markers, depending on whether it is on public or private land. When it began to be established as a marked trail, the Long Path

2541-499: The Department of Parks and Recreation as one of the areas that would have funding slashed, which meant that certain parks would either be completely shut down or operated at a minimum capacity. Upon learning Paterson's intentions, the people and local governments of New York began a collaborative effort to advocate for the budget to be amended to keep John Boyd Thacher State Park , as well as many other parks and historical sites open for

2618-605: The Devonian rocks. At the base of the escarpment, the Schenectady beds are visible. The Rondout "waterlime" or dolomite overlies the Schenectady beds and is most pronounced below Minelot Falls. The escarpment consists primarily of the Manlius Formation at the base, which is overlain by the Coeymans Formation. The Manlius Formation contains stromatoporoids and abundant desiccation features, notably prism cracks. The Coeymans Formation

2695-571: The Heldeberg Escarpment, making observations and documenting the unique fossil assemblage. In the 1930s, Winifred Goldring , New York's state paleontologist and the first female state paleontologist in the nation, continued the work of pioneering geologists and in 1933 wrote a guide to Thacher State Park that is still in use to this day. The escarpment features rocks of the Upper Silurian and Upper and Middle Ordovician ages resting below

2772-591: The Heritage Trail. The Long Path is under the purview of the Trail Conference, which divides it geographically into three sections: As the areas under the jurisdiction of the latter are somewhat beyond the Trail Conference's usual reach in the Greater New York area, the Long Path North Committee functions somewhat independently. In the future, when the trail begins to extend into the Adirondacks, it

2849-460: The Long Path in the early 21st century is a work in progress, continually evolving even in those places where it has long been a presence. Relocations continue to be made and new sections opened. The central Catskills have seen the greatest activity. In 1999, trail crews completed work on a section starting at the Willow Trail near the summit of Mount Tremper near Phoenicia , descending down into

2926-843: The Long Path onto the Heritage Trail , an Orange County rail-trail. Leaving the rail trail in New Hampton , the trail follows rural roads to the Shawangunk Ridge in Greenville . The online guide suggests that it might be a pleasant route for bicycling . There is hope for moving more of the trail off the roads of western Orange County. South of I-84 still needs to be explored as farms, town parks, conservation easements and even an abandoned rail bed are all possibly available. North of I-84 also needs to be explored as it contains farms, conservation easements and watershed land for both Orange County and

3003-443: The Long Path, and only the Long Path. In the Catskills and the state forests on the Shawangunk Ridge, the trail uses official NYSDEC markers — blue in the Shawangunks, and whatever color is used for the particular trail in the Catskills the LP follows. Markers with the Long Path logo (see above), either in aqua or blue (if older), can sometimes be found on signage at junctions where the LP changes trails. The mile-long trail through

3080-487: The Ramapo Ramblers hiking club, and another city-based hiker, Michael Warren, revived the idea. Since Rockland and Orange counties had become more developed even then, they abandoned the original concept of an unmarked route and pushed instead a conventional trail, although it had to make use of road routes. Over the next two decades they were successful in establishing a continuous trail from the George Washington Bridge to

3157-541: The SRT after 11.25 miles (18.11 km), and the two trails run together for the next 34 miles (55 km). At times it hugs the base of the ridge in some areas due to land-access issues, and has some road walks, but these are slowly being eliminated. The low-lying route in Sullivan County actually is something of a blessing, as it allows hikers to take in the magnificent Basha Kill Wildlife Management Area . The AT-SRT detour

John Boyd Thacher State Park - Misplaced Pages Continue

3234-712: The Unit Management Plan for the Indian Head Wilderness Area, a new section will be built to follow a ridge from Silver Hollow Notch to the Devil's Path on Plateau and eliminate that road walk. Not long afterwards, the state purchased the former Lundy estate in the vicinity of Kerhonkson , 4,930 acres (20.0 km ) straddling the Catskill Park Blue Line near the southern tip of the park. The new property, once occupied by an owner of Lundy's Restaurant ,

3311-495: The base of the rocks. This water is actually from Thompson Lake, some two miles (3 km) away, which makes its way through the porous limestone until it exits here. At the end of the trail, a second set of metal staircases take the visitor back to the top of the escarpment. The trail then continues back to the parking lot, offering excellent panoramas. On the opposite side of the road to the Indian Ladder Trail, this trail

3388-521: The budget to keep parks open. There are over 12 miles (20 km) of trails in the park, the most famous trail being the Indian Ladder Trail. From the Indian Ladder parking lot, the visitor descends 60 ft (18 m) to the base of the escarpment via a metal staircase. From here the trail follows the base of the escarpment passing under the Minelot Falls and by the stream exiting from a small cave in

3465-455: The city of Middletown . One way of solving the Orange County problem, avoiding it entirely, came out the joint efforts of the New York - New Jersey Trail Conference and the National Park Service . In 1989, they conducted a feasibility study on the idea of abandoning northern Orange County altogether and simply having the trail follow the Appalachian Trail from the junction in Harriman to High Point State Park in northwestern New Jersey, where

3542-424: The concept that the trail was open. Schaefer and hiking club pal Al Getz followed the Long Path from Schenectady to Edward's Hill in the southern Adirondacks, near Bakers Mills, New York , in the late 1930s, but as Schaefer and Cady became involved in the war effort and drifted away from the hiking community, the idea of the Long Path as originally conceived quickly became part of history. In 1960, Robert Jessen of

3619-675: The country's state parks. The NASPD further counts over 43,000 miles (69,000 km) of trail, 217,367 campsites, and 8,277 cabins and lodges across U.S. state parks. The largest state park system in the United States is Alaska State Parks , with over 100 sites encompassing 3.3 million acres. Many states include designations beyond "state park" in their state parks systems. Other designations might be state recreation areas , state beaches, and state nature reserves . Some state park systems include long-distance trails and historic sites . To encourage tourism in rural areas, several states have simple lodges, inns, hotels, or motels (usually with

3696-433: The county's Planning Board has made the Long Path route an area of special attention and one of its spines for open space preservation efforts, trying to convince its local counterparts to protect the corridor. North of the Catskills, the Long Path North Committee continues its efforts to bypass road walks and route the trail into more wooded areas, particularly the small state forests in Schoharie County . The main problem

3773-427: The designation at all (such as the lodges of Georgia state parks ). The term "lodge" may also refer to a hiking lodge , essentially a large cabin for hikers rather than a large facility with private rooms and a restaurant. Other lodging may include yurts and tipis . Not all parks owned by a state are necessarily part of its state-park system, such as Stone Mountain Park near Atlanta. Some Texas state parks are

3850-476: The earliest days of the Long Path one of the most difficult issues has been how to get the trail across northern Orange County as a footpath. Between Schunemunk Mountain and the Shawangunks lies the broad valley of the Wallkill River and the many lowlands within, then heavily farmed and now heavily developed. Major progress has been made in Orange County. In 2012 almost half of the 35 miles (56 km) of road walking in Orange County were eliminated by relocating

3927-453: The enjoyment of the people. They have used Facebook, Twitter, a website and petitions as tools to help them show their discontent and become more organized in their efforts to stop the park's closure. Pressure from the public and from some members of the State Legislature resulted in a reversal of the closure proposal. State Senate leaders held a press conference on March 24, 2010 at the capitol, where they said $ 11.5 million would be restored to

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4004-417: The first Long Path thru-hike in 25 days. Several others have followed since. The current Long Path guidebook now has information on nearby post offices , motels and other things useful for those contemplating a thru-hike. On May 24, 2005, trail runner David O'Neill, the founder of Charity Runners Inc., finished the first thru-run of the Long Path, as a benefit for the Trail Conference. He had started on

4081-406: The first of the month; his time of 24 days is the current record for fastest journey up the Long Path. (This included five days where he rested and allowed injuries to heal, and one day he did as a normal hike.) On May 13, 2006, O'Neill repeated the benefit thru-run and became the first to complete a thru-run of the Long Path using the AT-SRT detour. He started on the first of the month and completed

4158-426: The first person to complete a southbound thru-hike on the trail. On September 3, 2013, Kenneth Posner of New York City completed a through-run using the Long Path's 2012 re-route on the Schunemunk Ridge in Orange County, along the Orange Heritage Trail, and to the Shawangunk Ridge Trail in Greenville. His run was mostly self-supported (for the first 300 miles (480 km)); he put food/supply caches at six points along

4235-419: The ground, a low-volume road walk was located through Albany , Schenectady and Saratoga counties, crossing the Helderbergs and the Rotterdam Hills to the Mohawk River . The LPN connected to county and state parks whenever possible and had a goal of relocating sections "off-road". Across the Mohawk the Long Path coursed into the Glenville Hills, with a major off-road section atop Wolf Hollow. As it reached

4312-405: The land or scar the solitude ... and each found site would be an adventure in orienteering . He named his idea the Long Path after Walt Whitman 's line about "the long brown path that leads wherever I choose" from his poem " Song of the Open Road ". Since that was also where Raymond H. Torrey , the New York Post 's influential hiking columnist, had gotten the name for his column, it

4389-446: The last cached location of the Long Path. In summary, the Long Path has become a hybrid trail. A 70-year-old first — an ecologically sensitive "path" from high density urban centers, across the spectacular Eastern New York high country, to the remote, serene, and untampered wilderness. The blazed 357 miles (575 km) of the LP are tailor-made for the traditional blazed-trail hiker, the 100-mile (160 km) low-volume road-walk affords

4466-422: The local flora , fauna , geology , and cultural history of the area. These programs are designed not only to enhance the visitor experience but also to promote conservation awareness and encourage responsible enjoyment of natural resources. There are 6,792 state park units in the United States, according to the National Association of State Park Directors (NASPD). There are some 813 million annual visits to

4543-406: The middle of the decade, it would extend 75 miles (121 km) north of its former terminus, to the Indian Ladder in John Boyd Thacher State Park . In the early 2000s, a further 5 miles (8 km) were opened and blazed to Route 146 , and informal road blazes existed from there to the Mohawk and the Adirondack Park Blue Line. Perhaps reflecting its origins as a trail that wasn't really a trail,

4620-461: The more than 5-mile (8 km) road walk out of Woodland Valley State Campground. All these changes have combined or will to make the 94 miles (151 km) of Long Path in the Catskill Park almost entirely off-road. In the Shawangunks, new agreements with landowners and/or changes in ownership have also made eliminations of road walks possible. Further south, in heavily suburbanized Rockland County, where some road walks are now mostly unavoidable,

4697-439: The neighboring valley and then over "Edgewood Mountain" into Silver Hollow Notch, where it follows an old road down to Route 214 . This section eliminated a lengthy road walk to Willow, albeit at the price of a 2-mile (3 km) road walk into Stony Clove Notch . However, this added Plateau Mountain to the trail route, and pending future approval from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation and an amendment to

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4774-448: The original route and philosophy. Schaefer's son, James M. Schaefer, joined the Long Path North Hiking Club Trail Committee, sharing sets of letters, sketches and plans from his father's files to push the Long Path into the 21st century. With members of the club, a route was set, landmarks were located by Global Positioning System , and digital photos were established for 80-plus places that Schaefer reckoned to be worthy of attention. On

4851-477: The park area dates back around 400 years to a time when the trail now known as the Indian Ladder Trail was used by the Mohawk Iroquois Indians to reach the trading post run by the Dutch. It was here that in 1777, at a spot known as Tory Cave, Jacob Salsbury found refuge from settlers during the Burgoyne Invasion . The region is very well drained as all surface water runs into the limestone, making it an infertile area for farming. There are some fertile areas along

4928-483: The park boundaries. The area has some 1,400 acres (5.7 km) of upland forest with mainly northern hardwoods predominating, but there are also There are several habitat types preserved in the park, including 3,700 m of calcareous cliff, bur black oak swamp, red maple swamp and emergent marsh/scrub swamp. Among flowers that can be seen are Ferns and their relations are also found in cool damp areas especially along Indian Ladder Trail. The Helderberg Plateau comprises

5005-436: The physically challenged with a way to appreciate semi-wild places accompanied by culturally, geologically and historic way-side landmarks. And for the woods savvy hiker, the bushwhacks through the last 150 miles (240 km) of the Long Path capture Vince Schaefer's original vision — a tramp across short distances using 'dead-reckoning, modern point-to-point "geocaching" and sheer map reading, orienteering skills'. 75 years after

5082-404: The residents of Upstate New York and many amenities were added. The purchase of 500 acres (2 km) of land in 2004 with a State grant of $ 750.00 from the Environmental Protection Fund and a donation of land from the Nature Conservancy of 81 acres (320,000 m) and the further purchase of 188 acres (0.76 km) on 3 August 2006 took the total area of the park to 2,155 acres (8.72 km). It

5159-497: The southern Catskills, helped by a major relocation of the trail up Peekamoose Mountain and its continuation over Peekamoose's neighbor, Table Mountain (which previously had no established trails), crossing the east branch of the Neversink River and enabling a link with the existing Catskill trail system. The Catskill route was finally completed in 1987 when a trail was built connecting the snowmobile loop around Kaaterskill High Peak to Palenville . A further missing link, from

5236-419: The state line. Other multi-state parks are legally two separate parks with the same name and more informal cooperation between them. The title of oldest state park in the United States is claimed by Niagara Falls State Park in New York , established in 1885. Several public parks previously or currently maintained at the state level pre-date it. Indian Springs State Park has been operated continuously by

5313-454: The state of Georgia as a public park since 1825, although it did not gain the title "State Park" until 1931. In 1864 Yosemite Valley and Mariposa Grove were ceded by the federal government to California until Yosemite National Park was proclaimed in 1890. In 1878 Wisconsin set aside a vast swath of its northern forests as "The State Park" but, needing money, sold most of it to lumber companies within 20 years. Mackinac National Park

5390-441: The streams and Dutch settlers were brought in to the region by Patroons to whom they paid heavy rents until they freed themselves of the burden through the so-called Helderberg War (also called the Anti-Rent War) of 1839. The park is named after Albany mayor John Boyd Thacher whose widow, Emma Treadwell Thacher, donated the land in 1914. Since its opening the area was designated as a State Park. The park soon became popular with

5467-417: The thought, a "Long Brown Path" exists. As the lower trail neared completion to the northern boundary of Catskill Park at Route 23 in Windham in 1985, H. Neil Zimmerman of the New York–New Jersey Trail Conference renewed interest in the Adirondack connection. The Long Path North Hiking Club was formed, and after some negotiations with area landowners 8 miles (13 km) of trail were opened in 1990. By

5544-555: The trail faces there, ironically, is under-use. Some sections just north of the Catskill Park are getting overgrown and only the blazes remain to indicate the trail. Increasing public awareness of the trail and promoting use of various sections continues to be a concern. Lastly, in 2015 the southern end of the trail was moved to New York City, to the 175th Street subway station in the Washington Heights section of Manhattan. From

5621-526: Was a smart public relations choice. Torrey, who had done much to get the Appalachian Trail built, both physically and in print, in the New York metropolitan area the previous decade, announced the idea in a column in 1933. Another strong advocate in the early days was a transplanted Coloradan , W. W. Cady, who came to be identified with the Long Path almost as much as Schaefer. He and Torrey, who devoted

5698-469: Was difficult for those from out of the region who would need access to maildrops and places to sleep in the areas where camping is not permitted. After several dozen hikers had earned these, it was perhaps inevitable that someone would be the Earl Shaffer of the Long Path, and on May 30, 1998, Mary Ann Nissley of Chalfont, Pennsylvania , a woman with experience hiking many long-distance trails, completed

5775-468: Was established in 1875 as the second U.S. national park before being converted to a state park in 1895. The first state park with the designation of "state park" was Itasca State Park in Minnesota , established in 1891. Many state park systems date to the 1930s, when around 800 state parks (and several national ones) across the country were developed with assistance from federal job-creation programs like

5852-461: Was not built with an eye toward being "thru-hiked" in one continuous trip, as it was more a backbone for creating hiking opportunities in areas which did not yet have them and thus ideal for day trips or short overnights. The Trail Conference did give out rockers for those who completed a tally sheet of trips made on different dates. The trail, even with the AT/Shawangunk Ridge detour available,

5929-532: Was revived in the 1960s as a standard trail. Work to extend the trail into the Adirondacks is currently underway. Vincent Joseph Schaefer , a scientist who worked in Schenectady for General Electric , began to imagine a "hiker's route" from New York City to the Adirondacks shortly after helping to found the Mohawk Valley Hiking Club in 1929. He was very clear on one thing: that it not be marked as

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