FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT:
June 1, 1999
JoAnn Dolan
Executive Director
New York-New Jersey Trail Conference
(212) 685-9654
"National Trails Day" Ribbon Cutting and Hike Celebrate New Trail Near Sterling Forest U.S. Department of Agriculture Under Secretary Jim Lyons to Attend Ribbon-Cutting Trail Creation is Partnership between Scenic Hudson, New York-New Jersey Trail Conference, and Palisades Interstate Park Commission
In celebration of the first new hiking trail to be created in Sterling Forest State Park, a ribbon cutting ceremony, followed by a hike, will be held on National Trails Day, Saturday, June 5 at 12:00 noon at Indian Hill, adjacent to Sterling Forest in the Town of Tuxedo. U.S. Department of Agriculture Under Secretary Jim Lyons will join in the ceremony with Scenic Hudson's new Executive Director Ned Sullivan; New York-New Jersey Trail Conference Executive Director JoAnn Dolan, and Palisades Interstate Park Commission Executive Director, Carol Ash.
National Trails Day is an opportunity to celebrate recreational opportunities that are open to the public while protecting the landscape and quality of life in communities. Partnerships are essential to this kind of resource protection. JoAnn Dolan of the Trail Conference explains that Scenic Hudson, a land trust, has purchased Indian Hill with funds from The Lila Acheson and DeWitt Wallace Fund for the Hudson Highlands; Palisades Interstate Park Commission is managing the property as part of Sterling Forest State Park; and the New York-New Jersey Trail Conference has scouted, built and blazed the trail. The land acquisition also requires partnerships, says Dolan. "To continue protecting New York's landscape, it is critical to form funding partnerships between federal, state and private sources." On the federal level, Land and Water Conservation Funds-State Side, and Forest Legacy, are two potential vehicles for federal support under consideration by Congress.
After the ribbon-cutting, participants are invited to hike the new trail. The Indian Hill Loop Trail, so named because of its circular route across a scenic ridge just east of Sterling Forest, traverses over three miles of a diverse terrain including lush hardwood forest and rock outcrops, passing ancient stone walls and an intriguing stone causeway through the forest. The trail offers panoramic vistas of Sterling Forest, the Ramapo River Valley, and Harriman State Park.
Indian Hill is a 490-acre parcel of land strategically located between Sterling Forest, the Appalachian Trail Corridor, and Harriman State Park. It holds one of the keys to enhancing the Appalachian Trail, the nation's oldest long-distance hiking trail which stretches from Maine to Georgia. As the AT passes through Sterling Forest directly adjacent to the Indian Hill property, its southern right-of-way tends to be less than 1,000 feet wide. Protecting Indian Hill from development adds valuable buffer land to this national resource.
The Indian Hill Loop Trail hike offers a special visit to the remains of the historic Southfields Furnace, listed on the National and State Registers of Historic Places. Once a humming Civil War-era industry, the historic Southfield Furnace has been silent since 1887. It is one of the most intact and well-studied historic iron forges in the Highlands Region, where it lies obscured by woodlands, in testimony to a bygone era.
The hike is approximately four miles, and will take about four hours to complete, including the visit to the furnace. Participants are advised to bring their own food and plenty of fluids.
Indian Hill is located in the Town of Tuxedo, Orange County, on County Route 19, Orange Turnpike. To get there:
From the south: North on Route 17 through Tuxedo Park. Just past the Red Apple Rest in the hamlet of Southfields, turn left onto Old Orange Turnpike, County Route 19. Drive approximately one mile, entrance to Indian Hill is on the right.
From the north: South on Route 17 through village of Harriman. Just past Tuxedo Heights Condominiums and a delicatessen in the hamlet of Southfields, turn right onto Orange Turnpike, County Route 19. Drive approximately one mile, entrance to Indian Hill is on the right.
The New York-New Jersey Trail Conference is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to building, maintaining and protecting over 1300 miles of hiking trails in the bi-state region.
*****