Collaborative Conservation: How Our Corps Crews Enhance the Trail Experience in Harriman State Park 

When setting off on a hike, many of us seek the simple solace only nature can provide—those quiet moments when nothing but sweet birdsong and the crunch of leaves underfoot accompany our wandering thoughts.  

Within New York’s Harriman State Park, the Trail Conference’s determined Conservation Corps crews have worked tirelessly to protect and restore native habitats along the park’s most beloved trails. Thanks to their joint efforts, such tranquil moments not only endure, they flourish!  

A Collaborative Success in Trail Stewardship

In recent years, our crews have worked in tandem to establish “invasives-free zones” along a popular mile-long corridor, following the Arden-Surebridge Trail and connecting Dunning-Long Path loop from the Lake Skannatati parking area.

Together, our Invasives Strike Force, Trail Stewards, and Trail Crew have managed and removed invasive species along this corridor, leveraging historical Trail Conference Volunteer Surveyor data to target sections of trail where eradication was achievable.  

Over the 2024 and 2025 seasons, crews successfully removed swaths of invasive plants, including thorny barberry, pervasive Japanese stiltgrass, spiked Japanese angelica tree, and other species that our Surveyor Volunteers reported.  

The numbers speak for themselves: Across 21 acres of land, our crews removed over 800 individual invasive plants and more than 380,000 square feet of Japanese stiltgrass!  

Building a More Sustainable Future for Our Trails

In addition to these extraordinary achievements, our Trail Crew constructed multiple drainage features to address persistently muddy areas and built a stone staircase to improve tread along the loop. Such enhancements help prevent trail erosion, improve hiker safety, and ensure the long-term sustainability of the trail.

As the project’s pièce de résistance, the Trail Crew installed a boot brush station at the Lake Skannattati trailhead, courtesy of our partners at Play.Clean.Go.  

Boot brush stations not only help hikers clean their footwear as they enter and exit trails, but they also serve as educational stations that remind us of the vital link between invasive species awareness and Leave No Trace principles.  

These joint successes aim to enhance the trail experience for visitors, curb the spread of invasive plants, and safeguard rare, threatened, and endangered species that inhabit the area.  

We hope such collaborative initiatives will be the first of many moving forward, benefiting the ecological health of our region’s trail lands and wild spaces for years to come. 

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Become a Leader in Conservation! Our Conservation Corps crews play a critical role in enhancing native habitats, educating the public, and protecting miles of trails across our region. Tap the button below to learn more about the program and how you can get involved!