Long Path Protection Plan Highlights Remaining Protected Corridor Gaps

The New York-New Jersey Trail Conference is excited to announce the completion of the Long Path Protection Plan (LPPP), a comprehensive portfolio of maps and project descriptions through 10 counties in New York. The LPPP covers all of the unprotected gaps that need to be protected to permanently protect the Long Path trail corridor of more than 425 miles in length, and it should help advance shared missions and open space goals with partners and ultimately help expedite the goal of creating a protected Long Path corridor from New York City to the Adirondacks.

Download PDFs of the complete Long Path Protection Plan, or individual sections and counties, in the table below

The Long Path

The Long Path is a trail that extends nearly 360 miles as a completed trail from near the 175th Street Subway Station in New York City to John Boyd Thacher State Park near Albany, New York, the current official terminus. The trail continues northward with blazed roadwalks and some off-road sections to the Mohawk River, and then a mostly unblazed roadwalk to reach Northville in Adirondack Park. The aqua-blazed Long Path traverses many scenic and historic regions of varied geologic settings on the west side of the Hudson River, including the Palisades, Harriman State Park, the Shawangunk Ridge, the Catskills, and the Helderberg Escarpment.

The Trail Conference has been championing the Long Path for decades and has had many success stories with corridor protection for this trail and the associated Shawangunk Ridge Trail, including acquiring more than 400 acres of land for the Long Path corridor over the past 4 years, and finally having a comprehensive protection plan will bring many benefits. Thanks to an NYS Conservation Partnership Program Conservation Catalyst Grant and support from the Land Trust Alliance, the Trail Conference and its partners now have a vision and plan for trail corridor protection along the entire trail. We look forward to using the plan to collaborate with partners throughout the state to elevate the protection of the Long Path and the lands through which it passes, helping to ensure the expertise and passion of our dedicated volunteers and staff will have long-lasting effects on land conservation in New York.

The Long Path Protection Plan

The LPPP is a 179-page comprehensive portfolio of maps and project area descriptions. The plan is organized in three distinct sections and by county, starting at Rockland County and proceeding northward to Saratoga and Fulton counties, with individual project areas within each county that are largely focused on unprotected property between already-protected lands. Each county section also includes an overview and history of the Long Path through that county. Links to download the complete LPPP or individual sections and counties can be found below.

A total of 54 project areas, covering 376 priority parcels, are included in the plan. Each project area includes a detailed map that highlights already-protected parklands and corridor priority parcels, along with the current route of the Long Path, other trails, and potential proposed routes where desired. To provide additional context, parking access, scenic viewpoints, other points of interest, road names, town names, park names, and waterbody names are included.

A narrative description accompanies each project area map to provide an analysis of parcels for which some form of protection should be secured, ranging from direct acquisition to other easements or agreements that could protect the corridor and the trail. These descriptions also detail the actions needed so that the Trail Conference and our partners can strategically prioritize protection efforts.

While this plan is focused primarily on corridor protection for trail purposes, it has the added benefit of providing a plan for wildlife habitat corridor protection and overall protection of flora and fauna in sometimes unique environments.

Next Steps

With the completion of this Long Path Protection Plan, the Trail Conference is aiming to obtain more support from park partners, landowners, land trusts, and county and municipal officials to further shared goals of open space and recreation. In addition, our internal Long Path Committee is already using the plan to identify crucial project areas, and our energized volunteers and dedicated staff expect to use this vision document to make headway with corridor protection in many areas.

We have seen public support for trails grow over the last two years, and this is reflected in the outstanding numbers of Long Path through hiking completions and a growing, vibrant community of hikers, runners, volunteers, and landowners who are supportive of the Long Path. This Long Path Protection Plan, and the momentum of protection and trail improvements it will drive, will hopefully elevate the Long Path as a premier long-distance trail that uniquely connects New York City to the Adirondacks.

Download PDFs of the complete LPPP, or individual sections and counties, in the table below:

Special Thanks

This Long Path Protection Plan came together thanks to several dedicated individuals, most notably Andy Garrison and Nick Boyle. Our land protection efforts and the development of this plan would also not have been possible without large amounts of funding support:

• The Long Path Protection Plan was supported with funding from the New York State Conservation Partnership Program (NYSCPP) and New York’s Environmental Protection Fund. The NYSCPP is administered by the Land Trust Alliance, in coordination with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation.
• Additional funding for this plan came from the Trail Conference’s donor-supported Land Acquisition and Stewardship Fund (LASF).

We hope this Long Path Protection Plan will inspire more people to join the cause to protect the important lands throughout our region!