New Jersey Cross-State RAIL Trail Becoming Reality
(View Map)
The trail system will be a work-in-progress for several years at least, but portions of it can now be used for hiking, cycling, horseback riding and cross-country skiing.
Maps for trail use have been added to the Liberty-Water Gap Trail Web site,
www.libertygap.org. Much of the eastern portion is hiking-only.
In 2000 Liberty-Water Gap Trail was first runner-up among New Jersey trails to be named a State Millennium Trail. “A lot of people take hiking seriously here in New Jersey,” says Al Kent, of the Morris County Park Commission. “They might say, ‘I’m going to take several Saturdays and walk across the state.’”
Whether it’s across the state or a morning’s hike, the emerging Liberty-Water Gap Trail system, conceived by Kent in the late 1990s, lets people experience on foot—or by bicycle—parts of New Jersey they normally see as just a blur from their car. In rural or wooded areas, Kent says, a trail may be the only way to view the scenery.
As Brian Kladko, of the Hackensack, N.J. Record, put it in his July 7, 2002, article, “The 156-mile route isn't an escape into bucolic splendor, but a journey across America in miniature: Bustling ethnic neighborhoods in Jersey City and Newark, suburban subdivisions in Essex County, small country towns in Warren and Sussex counties, and yes, wooded hills, culminating with the dramatic cliffs of the Delaware Water Gap.” Kladko walked the entire route in 11 days, reporting for The Record.
About three-quarters complete, the envisioned 156-mile path begins at Liberty State Park on the Hudson River waterfront in Jersey City. The path will traverse five counties—Hudson, Essex, Morris, Sussex and Warren—through a mix of urban, suburban, wooded and rural settings. Its terminus will be the Delaware Water Gap.
“It’s a system of many different trails,” says Kent. Primarily these are recreational hiking trails in the east, and multi-use trails created from inactive railroad corridors in the west. Trails will retain their local identities. Lenape Trail, Patriots’ Path, Sussex Branch Trail and the Paulinskill Valley Trail are the major links, but other trails include portions of the Morris Canal Towpath, and the Highland Trail.
Connecting the trails across north Jersey—an ongoing goal of the system’s organizers—will offer more miles of trails and an improved recreational experience. Organizers have begun a program to improve or construct linking sections of trail. A recent grant from the Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission will help close one especially challenging gap: $25,000, awarded to Knowlton Township, will fund a study on completing the last half-mile needed to connect with a foot bridge near Delaware Water Gap.
Signs identifying Liberty-Water Gap Trail will supplement local trail signage to avoid confusion for through-hikers, long-distance cyclists and other users. The new signage program will be piloted in 2006 on the Sussex Branch Trail and the Paulinskill Valley Trail in cooperation with Hopatcong State Park and Kittatinny Valley State Park. It is funded by part of a $25,000 Recreational Trails Program grant awarded last fall through the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection. The grant was received through the technical assistance of the Northeast Regional Office of Rails-to-Trails Conservancy.
“This unique trail network will offer people many different experiences,” notes Tom Sexton, RTC Northeast Regional director. “They’ll find a variety of trail surfaces and a vast range of landscapes—all within convenient distance from this country’s largest metropolitan area.”
Also in this Issue
(View Map)
The trail system will be a work-in-progress for several years at least, but portions of it can now be used for hiking, cycling, horseback riding and cross-country skiing.
Maps for trail use have been added to the Liberty-Water Gap Trail Web site,
www.libertygap.org. Much of the eastern portion is hiking-only.
In 2000 Liberty-Water Gap Trail was first runner-up among New Jersey trails to be named a State Millennium Trail. “A lot of people take hiking seriously here in New Jersey,” says Al Kent, of the Morris County Park Commission. “They might say, ‘I’m going to take several Saturdays and walk across the state.’”
Whether it’s across the state or a morning’s hike, the emerging Liberty-Water Gap Trail system, conceived by Kent in the late 1990s, lets people experience on foot—or by bicycle—parts of New Jersey they normally see as just a blur from their car. In rural or wooded areas, Kent says, a trail may be the only way to view the scenery.
As Brian Kladko, of the Hackensack, N.J. Record, put it in his July 7, 2002, article, “The 156-mile route isn't an escape into bucolic splendor, but a journey across America in miniature: Bustling ethnic neighborhoods in Jersey City and Newark, suburban subdivisions in Essex County, small country towns in Warren and Sussex counties, and yes, wooded hills, culminating with the dramatic cliffs of the Delaware Water Gap.” Kladko walked the entire route in 11 days, reporting for The Record.
About three-quarters complete, the envisioned 156-mile path begins at Liberty State Park on the Hudson River waterfront in Jersey City. The path will traverse five counties—Hudson, Essex, Morris, Sussex and Warren—through a mix of urban, suburban, wooded and rural settings. Its terminus will be the Delaware Water Gap.
“It’s a system of many different trails,” says Kent. Primarily these are recreational hiking trails in the east, and multi-use trails created from inactive railroad corridors in the west. Trails will retain their local identities. Lenape Trail, Patriots’ Path, Sussex Branch Trail and the Paulinskill Valley Trail are the major links, but other trails include portions of the Morris Canal Towpath, and the Highland Trail.
Connecting the trails across north Jersey—an ongoing goal of the system’s organizers—will offer more miles of trails and an improved recreational experience. Organizers have begun a program to improve or construct linking sections of trail. A recent grant from the Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission will help close one especially challenging gap: $25,000, awarded to Knowlton Township, will fund a study on completing the last half-mile needed to connect with a foot bridge near Delaware Water Gap.
Signs identifying Liberty-Water Gap Trail will supplement local trail signage to avoid confusion for through-hikers, long-distance cyclists and other users. The new signage program will be piloted in 2006 on the Sussex Branch Trail and the Paulinskill Valley Trail in cooperation with Hopatcong State Park and Kittatinny Valley State Park. It is funded by part of a $25,000 Recreational Trails Program grant awarded last fall through the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection. The grant was received through the technical assistance of the Northeast Regional Office of Rails-to-Trails Conservancy.
“This unique trail network will offer people many different experiences,” notes Tom Sexton, RTC Northeast Regional director. “They’ll find a variety of trail surfaces and a vast range of landscapes—all within convenient distance from this country’s largest metropolitan area.”
Also in this Issue
posted by yaguara2003 at 10:38 PM
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i love moderate liberals....
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