What a dream!! The Trails Master Plan is a project underway to link eighteen different trail hubs into an integrated hiking and biking and water trail system that will eventually go all around Lake George – about 100 miles in total. When completed the Trails Plan will include biking, kayaking, steamship, trolley and lodging options – a wonderful Adirondack adventure!
The current portion of the project, Trails Master Plan for the West Side of Lake George, is headed by the LA Group: Landscape Architecture and Engineering, P.C. The Towns of Bolton, Hague, Lake George and Ticonderoga, the Village of Lake George, and the Lake George Land Conservancy are working together on this project, the first phase of which is to link land trails on the west side of Lake George.
The main concerns for linking trails are right-of-way and easement issues. Some of the road portions of potential trails have very little shoulder space, and no clearance to improve the situation. Cyclists often have to move into already heavily-trafficked lanes – a safety issue for both automobiles and bicyclists. The ten mile stretch of Route 9N from the village of Lake George to Bolton Landing is one example of a road that is prime for bicycle travel, but not wide enough to create a bicycle lane – there are often stone walls on both sides of the road.
In some places bike clubs have joined forces with snow mobile clubs, who already help maintain thousands of miles of trails in the Northeast, and have done a lot of work to secure clear permission over private lands – but that is just in the winter.
Several bike clubs are helping in this Trails effort – you can usually find a bike club that is “in your speed zone” by checking at the bicycle shops – there are about ten bike shops between the Glens Falls/Queensbury area and Saratoga Springs. Saratoga has long been recognized as a hub of bicycle activity since the days of Skidmore ladies using bikes as the main form of transportation. Saratoga Springs is also home to the world famous Serotta custom built bicycle company – a favorite of bike racers. Bicycle shops are also great places to find maps and trail guides for local bike rides.
The Bolton Chamber of Commerce carries maps for the two favorite trails, the Warren County Bikeway from Glens Falls to Lake George Village, mostly paved and for non-motor traffic; and the Feeder Canal Park Heritage Trail, which ends at the Old Champlain Canal Towpath. You can also get copies of these maps at the Adirondack Glens Falls Transportation Council: http://www.agftc.org/ And you can visit Bike Adirondacks at http://bikeadirondacks.org/
Bike clubs often organize group rides, and are great sources of information for safe and sane riding. There are several state and national historical parks nearby that are wonderful for low-automobile use, high-fun and very scenic rides.
You can che
ck out the Lake George Trails plan by going to http://www.boltonnewyork.com/public-notices There is a prompt for printing the document, which has some stunning photographs and maps. You can also contact the Project Manager directly: Tracy Clothier, at [email protected]thelagroup.com (518) 587-8100
While the Trail project is still a bit in the future, Bolton Landing is home to a lot of hiking trails that are just made for mountain biking. You can go to http://bikeadirondacks.org for lots of links to bike centers and tours.
What kind of biking do you like to do – BMX in any kind of weather, sleek racing at top speeds, family touring on country lanes on a sunny day?
Penelope Jewell]]>