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To the Editors:
Saugerties has reached a new milestone with the opening to the public of Falling Waters, a Hudson River property with over two miles of trails on pristine land. There are places along the lower trail where one can have views of the river while resting on newly crafted rustic benches still redolent with the smell of freshly cut red cedar. Creation of these extraordinarily well designed trails resulted from a three-way partnership of Scenic Hudson, the Esopus Creek Conservancy and the Dominican Sisters of Sparkill. The trails opened yesterday, July 24 to the acclaim of over a hundred visitors, including the Town Board, State Assemblyman Pete Lopez and representatives of other state and county officials and will remain open daily to the public year round from dawn to dusk.
The careful preparation is evident in the width, sound surface, and beauty of the trails themselves. One is exposed to a rich variety of arching trees, two waterfalls, and the ruins of century old ice houses along the mighty Hudson. While the river's edge is choked with the invasive water chestnut extending hundreds of feet, one can experience the views to the estates and hear passing boats and the haunting horns of the Amtrak trains leaving Rhinebeck over a mile away on the opposite shore.
This milestone follows the creation in 2003 of the 161 acre Esopus Bend Nature Preserve on the southern end of the Village of Saugerties which encompasses the former Schroeder farm roads as well as the earliest Native American and Dutch Carriage trails through the settlement and up into the Catskill Mountains. During the opening yesterday of Falling Waters, Dominican Sisters Kate and Margaret described to visitors how they used to walk into the Village of Saugerties up Spaulding Lane to Route 9W. While the formal entrance to the public approaching by car is a mile further south on 9W off Josephs Drive, neighbors are encouraged to walk in along Spaulding Lane itself, following the route used by the sisters 40 years ago.
Since the Town has adopted a conservation zoning law which encourages the development of walking trails, we may look forward to the day when we can walk everywhere, not only for pleasure and exercise, but as a useful and convenient way to get places and to eat, shop, visit, and do business in the Village. The state, county and town highway departments must include walking as an integral part of all road building and improvement in their annual budgets. The needs of cyclists and pedestrians have to be met just as well as those of drivers of motor vehicles.
Sincerely,
Barry Benepe
To the Editors:
Saugerties has reached a new milestone with the opening to the public of Falling Waters, a Hudson River property with over two miles of trails on pristine land. There are places along the lower trail where one can have views of the river while resting on newly crafted rustic benches still redolent with the smell of freshly cut red cedar. Creation of these extraordinarily well designed trails resulted from a three-way partnership of Scenic Hudson, the Esopus Creek Conservancy and the Dominican Sisters of Sparkill. The trails opened yesterday, July 24 to the acclaim of over a hundred visitors, including the Town Board, State Assemblyman Pete Lopez and representatives of other state and county officials and will remain open daily to the public year round from dawn to dusk.
The careful preparation is evident in the width, sound surface, and beauty of the trails themselves. One is exposed to a rich variety of arching trees, two waterfalls, and the ruins of century old ice houses along the mighty Hudson. While the river's edge is choked with the invasive water chestnut extending hundreds of feet, one can experience the views to the estates and hear passing boats and the haunting horns of the Amtrak trains leaving Rhinebeck over a mile away on the opposite shore.
This milestone follows the creation in 2003 of the 161 acre Esopus Bend Nature Preserve on the southern end of the Village of Saugerties which encompasses the former Schroeder farm roads as well as the earliest Native American and Dutch Carriage trails through the settlement and up into the Catskill Mountains. During the opening yesterday of Falling Waters, Dominican Sisters Kate and Margaret described to visitors how they used to walk into the Village of Saugerties up Spaulding Lane to Route 9W. While the formal entrance to the public approaching by car is a mile further south on 9W off Josephs Drive, neighbors are encouraged to walk in along Spaulding Lane itself, following the route used by the sisters 40 years ago.
Since the Town has adopted a conservation zoning law which encourages the development of walking trails, we may look forward to the day when we can walk everywhere, not only for pleasure and exercise, but as a useful and convenient way to get places and to eat, shop, visit, and do business in the Village. The state, county and town highway departments must include walking as an integral part of all road building and improvement in their annual budgets. The needs of cyclists and pedestrians have to be met just as well as those of drivers of motor vehicles.
Sincerely,
Barry Benepe
