Catharine Valley Trail
Catharine Valley Trail, April 2010
Catharine Valley Trail is located in New York
Catharine Valley Trail
Location of Catharine Valley Trail within New York State
TypeState park
LocationSchuyler and Chemung counties, New York
Nearest cityWatkins Glen
Coordinates42°17′11.7″N 76°50′44.7″W / 42.286583°N 76.845750°W / 42.286583; -76.845750
Area218 acres (0.88 km2)[1]
Created2000 (2000)
Operated byNew York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation
OpenAll year
WebsiteCatharine Valley Trail

Catharine Valley Trail is a state park and recreation trail located in Schuyler and Chemung counties, New York.[2] The park is located near Watkins Glen State Park and maintained by its staff,[3] as well as by volunteers.[2]

Description

The park encompasses a recreation trail that follows abandoned railroad grades and canal towpaths between Watkins Glen and Horseheads. The trail is level and finished with crushed limestone, and is wheelchair-accessible.[2] The trail is open year-round, and allows for walking, biking, cross-country skiing, and snowshoeing.[3]

As of 2016, six miles (9.7 km) of the trail are open to the public, with plans for the trail to grow to 12 miles (19 km) in length.[3]

History

Catharine Valley is named for Catherine Montour, a prominent Seneca leader who died in the late eighteenth century.[4]

Portions of the park's trail are built upon towpaths originally constructed for the Chemung Canal, which was completed in 1830 and closed in 1878. Much of the trail's remainder follows the defunct Chemung Railroad, which was built parallel to the canal in 1850. The land that became the park was donated to the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation in 1997 by Ed Hoffman, a local resident who had worked toward the creation of the park since the 1970s.[4]

The first mile of the trail was opened in 2000.[5]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Section O: Environmental Conservation and Recreation". 2014 New York State Statistical Yearbook. The Nelson A. Rockefeller Institute of Government. 2014. Table O-9. Archived from the original on September 24, 2015. Retrieved January 31, 2016.
  2. ^ a b c Price, Kimberly (Fall 2010). "On the Right Path". Life in the Finger Lakes. Retrieved January 23, 2016.
  3. ^ a b c "Catharine Valley Trail". New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation. Retrieved April 23, 2016.
  4. ^ a b Freeman, Rich; Freeman, Sue (2006). "Catharine Valley Trail". Take Your Bike: Family Rides in New York's Finger Lakes Region. Footprint Press, Inc. pp. 111–115. ISBN 9781930480223. Retrieved January 23, 2016.
  5. ^ "Catherine Valley Trail Milestones". Friends of the Catharine Valley Trail. February 19, 2007. Retrieved January 23, 2016.

External links


Protected areas of New York
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