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APPALACHIAN TRAIL BEGAN IN BEAR MOUNTAIN PARK - 10 March, 2004
By Bond Brungard
It traces much of the East Coast, rambling through the wilderness from Georgia to Maine, but the Appalachian Trail originated within squinting distance, possibly aided with a pair of binoculars, of some of New York City’s largest spires.
The trail, which stretches 2,160 miles from Springer Mountain in Georgia to Mount Katahdin in Maine, began in Bear Mountain following an 1921 article written by Benton MacKaye for the Journal of the American Institute of Architects.
Dutchess County’s longest linear park, the trail traverses a little more than 31 miles in southeastern Dutchess County.
In MacKaye’s article, he acknowledges recreational opportunities in the West in places such as Yosemite and Yellowstone parks.
MORE LEISURE TIME NEDED.
In the article, MacKaye cited the need for more leisure time for industrial workers. He suggested the Appalachian Mountains, with their close proximity to the East Coast urban centers, as a natural platform to help enhance the well-being of deserving workers.
So, MacKaye proposed building a trail along the Appalachian skyline, citing as examples existing trails in Vermont and New Hampshire.
In 1923, the first section of the trail was completed in Bear Mountain State Park. Its lowest point crosses the Bear Mountain Bridge over the Hudson River before weaving north through Putnam and Dutchess counties.
The trail rambles across the ridges of the Appalachians, including New Hampshire’s Mount Washington. The mountain has been known to have snow in every month and some of the harshest weather on Earth has been recorded there.
“We own the right of way,” Tim Sullivan, the chief park ranger for the Palisades Interstate Park Commission, said, “but it’s maintained by the New York-New jersey Trail Conference.”
Glen Nison, a member of the Adirondack Mountain Club, which has a camp at Harriman-Bear Mountain State Park, has hiked more than 10 miles of the trail, primarily in the regional state park.
Since the trail covers so many states and has national appeal, Nison said he’s found it to be well-maintained.
“It’s probably a little more maintained,” he said, “because it’s a through trail and it’s better marked.”
The Poughkeespie Journal
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