Help Revitalize Lenape Trail
Trail Ambassadors Needed: Bike&Walk Montclair Encourages Volunteer Participation
Spring 2010
Montclair and Essex County are home to one of the most unique and under appreciated public recreational assets in the Northeast: the Lenape Trail. Have you ever noticed those small (2”x4”) yellow rectangles emblazoned on trees and telephone poles along the paths in Brookdale Park and along a number of streets in Upper Montclair? They mark this ‘hidden gem’ of a trail, which stretches for over thirty miles from the southern entrance of Branch Brook Park in Newark to its junction with the Patriots Path at the Essex County Environmental Center in Roseland. Along the way, the Lenape Trail winds through sixteen of Essex County’s most beautiful parks and reservations, tying together points of natural and historic interest.
The Lenape Trail is part of a seven-member trail system which together form the Liberty Water Gap Trail (LWGT). The LWGT, now 90% complete, stretches for 130 miles across the entire state of New Jersey, from the shore of the Hudson River in Liberty State Park, to the Delaware Water Gap.
This summer, with the support of the New York New Jersey Trail Conference and the Essex County Parks Department, a project is being kicked off to revitalize and raise public awareness of the Lenape Trail and Liberty Water Gap Trail.
Bike&Walk Montclair will be helping with this project, and participating in an informal ‘Friends of the Lenape Trail’ organization to help maintain, advocate, and promote these trails. Some of the short-term efforts beginning this spring are:
- participation in trail blaze/signage planning and field work
- ongoing support as an ‘Adopt-a-Trail’ volunteer for a section of the Lenape Trail
- organizing future trail promotions (e.g. walkathons, hikes, etc)
- improving content and map features on the Website help (if you know ‘Joomla!’ Steve would REALLY like to speak with you!)
If you are interested in becoming a Volunteer Trail Ambassador, please contact Steve Marano, Acting Director of the Liberty Water Gap Trail Coordinating Committee. You can learn more about the trails, and take advantage of its Google Maps-enabled interactive map at www.libertywatergap.org.
For more information, contact:
Steve Marano
NYNJTC Revitalization Project Manager
Acting Director the Liberty Water Gap Trail Coordinating Committee
steve@libertygap.org
201-392-6921