I have been a fan of the Old Forge area for more than 30 years, and enjoy everything about the Adirondacks except the flies, especially the outdoor recreation.
I am from Falls Church, VA, I’m a biker, and I am very familiar with the Virginia Creeper Trail, which was talked about in a letter to the editor recently.
I’ve biked the Creeper Trail many times with my parents, and my siblings and our children.
Everything about the trail mentioned in the letter is true. Much info was not mentioned, and some of it makes comparison to the Adirondack Railroad completely irrelevant.
Damascus, VA, the main hub of the Creeper Trail is described on its website as Trail Town USA. The Damascus website states: “It is traversed by the Appalachian Trail, the Virginia Creeper Trail, the Trans-America National Bicycle Trail, the Iron Mountain Trail, the Daniel Boone Heritage Trail, the Crooked Road Musical Heritage Trail, Virginia’s Birding and Wildlife Trail, and lies within a short distance of hundreds of miles of other hiking, horse, and biking trails.”
The four nationally prominent trails are the Appalachian, the Virginia Creeper, Iron Mountain, and US Bike Route 76 (Trans-America).
The rail trail is the latest edition to the mix. Many bikers are shuttled to Whitetop Mountain Station, and ride an easy 17 miles downhill to Damascus.
Otherwise the longest distance between main points is eight miles between Abingdon and Alvarado.
Other towns are within two miles of each other.
To consider families, recreational bikers, adaptive needs bikers and wheelchair users to ride the Adirondack Rail corridor 15 to 22 miles between towns is unrealistic.
Throw in the unpredictable Adirondack weather, and you have wet, cold, unhappy people at best.
Years ago, our family paddled upper Stillwater and Lake Lila, and were given markers to flag down the trains, which would bring us back to Thendara.
We would love to see a recreational trail with the railroad. Why fight about one or the other?
If it’s a question of where to put the trail in places, figure it out. Bridges were constructed on the Virginia Creeper Trail, over federal protected waterways and lands.
Costly? Figure it out. I’ve paid state taxes in New York and Virginia, and I don’t get a say in what highways or bridges get that money.
Any state funds not directed to the railroad certainly would not flow directly to Route 28.
From reading the NY State announcement, it’s clear the railroad will continue to run to Old Forge and Big Moose, and the rails will stay in place to Tupper Lake.
Efforts should be directed toward getting a trail from Big Moose to Long Lake and Tupper Lake adjacent to the railroad.
Use that as a model, and it could prove the success that rail-trail advocates are speculating on before the railroad is running there.
Doug Johnson
Falls Church, VA
