Goshen, N.Y. (May 17, 2021)– The Open Space Institute (OSI) today announced a partnership with Orange County to build a new 9.8-mile trail that will span from Camp La Guardia in the Town of Chester to the Moodna trestle in Salisbury Mills. This multi-use recreation trail will expand connections from Schunnemunk State Park to Goosepond Mountain State Park, and the Salisbury Mills Cornwall Trail Station and the Village of Washingtonville and would be utilized by commuters, cyclists, and pedestrians.
The project marks the first significant success outlined in OSI’s Highlands West Connectivity Plan, which was announced in February 2021 in partnership with the Orange County Land Trust and The New York-New Jersey Trail Conference. Chief among the goals of the plan is connecting 93,000 acres of protected land and six state parks in eastern Orange County. This new 9.8-mile trail would achieve roughly 30 percent of the Plan’s connectivity goal of creating and rerouting 30 miles of trails in the region.