TAKING SHAPE
Champlain Canalway Trail keeps growing
SCHUYLERVILLE, N.Y. >> The 77mile Champlain Canalway Trail is taking shape piece by piece, with more sections scheduled for construction this year.
When complete, the multi-use trail from Waterford to Whitehall is expected to generate more than 430,000 visits per year, giving a significant economic boost to 19 municipalities it passes through.
Tracey Clothier, of the Saratoga Springs-based LA Group, provided an update on the project to Historic Hudson-Hoosic Rivers Partnership members at Saratoga Town Hall on Monday.
“Each municipality is in charge of their own trail section,” she said. “Be ready, you’ve got to start marketing it now.”
The trail seeks to link assets such as canal lock and waterfront parks, and area visitor centers, which tell about the region’s history while encouraging people to explore new recreational opportunities in the area.
There are approximately 31 and 46 miles in Saratoga and Washington counties, respectively. About 11.5 miles are already complete in Saratoga County, and nine more in Washington County.
Stillwater Supervisor Ed Kinowski said plans call for fin-
ishing several more miles this year from the village of Stillwater south to Mechanicville.
In addition, Saratoga County has obtained a $4 million grant to extend the Zim Smith Trail to Mechanicville, where it would hook into the Champlain Canalway. The Zim Smith Trail currently goes from Ballston Spa in the north to Coon’s Crossing, in Halfmoon, on the south.
Each section of Canalway trail, such as Waterford to Stillwater, and Schuylerville to Greenwich, is expected to have from 68,000 to nearly 80,000 visitors per year.
“These numbers are real,” said Mechanicville Supervisor Tom Richardson, who also chairs the Hudson-Hoosic partnership.
Clothier also told howthe Canalway Trail fits into a much larger, proposed new Empire State Trail that will go from New York City to Canada, and from Albany to Buffalo. The Canalway Trail is an integral part of the north-south Empire State Trail corridor.
“People are really going to flock to these trails once they know about them,” Clothier said.
Municipalities are encouraged to take “nuts and bolts” steps such as providing signage, creating websites and maps, and identifying parks, visitor centers and rest rooms along the way.
In a related effort, the Hudson-Hoosic partnership continues to seek funding for completion of a new Gateway Visitors Center near Fort Hardy Park, in Schuylerville. The timber frame-style structure is already up, but money is needed for interior work where interpretive exhibits would be displayed, directing people to various local attractions such as Saratoga National Historical Park and Rogers Island in Fort Edward.
Richardson said state Assemblywoman Carrie Woerner, D-Round Lake, is seeking approval for a $250,000 grant to fund such work.
“Hopefully by the end of this year we’ll have the first floor open, where primary features will be located,” he said.
This year, the Waterfordbased Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor is undertaking two newinitia- tives to generate more recreational and tourism-related use of the state’s 524mile canal system.
One is a Canalway Challenge that invites people to cycle, kayak, run or walk sections of trail. People may register online (canalwaychallenge.org), track their miles and receive a certificate and decal for the distance traveled such as 15, 90, 180 miles or a 360-mile “end-to-ender” for those who go all way from Buffalo to Albany.
The other initiative is a new Water Trail Guidebook and Navigational Map designed specifically for paddlers. For information go to: www.eriecanalway.org/ watertrail.