New Trails in the Neversink River Unique Area

April 26, 2023
Volunteer Trail Supervisor Lou Baldanza
New York-New Jersey Trail Conference

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New Trails in the Neversink River Unique Area
Neversink River Unique Area

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Trail users can now enjoy two new trails in the Neversink River Unique Area in Sullivan County, NY: the Fish Hatchery Trail and the Connector Trail!

 

An updated map with the new trails is now available as a free download on our website, and as a free digital map on the Avenza Maps app for Apple and Android phones.

 

A Brief History of the Fish Hatchery Trail

In 1991, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) acquired 2,069 acres of land west of the Neversink River, which was partly encumbered by a lease to a privately owned fish hatchery. The hatchery and a surrounding 243-acre buffer were off limits to the public. Nineteen years later, the fish hatchery was abandoned and the NYSDEC made plans to demolish the hatchery structures and to eliminate the buffer area. The demolition was delayed, but in the fall of 2021 the NYSDEC opened a new trailhead and trail—the aptly named Fish Hatchery Trail. 

 

Hiking the New Trails

The Fish Hatchery Trail—a red blazed trail—makes a gradual descent to the river generally paralleling the scenic Eden Brook. The trail is a wood road and there are private owners on some parcels on the north side of the road—please respect all posted signs! The Fish Hatchery Trail connects to the Blue Trail West and via that trail, to the red blazed Cold Spring Trail.

The second new trail, completed in early 2023, is the yellow blazed Connector Trail connecting the Fish Hatchery and Cold Spring trails. It starts at the Fish Hatchery Trailhead and connects to the Cold Spring Trail about half a mile from the Cold Spring Trailhead. It is now possible to make a loop hike west of the Neversink River, using the connector trail to the Cold Spring Trail, thence to the Blue Trail West and finishing on the Fish Hatchery Trail back to the trailhead.

 

A special thanks to the NYSDEC for their hard work bringing these new trails to fruition, and to the Trail Conference volunteers for their continued maintenance of the trails in the Neversink River Unique Area! 

 

Check out our selection of other free maps!

 

While these maps may be free to use, our organization needs your support to help protect, build, and maintain more than 2,100 miles of trails throughout the region. Support the trails you love by: