News: New Trail Opens at Catskill Interpretive Center for National Trails Day, expanding recreational opportunities on-site

Celebrating the opening. From L to R: Jeff Senterman, Catskill Center, 

Jeff Ryder, NYS DEC, Doug Senterman (NY NJ Trail Conference), 

Ian Dunn (NYS DEC); Photo credit: Rosalind Dickinson

On June 4th, The Catskill Center and the New York-New Jersey Trail Conference celebrated the grand opening of the newly constructed Nature Trail at the Maurice D. Hinchey Catskill Interpretive Center (CIC) in Mount Tremper, NY. The CIC is the visitor center for the Catskill Park and offers visitors a unique Catskills experience with visitor information, hiking and walking opportunities, an outdoor art park, picnicking areas and more. “We are thrilled to continue expanding recreational opportunities on-site here at the Catskill Interpretive Center, while giving our visitors a sense of what they’ll encounter while out enjoying the rest of the Catskill Park,” said Jeff Senterman, executive director of the Catskill Center, and board member of the American Hiking Society.

This past June 4, 2016 was “National Trails Day®”, the country’s largest celebration of trails and a program of the American Hiking Society. National Trails Day events took place in every state across the country and included hikes, biking and horseback rides, paddling trips, birdwatching, geocaching, gear demonstrations, stewardship projects and more.

“The Catskill Park has over 200 miles of trails traversing its vast and beautiful mountains. The Catskill Center and New York-New Jersey Trail Conference built the trail at the Catskill Interpretive Center to give visitors a taste of the larger trail network and the confidence to explore it,” said Ed Goodell, executive director of the New York-New Jersey Trail Conference.

MORE CATSKILL PARK, HIKING, PLANNING AND VISITOR INFO

Read up on the Catskill Park at our Catskill Mountains Information Page for hikes, advice, travel and planning information.   We have a Guide to Hiking in the Catskills available.

Need a hiking map for your hikes in the Catskills?  We recommend the Trail Conference's Catskills Trails 6-Map Set.  These maps are the best available for hiking and outdoor adventures in the Catskills and the Catskill Park. The Catskill Center offers a regional map of the Catskills that provides an excellent overview of the region, it's roadways, attractions and trails.  National Geographic Trails Illustrated also produces a map for the region that is useful for trip planning and road navigation. How about a guidebook?  Both AMC and ADK publish trail guides to the Catskill Region . 

If you are looking for more information about the extensive history of the Catskill Mountains and the Catskill Park, we would suggest reading one of the following: The Catskills, From Wilderness to Woodstock; The Catskill Park, Inside the Blue Line; or The Catskills, It's History and how it changed America. For the most comprehensive natural history of the Catskill Park and the Forests of the Catskill region, we recommend reading The Catskill Forest, a History by Michael Kudish.