Even More of Moreau!

Here's terrific news for those of us who love Moreau Lake State Park! Just last week, New York's Governor Andrew Cuomo announced the addition of 131 acres of land to the park, bringing the park's total acreage to 6100 acres.  And this new land is not just any old patch of ordinary woods, but rather a gorgeous expanse of mountainous forest, with rocky heights offering spectacular views of the Hudson River and surrounding mountains.  The photo above (provided by the park) shows one of the vistas, looking upstream past a group of small islands toward the Spier Falls Dam in the distance.

This new parcel, called the Baker Property, adjoins land already included within the park and will connect the mountainous riverside lands that run all the way downstream to Potter Point.  Construction of new trails will begin in the spring, and they will be accessible to bicyclers and equestrians as well as hikers.  Hunting will also be allowed, in season.  Connections to existing trails will create new long-distance hiking opportunities, including the planned Palmertown Range Trail, which would link the state park to Saratoga Springs. A new trailhead and parking area will be constructed eventually near the Sherman Island Boat Launch on Spier Falls Road.

I have not yet explored this new parcel, although I have climbed a high powerline that adjoins it, and so I can personally attest to the wondrous qualities of these forested mountains. 

The views are spectacular, of course, but equally of importance to a wildflower enthusiast like me are the plants I find on these heights, plants that I have found nowhere else in the county.  I have posted a number of blogs about my exploration of these heights, and here's a link to just one of them:  Plants of a High Rocky Clearing.