Charting the Trail for 2016

Yes! We have big plans for you in 2016. Please help us accomplish these goals by making your donation now!

Saving Land

2016 is shaping up to be a big year. Land protection possibilities include:

A conservation easement to protect 120.5 acres in Westport that you see from Coon Mountain. It’s scheduled to close early in the year using funds from the Open Space Institute’s Klipper Family Fund for the Champlain Valley.
Assisting Eddy Foundation to purchase 6 acres to secure access to the Boquet Mountain Trail.
Two lakefront properties; one in Essex and the other in Westport.
A farm near Coon Mountain and Split Rock Wild Forest.
A lakefront property at Long Pond being coordinated through our Long Pond Conservancy Program.

Trails

People love new trails. Check out what’s in the works!

Determining a 55-mile hamlet-to-hamlet route from Ticonderoga to Keeseville.
The formal opening of Sophie’s Lair and Florence Hathaway Trails in Willsboro.
Creating a New Trail in Westport that will be the first link in a trail from the Train Station to the trail connecting Westport and Essex.
Open the High Point Trail so you can walk or ski to the highest point on Willsboro Point.
Start the long-envisioned Boquet River Trail in Elizabethtown.
Finally open the Essex Gateway Trail.
A rail-to-trail project in Crown Point.
Join our trail projects scheduled for the third Saturday of the month and other days.

Events

Our Celebrate Champlain Area Trails Event, held on National Trails Day, will include the spring Grand Hamlet-to-Hamlet Hike.

We are working with the Regional Office of Sustainable Tourism and others on a Fall Harvest Festival in September featuring autumn’s hamlet-to-hamlet hike.

Outdoor Education

Connecting people with nature!

Our Winter Schedule features owl prowls, snowshoeing, animal tracking and designing your dream trail (for details, click HERE).
We are working on the Spring and Summer Schedule. Check our events page often for updates!

All this happens because of you! Please make a donation now so you can walk through the woods on new CATS Trails and so people come here to enjoy the famous Champlain Valley Hamlet-to-Hamlet Hiking and Biking Trails.

Chris Maron
CATS Executive Director

Saturday Volunteer Project (www.essexonlakechamplain.com)

About Champlain Area Trails (CATS)

Champlain Area Trails (CATS) is a non-profit organization, begun in 2009, which creates and maintains hiking and cross-country ski trails in the Champlain Valley that link communities, connect people with nature, and promote economic vitality. In its short history, CATS has developed 35 miles of trails that when added to existing trails, gets it half-way toward the long-envisioned goal of a 30-mile trail loop between Westport and Essex. CATS will extend its trails to neighboring towns and eventually connect them to trails in the Adirondack Mountains, Vermont, and Quebec. Learn more on the CATS website.