Help Save Ranger Trail

Our friends at the organization “Friends of Pok-O-Moonshine” have asked CATS to help spread the word about an important project at one of our area’s most popular trails. Please see the letter below from the group’s coordinator, David Thomas-Train, and consider making a donation to help them save the “Ranger Trail” so we all can continue to enjoy this historic route to the mountain’s beautiful view.

Chris Maron
CATS Executive Director

Request From Friends of Pok-O-Moonshine

Dear Friends,

The northwest corner of the new CATS trail map shows two trails on Poke-O-Moonshine labeled “Trail” and “Old Trail.” The trails have since been named “The Ranger Trail” and “The Observers Trail” by the New York Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC), which is considering closing the Ranger Trail because it has severe erosion problems and they lack the funds to maintain two trails.

The Friends of Poke-O-Moonshine, which restored the fire tower as an educational site in 2005 and worked with the Adirondack Nature Conservancy to acquire land for the Observers Trail, has repurposed the Ranger Trail as an interpretive route up the mountain. These efforts focus on the intertwined human and natural histories of “Poke-O” as models for natural resource protection into the future.

Help save historic “Ranger Trail!” (Credit: Friends of Pok-O-Moonshine)

The degraded condition of the Ranger Trail is beyond our volunteers’ ability to remedy. So, we obtained estimates from professional trail crews and companies and a year ago announced a five-year $125,000 campaign to rebuild the Ranger Trail. To date, the Poke-O-Moonshine community has donated just over $63,000, a response that has made our jaws drop! The Ranger Trail is the historic route up the mountain, having been used since the 1840s. It features unique igneous and sedimentary geology and plant life noted for its diversity and richness by biologist Jerry Jenkins.

2018 is the centennial of Poke-O’s fire tower. What better celebration of this legacy than to make the “Old Trail” into the “New Ranger Trail,” a model of sustainable design and an interesting route up this wonderful mountain. NYSDEC has said it will help us build a connector between the bases of the two trails, allowing a choice of circular hiking routes.

Make A Donation

Please join us in saving the Ranger Trail by making a tax-deductible donation to The Friends of Poke-O-Moonshine. Visit our website to make an on-line donation, or send your check, made out to “Friends of Pok-O-Moonshine” to Adirondack Architectural Heritage, 1745 Main St., Keeseville, NY 12944.

Many thanks,
David Thomas-Train, Coordinator
Friends of Poke-O-Moonshine

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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.