MILLERTON — Visitors to the Harlem Valley Rail Trail will soon be able to learn about everything from Taconic geology to black bears without ever leaving the path, thanks to a new outdoor classroom taking shape just north of Main Street.
Built along a quarter-mile interpretive path branching off the Rail Trail, the classroom combines native landscaping with educational exhibits highlighting the natural and geological history of the Hudson Valley. The quarter mile is dotted with educational panels, some stretching six feet high.
The panels act as the classroom’s instructor. Each one provides a piece of environmental context specific to the Hudson Valley. The placard on tectonic plates, for instance, details how the Taconic Mountains were formed about 460 million years ago; they’re the result of a very slow collision between what is now North America and a series of volcanic isles.
By the end of the path, readers will have been educated on water ecology, plate tectonics, bears, pollinators, songbirds, beavers, skunks — and ticks. Four species of ticks call New York home—the iconic black-legged tick is joined by the American Dog Tick, the Lone Star Tick, and the Woodchuck Tick.
The classroom still needs some finishing touches. Fresh asphalt that surrounds the panels was laid this week, and large stones for sitting will be installed to provide a place to rest.
The impetus behind the project dates back more than a decade. North East Town Supervisor Chris Kennan and Harlem Valley Rail Trail Association chair Dick Hermans were on site at a soft opening on Tuesday, July 14 to welcome new visitors.
“I thought it would be really nice to have a world-class information area here,” Hermans said. “Not long ago, I found a piece of paper from the village, memorializing their support for this project in 2015.”
The opening coincided with Millerton’s 175th celebrations. It’s one of a number of planned upgrades for the trail, which runs from Wassaic to Copake in Columbia County, with plans to continue up to Chatham, just south of Albany. A bridge crossing Route 22 to connect Copake to Hillsdale is next up on the Rail Trail’s list of short-term projects.
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