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View Full Version : NCT route from eastern terminus to Cazenovia, NY



XCskiNYC
01-19-2011, 18:38
If anybody here has access to detailed NCT maps, a couple of questions:

1) the section of the NCT starting at the eastern terminus -- identified as a "proposed section" -- through Adirondack Park, is that now located on a road walk (NY74 west, US9 south, NY8 west) or are there existing Park hiking trails that run parallel to the roads that are considered the current "proposed section"?

2) Heading west from Rome, NY, does the trail (still "proposed section") follow the "Canalway Trail -- Old Erie Canal State Park" paved path pretty much all the way SW to Canastota, NY?

russb
01-19-2011, 19:53
If anybody here has access to detailed NCT maps, a couple of questions:

1) the section of the NCT starting at the eastern terminus -- identified as a "proposed section" -- through Adirondack Park, is that now located on a road walk (NY74 west, US9 south, NY8 west) or are there existing Park hiking trails that run parallel to the roads that are considered the current "proposed section"?

2) Heading west from Rome, NY, does the trail (still "proposed section") follow the "Canalway Trail -- Old Erie Canal State Park" paved path pretty much all the way SW to Canastota, NY?


Re: #1. Yes and No. There are many hiking trails which run parallel to that route but they are currently not connected to one another requiring significant bushwhacking and at least one lake crossing (IIRC). The proposed section includes cutting new trails to connect the existing trails. I do not remember the ratio of new vs existing trails.

Re; #2. I believe so. But could be wrong.

ki0eh
01-20-2011, 07:35
I thought the Old Erie Canal SP segment was stone dust surface, not quite hot mix asphalt paving, though it has been a few years since I was up there.

I've day hikes many of the off road segments between Canastota and Cazenovia, it does follow an old railroad bed but that was stripped down to the cinders in the 1960's and revegetated. It was an interesting walk and a lot of volunteer trail work went into creating a footpath across the many failed drainage crossings of the rail bed. "Caz" is a cutesy town with more money than is typical for the Appalachian plateau of NY State, the last two times (at least) the NCT Conference was held in NY it was at the small private Cazenovia College. Local horse people have managed to get on some (but not all) of the old railbed path after the hikers cleared it.

You didn't ask about south of Caz but the Stone Quarry Hill Art Park just south of town is an interesting experience directly on the NCT.