Liberty-Water Gap Trail to proclaim its identity

Verona — On the morning of Saturday, Sept. 30 — National Public Lands Day — the emerging Liberty-Water Gap Trail proclaimed its identity. To commemorate the event, Rails-to-Trails Conservancy presented a check for $5,000 to Columbia Covered Bridge Park of Knowlton Township, on behalf of Coca-Cola. Trail volunteers in Hudson, Essex, Morris, Sussex and Warren counties will erect new trail signs bearing the trail name and logo, which features the Statue of Liberty crown overlooking the Delaware Water Gap. Funds will be used toward creating a park at the trail’s western terminus. More than half complete, the envisioned 156-mile Liberty-Water Gap path begins at Liberty State Park on the Hudson River waterfront in Jersey City. The path will traverse a mix of urban, suburban, wooded and rural settings. Its terminus will be the Delaware Water Gap in Knowlton Township. In 2000, Liberty-Water Gap Trail was first runner-up among New Jersey trails to be named a State Millennium Trail. The Liberty-Water Gap Trail connects many different trails, which will still retain their own identities as well. The Lenape Trail, Patriots’ Path, Sussex Branch Trail and the Paulinskill Valley Trail are the major links, but other trails are included, such as portions of the Morris Canal Towpath and the Highland Trail. The new signs identifying Liberty-Water Gap Trail will supplement local trail signage to avoid confusion for through-hikers, long-distance cyclists and other users. The new signage is funded by part of a Recreational Trails Program grant awarded last fall through the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection to raise awareness of the trail. The grant was received through the technical assistance of the Northeast Regional Office of Rails-to-Trails Conservancy. As Brian Kladko, of the Hackensack, N.J. Record, put it in his July 7, 2002, article, “The 156-mile route isn’t an escape into bucolic splendor, but a journey across America in miniature: Bustling ethnic neighborhoods in Jersey City and Newark, suburban subdivisions in Essex County, small country towns in Warren and Sussex counties, and yes, wooded hills, culminating with the dramatic cliffs of the Delaware Water Gap.” Kladko walked the entire route in 11 days, reporting for The Record. For the check presentation, participants will meet at the New Jersey side of the pedestrian bridge over the Delaware River in Columbia. For more information about Rails-to-Trails Conservancy, visit www.railstotrails.org.