DEC proposing to close the main trail to Pokomoonshine from campground

[Peakbagr]

DEC proposing to close the Pokomoonshine trail from the campground. See alert from Hurrican Mt chapter of ADK:

DEC has proposed to close the main trail up Poke-O-Moonshine from the campground on the grounds that it is too steep and unsustainable. The Friends of Poke-O-Moonshine would like your support in asking DEC to re-evaluate this decision. There will be a Draft Unit Management Plan meeting on May 24, 6:30 PM at the Town of Jay Community Center in Ausable Fork. Please try to attend. If you cannot attend, please email your comments to: [email protected].

 

[Tom Rankin]

DEC proposing to close the Pokomoonshine trail from the campground. See alert from Hurrican Mt chapter of ADK:

DEC has proposed to close the main trail up Poke-O-Moonshine from the campground on the grounds that it is too steep and unsustainable. The Friends of Poke-O-Moonshine would like your support in asking DEC to re-evaluate this decision. There will be a Draft Unit Management Plan meeting on May 24, 6:30 PM at the Town of Jay Community Center in Ausable Fork. Please try to attend. If you cannot attend, please email your comments to: [email protected].

I hear the other trail is just fine, and you can bushwhack as well! Right, TJ and Snickers?

 

[Peakbagr]

The other trail is fine, but to describe the trail from the campground as too steep and unsustainable seems more like a budget thing than the reality. One of the beauties of the other trail is it's more lightly used condition, which won't last if the old trail is closed.

 

[BlackSpruce]

Well , I must say I do agree with DEC!

 

[PA Ridgerunner]

That's a fun little climb. Would be a shame to see it shut down.

 

[DSettahr]

Closing this trail wouldn't remove trail access to the fire tower. The trail was constructed because part of the road to the summit was on private property and wasn't open to the public. The state recently purchased the private property, however, and has plans to mark and maintain the old road as an official hiking trail (if they haven't done so already). I believe there are also long term plans to cut a new trail from the campground to the base of the old road, allowing easy access to the old road from the campground without having to drive down the highway.

Based on what I saw when I climbed Poke-o-moonshine several years ago, I would have to say that I support this proposition. The trail up the mountain from the campground is well in excess of what is considered acceptable in terms of slope for a hiking trail. It's deeply eroded and rocky, with numerous exposed roots and precipitous ledges. In short, it's very unsustainable in it's present form. (Not to mention unsafe- I took a pretty bad fall there when I climbed it in Autumn a few years ago and encountered ice on the trail!)

To stabilize the trail would require a lot of work and money. The only way to do it would be to install switchbacks, and perhaps a limited amount of stone staircases, both of which would require a lot of manpower and work, given the ruggedness of the terrain (if it's even possible to do so!). And even then, you'd have to return on a yearly basis to maintain those improvements and ensure the public was actually using them, which would require still more manpower.

Maintaining the old road as the primary route to the summit is certainly a much better alternative. It'd require less man power, less money, and would reduce the overall amount of impact. It's a much more sustainable route in the long term.

 

[Puma concolor]

Even if they "shut it down," it will still be easy enough to follow for decades until they decide to reopen it again.