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Ribbon-cutting ceremony for new Lost Pond Nature Trail in Cranberry Lake set for May 31

Posted 5/30/19

CRANBERRY LAKE -- The Five Ponds Partners (an all-volunteer sub-committee of the Clifton-Fine Economic Development Corporation) will conduct a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new Lost Pond Nature …

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Ribbon-cutting ceremony for new Lost Pond Nature Trail in Cranberry Lake set for May 31

Posted

CRANBERRY LAKE -- The Five Ponds Partners (an all-volunteer sub-committee of the Clifton-Fine Economic Development Corporation) will conduct a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new Lost Pond Nature Trail at 3:30 p.m. Friday, May 31, at the trailhead.

The trailhead is located in the boat launch parking lot on Columbian Road (the large parking lot on south side of road).

The ceremony is open to everyone. Following the ribbon-cutting, those in attendance are welcome to walk the gentle 2-mile trail out and around Lost Pond. It is well marked and provides several benches for resting.

The Lost Pond Nature Trail, a self-guided nature trail, was originally built in the late 1970s under the leadership of Dr. Ed Ketchledge.

Dr. Ketchledge was a long-time, highly respected professor at ESF. He taught both on the main campus and at the Cranberry Lake Biological Station.

The original trail was shorter and just went to the pond, not around it.

By the 1990s, the trail was seeing decreased use and was starting to grow back in. By the early 2000s, it had all but vanished.

When NY State acquired a recreation easement on the property (which is currently owned by Molpus Woodlands), there was a renewed interest in reestablishing, expanding, and improving the nature trail for the benefit of the community and visitors to the region.

The Five Ponds Partners agreed to spearhead the project under the supervision of the DEC and Molpus Woodlands.

Trail construction began in 2015 and will be complete with a final, small National Trails Day project on June 1.

The 2-mile trail has been built entirely with volunteers, with significant help coming from the Five Ponds Partners (chaired by Ranger School Professor Jamie Savage), the ESF Ranger School, and ESF summer program students.