Pursuing accessibility at an Adirondack nature preserve

Adirondack Land Trust attempts to balance community concerns with trail plans at Glenview Preserve

By David Escobar

Earlier this month, staff members from the Adirondack Land Trust (ALT) led a tour for local media members at the Glenview Preserve, where the organization plans to build an accessible trail system before one of the Adirondacks’ most iconic views.

“For many people, this is their favorite vista in the park,” ALT stewardship and GIS manager Becca Halter said.

Halter has been leading the trust’s trail planning project at Glenview Preserve, a 238-acre property that borders an unofficial pull-off spot along a state highway revered for its views of McKenzie Mountain and the High Peaks.

Right now, the preserve is not accessible. Overgrown grasses and milkweed envelop the property, which is between state Route 86 to the west and Harrietstown Cemetery to the north.

The trust is planning to build a 2.25-mile trail system that would be compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and accessible to anyone. Halter said the trail would consist of stone dust, similar to the material used on the Adirondack Rail Trail, allowing visitors with mobility disabilities to use the trail year-round.

The trust submitted a permit application to the Adirondack Park Agency (APA) to conduct a land use change earlier this summer, and the organization is in the process of providing additional information requested by the APA.

ALT communications director Connie Prickett said the land trust plans to submit answers to the APA’s questions by the end of September. The APA will then set a timetable for a public comment period for the project.

Community pushback at Glenview

Many neighbors of Glenview Preserve have voiced their opinions about the trail proposal. During a 2022 community meeting, the Explorer reported community concerns about the potential for pollution, overdevelopment and traffic congestion.

A more recent survey conducted by the ALT in 2023 showed some opposition to the project, mostly due to concerns over road congestion and overdevelopment.

The newest Glenview proposal has scaled back some of the original plans. The ALT downsized the preserve’s proposed trail network from 3.4 miles to 2.25 miles, and the parking lot would have 16 parking spaces instead of 22.

Early brainstorming conversations included ideas for a plein air painting area and yoga platform, which some community members criticized for being contrary to the landscape. Prickett said these ideas were never part of an official plan, adding that the ALT is committed to minimizing disruptions caused by the project.

She says the ALT shares one of the public’s most widespread concerns: traffic safety on state Route 86.

The trust requested the state Department of Transportation (DOT) review the average driving highway speed between Donnelly’s Ice Cream and Gabriels, which Prickett said is notorious for automobile accidents. She said lowering the speed limit in the area would be beneficial for Glenview Preserve visitors and local drivers.

The ALT does not have plans to station a permanent staff member at Glenview Preserve, but Halter said the trust is committed to proper land management and stewardship practices.

“Our name is going to be on the property,” Halter said. “So we want the property to reflect that.”

Other environmentally-conscious considerations include a green-roofed pavilion designed to blend in with natural surroundings and portable bathrooms intended to forgo a septic system.

A need for accessibility

Accessible Adirondack Tourism executive director Nick Friedman, along for the tour, has been in close contact with the ALT as a design consultant.

Creating an ADA-compliant nature preserve, he said, is a tall order with hundreds of specific requirements. A major requirement is six-foot-wide trails that comply with guidelines for elevation grades.

When building a trail, Friedman said one common consideration is the width of the path, which needs to be wide enough for two wheelchairs to pass.

Prickett said the accessible trails are part of a broader mission.

“One of our values is diversity, equity, inclusion and access as part of that, so we are striving for more inclusive outdoor recreation opportunities,” Prickett said. “There’s a gap that we’re filling.”

According to research conducted by the ALT, there are around 300 miles of free hiking trails within an hour’s drive of Saranac Lake, but only 14 miles of these trails are fully accessible to people who use wheelchairs.

The Adirondack Rail Trail is one of the only trails in the Tri-Lakes area that is both free and ADA-compliant. The Barnum Brook Trail at Paul Smith’s College Visitor Interpretive Center, just a few miles away from Glenview, is only wheelchair accessible in one direction, and the Wild Center’s accessible trails in Tupper Lake require an admission fee.

Prickett said she believes the trails at Glenview Preserve will create a worthwhile destination for people seeking accessible outdoor recreation.

Friedman said the demand for places like Glenview is clear, citing his belief that there is an inadequate number of accessible outdoor recreation opportunities in the Adirondacks.

“We have an aging population,” Friedman said. “So the proportion of people with disabilities to those who may not identify as having one is only increasing.”

State data show that 27% of adults in New York identify as having one or more disabilities.

From private to public

Halter said most passersby are only familiar with Glenview’s sprawling meadow, but she said the preserve has a diverse ecosystem that extends all the way east to Twobridge Brook on the Bloomingdale Bog.

The property contains a reclaimed logging forest, boreal wetlands and a maple tap system leased by a neighbor across the road. The preserve is also home to a diverse variety of wildlife, including more elusive species like bobcats, bears and moose.

The nonprofit acquired the 238-acre parcel of land from the Trevor family in 2016 for $98,000. Halter said the ALT has been developing plans for Glenview Preserve since 2019. 

At the 2022 community meeting, some commenters said they believed the Trevor family sold Glenview under the assumption that the ALT would not develop the land.

However, Prickett said members of the Trevor family have kept in touch with the ALT, adding that the family supports the trail project.

At a projected cost of $2.29 million, the accessible trail construction is one of the land trust’s most ambitious to date. The ALT is around 84% of the way to its funding goal, with most of that money coming from a $3 million grant from the Northern Border Regional Commission.

The ALT had originally hoped to break ground on the project this summer, but funding and permitting delays will likely push that date to 2025.

David Escobar is a Report For America Corps Member. He reports on diversity issues in the Adirondacks through a partnership between North Country Public Radio and Adirondack Explorer.