WARREN COUNTY BIKEWAY LETTERBOX:
GLENS FALLS, NEW YORK
-BIKE IT OR HIKE IT-
Planted: June 29, 2004
Length:
Drive By;
Difficulty: Moderate. Paved trail with some on-road sections and hilly in spots.
Directions:
To start from
For a Drive By; Take exit 20 off of I-87 to Route 9 south. Keep a lookout to your left for Round Pond Road. Head down this road and turn left on Birdsall Road. The beginning of the paved trail will start on the left hand side. There is no parking near the trailhead, so you must go back along Birdsall Road to find a spot. See clues for Letterbox.
The bikeway was assembled from an old trolley line and railroad bed. In 1882, the Delaware & Hudson Railroad expanded a rail line from Fort Edward up to Lake George. In 1885, a narrow gauge railroad between the tri-village communities of Fort Edward and Sandy Hill in Washington County and Glens Falls in Warren County was completed. The street railway consisted initially of horse-drawn cars transporting passengers over narrow gauge tracks. By the 1890's the line was sold, extended to Lake George & Warrensburg, electrified and renamed. At its height the Hudson Valley Railway operation included over 100 cars and 130 miles of track. The line was eventually abandoned with trolleys being replaced by buses in 1928.
Starting from Lake George; This trail has informational signs
posted along the route and mileage marking painted in yellow on the pavement.
You pass by the entrance to Lake George Battlefield Park and head up a
moderate grade away from the lake into the woods. You cross a bridge over Route
9L at about ¾ miles and come to a very short on-road section at just
over a mile. The trail picks up again on the right. Just shy of 2 miles you come
alongside Route 9 and the entrance to Magic Forest Park, where the trail
crests. Less then a ¼ mile later you head back into the woods. You come to
picnic area and map board at 2 ¾ miles. The trail starts downhill, passing
through a rocky, mossy area with a brook running alongside the trail. The power
lines that run next to the right side of the trail follow the former path of the
Hudson Valley Railway, an electric trolley Line that ran up to Lake
George. You pass by a trail on your right at 3 ¼ miles that brings you up
to the Col. Williams Monument. At 3 ¾ miles you divert away from the old
rail line to a new bridge that takes you over Route 149. You cross over Ash Street
at 4 ¾ miles and the trail takes you through a marsh, which is actually the
western tip of
Glen
Lake. You are traveling on the old trolley line now and if you look to your left
you'll see an old railroad trestle crossing the marsh along the old railroad
line. At 5 miles you head up and over a short hill which brings you to a barrier
and the start of the on-road section. This is
Birdsall Road. To the right of the barrier are 3 large boulders. Go to the far right boulder
near the woods and then take 5 paces (2 steps = 1 pace) into the woods to a
large two-trunked Oak tree. You'll see a pile of rocks at its base. Remove ONLY
the top 2 rocks to reveal the Warren County Bikeway Letterbox. Please
replace the rocks with care so as not to crush the Letterbox.
Note;
If you head left along Birdsall Road
you'll see where the old railroad bed cut through the rock.
Turn right up Birdsall Road
for an on-road detour of about 1 ½ miles. The on-road section is hilly in
spots and uses one fairly busy road. Pass by Round Pond Road
and come to a golf course at 5 ¾ miles. Do not mistake the golf cart trail
that crosses over the road for the bike path. At 6 ¼ miles you take a right
down Country Club Road. Straight will take you to
Adirondack
Community College. The trail picks up again on your right at 6 ¾ miles. The trail is flat from
here on out. You come to a parking lot at 7 ½ miles next to Country Club Road. You cross a long bridge over Route 254 at 7 ¾ miles and travel a more urban
trail. Use caution at 8 ¼ miles when you cross a busy Route 7. There is a
traffic light here, but no cross walk button that we could find? You then pass
into
HH
LETTERBOX LAST VERIFIED ON
AUGUST 12, 2009
TO EMAIL A VERIFICATION
BEFORE YOU SET OUT BE SURE TO READ THE
WAIVER OF RESPONSIBILITY AND DISCLAIMER
BIKE IT OR HIKE LETTERBOXING