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| Celebrate trees on Sunday. |
A half-dozen hiking trails await you in the 3,800 acre Black Rock Forest Preserve, which extends from Cornwall to Cornwall-on-Hudson and ties into trails at Storm King State Park.
This natural corner of the Hudson Highlands was established in 1928 by Dr. Ernest Stillman who set up a research and demonstration forest, preserving a piece of wilderness only 50 miles from the exploding urban center of New York City. Today, the Black Rock Forest Consortium, made up of private and public schools along with research institutions, runs a Science Center in the forest where scientists and students are conducting a dozen experiments, from a study of the coyote population to one about how trees soak up carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.
The hills, mountains, and ponds of the preserve are open to the public via a well-maintained trail system that includes the Highlands Trail, which when completed will cover 150 miles from Cornwall to Phillipsburg, New Jersey. A hike up Black Rock Mountain rewards you with stunning panoramas north to Schunnemunk Mountain and the Catskills and northeast along the Hudson River.
For those more interested in a leisurely walk, you can stroll along the abandoned roads, lined with moss-covered stone walls, and imagine yourself back more than a century, before the arrival of the automobile.
Or visit the misty waters of the mineral springs, where Native Americans came to seek the healing waters at a place they considered sacred.
Take a virtual tour of one of Black Rock's trails, developed by NASA's Goddard Space Center.
Find out how you can get a trail map from the N.Y.-N.J. Trail Conference.
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