Sullivan County Democrat
Callicoon, New York
March 1, 2013 Issue
National Award-winning, Family-run Newspaper
Established 1891
www.sc-democrat.com
info@sc-democrat.com
news | sports | obituaries | archives | classifieds | subscribe | NEW! buy photos | links | contact | tv listings | lottery
Weather

WXPort

Community

Sullivan County Democrat

Promote Your Page Too

"The Wild Gardener"
Peter Loewer's Weekly
Column in the Democrat

"The Mouth That Roars"
Bill Liblick's Weekly
Column in the Democrat

"Inside Out"
Jeanne Sager's Weekly
Column in the Democrat

"Give Us Paws"
Ruth Huggler's Weekly
Column in the Democrat

"Retrospect"
John Conway's Look Back at the History of Sullivan County

Sullivan Renaissance

Sullivan County Chamber
Of Commerce & Industry

Sullivan County
Visitor's Association

Sullivan County
Government Center

Sullivan County
Partnership for
Economic Development

Please visit our
Community Links
section for other
Sullivan County
Organizations

 
 

Contributed Photos

The Renegades Mountain Bike Club christened one of six new bike trails they built at Walnut Mountain Park with a race on September 23. Club members volunteered more than 500 hours to the project.

Walnut Mountain
gets re-cycled

Story by Jon Dinan
The Renegades Mountain Bike Club in association with Town of Liberty Parks and Recreation Department added an additional six miles of mountain bike trails to Walnut Mountain Park over the past spring and summer.
“I had been riding Walnut Mountain for 10 years before it started falling into direpair.” said club founder Douglas Nikkila.
“I always liked the place and I heard the town wanted to upgrade so I got in touch with Brian Scardefield [Liberty’s Director of Parks and Recreation],” Nikkila added.
Once Scardefield gave the go ahead, Nikkila and his volunteer team got to work building six miles of trail over over five hundred hours.
The Renegades worked on the Walnut Mountain Park upgrade last spring. The labor involved extensive amounts of walking and surveying the land to see what was best for cycling, then digging out certain areas to install segments of track. The focus was on providing trails that could be used by all levels of cyclists.
“One of the drawbacks is that the Walnut Mountain trails were straight up and down so it was only used by highly experienced cylclists,” said Nikkila. “Now most people can get up to the summit without breaking a sweat. It’s a very pleasant experience, ideal for families.”
Nikkila formed the Renegades Mountain Bike Club out in Ulster County just over three years ago because he saw a need for improvement in the area’s cycling facilities.
“The Hudson Valley has a lot of trails but they were poorly maintained and no one builds on them so we figured we’d start,” said Nikkila.
In Nikkila’s organization, any volunteer who works more than 25 hours with the club is eligible to become a member.
“When working with volunteers everyone is on the same page,” said Nikkila. “There is a feeling of camaraderie when everyone is working shoulder to shoulder toward the same goal and getting things done.”
Walnut Mountain Park in Liberty covers a total of 265 acres on the top of Walnut Mountain. At 2,157 feet above sea level, the park is the highest point in the Town of Liberty, and the second highest point in Sullivan County.
Walnut Mountain Park is closed from October 1 to April 30. For more information on the trails, call Douglas Nikkila 626-7230 or e-mail him at nikkilad@earthlink.net.

Copyright © 1999-2013 Catskill-Delaware Publications.
The information you receive online from the Sullivan County Democrat Online Edition is protected by the copyright laws of the United States. Content contained within this website is for the sole and exclusive use of Catskill-Delaware Publications. Please read our user agreement and our use information
privacy statement.
Internet Services provided by Time Warner, Site Design by Green Enterprises

top of page       top of page