WHAT’S GOING ON IN THE FOREST?
Got a chance to do some hiking in the mountains. Sometimes I like to just find & follow an old “bark road” as high as it’ll go. Can you see the road from the photo? “Bark roads” are numerous throughout the Catskills. They were once used in the mid-19th Century to haul hemlock bark out of the mountains for tanning hides into leather. Normally, they are narrower than logging roads. In any case, they are a significant part of our mountains’ history. Chances are, you have hiked on one since some of NYS’s hiking trails use them. If you bushwack in the higher elevations, you’ll most likely cross one several times.
Ryan Trapani
Director of Forest Services
Catskill Forest Association