Overview

The Rensselaer Plateau Regional Trail Vision Plan brought together Plateau municipalities, landowners, recreation organizations, and community members to create a vision for a future network of trails. Together, we addressed important questions and concerns (landowner rights, liability, trail management and maintenance, etc.), and identified and prioritized opportunities for short-term and longer-term projects that leading to the realization of the regional trails vision.

The Rensselaer Plateau Regional Trails Vision project was accomplished in two phases. 

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Phase I

RPA developed a map of all existing public trails across the Rensselaer Plateau and managed a public engagement process. Three stakeholder meetings were organized with (1) Town Open Space, Recreation or Environmental Committees, (2) RPA Alliance members, and (3) Business Associations. RPA also organized three public meetings. The public engagement process aimed to: address the many questions about the development of trails on public and private land, generate additional ideas, and refine the Regional Trails Vision. Public meetings began in Fall 2014. The Trail Vision Plan summarizes results of the public process and provides a conceptual draft vision and a map of all known existing publicly accessible trails on the Plateau.

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Phase II

Phase II included the development of a Trails Action Plan. This plan illustrates the envisioned future trail network, and conveys its potential as a recreational and economic asset to the Plateau and the region. The plan identifies and prioritizes next steps, and includes details about how the project could be accomplished, including responsibilities, partnerships, and sources of funding. We hope this document will inspire action by communities and organizations across the Plateau.

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