3 miles | 400 ft gain | Difficulty: Easy | Rating ★★★

We’ve adopted! We’re already members of the New York New Jersey Trail Conference, but considering how much we depend on them for great trails, maps and resources, we wanted to give back a little more. So, after training and volunteer orientation, we have adopted the Teatown-Kitchawan Trail, affectionately called the TKT.

The 6 mile one way trail runs connects the Teatown Lake Reservation Nature Preserve with the Kitchawan Preserve, plus some additional side loops. It’s a great network of trails in residential Ossining, New York. Part neighborhood, walk your dog in park, part unique trails and history to get your heart rate up. One of the things I love about the trails in Westchester is how local everything is – nature in your backyard.

So what does adoption mean? As trail maintainers, we”re responsible for walking the trails, usually a couple mile stretch, so in sections given the breath of trails here. While walking, we clean, maintain and observe. I’m a firm believer that EVERYONE should have access to nature unconditionally. But people are dirty! You wouldn’t leave a pile of random trash in your yard or your friends, right? So why do people think they can on the trails. Trash pick up is a BIG part of our job. In terms of maintenance, it’s making sure the trails are easily navigable, so moving fallen branches or debris, remove invasive species that infringe on the trail, and make sure markers are in good shape. We also watch for things that could be a problem or are two big for us to remove ourselves – mud with no place to drain; a fallen tree in the middle of the trail.

Typically we hike 1-2 miles an hour. But with the maintenance work, 3 miles took much longer – picking up trash, making sure we were on the right trail, not a hiker created “social trail,” and more. The trails aren’t horribly challenging so the hike itself was easy. I’m excited to return regularly and get a better sense of “our” trail!

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