The Cobble Hill trail has become more popular with the public. Last year, it was estimated that around 10,000 people hiked Cobble. With the increasing abundance of hikers, a new trail is being created to keep the hikers off the Northwood property and other private property, boost the Northwood profile, and create a trail that is more hiker-friendly while also being more nature-friendly.
Cobble is a small rock-faced hill on the Northwood campus. Driving up to the school entrance, Cobble lies to the right of the school, and behind the grass lawn. It’s a short 20-minute hike with a nice view. Websites and nature journals posting about Cobble have increased the popularity of the trail. A new trail is being created to make it easier for people from the public to climb the hill without them being on school property and private property and damaging the existing trail. The school owns the property that the trail is on, and the goal is to close parking access next to the classroom building and push visitors to the wooded area of the campus.
I had a chance to talk about the trail with Mr. Thomas Broderick, Northwood’s Associate Head of School for External Affairs. He has overseen the production. We had a good conversation, and he showed me the old blueprints of the school property and explained the decision-making.
Cobble Hill trails saw a spike in traffic a few years ago. “The world changed. The most-hiked small hike in the Adirondacks got a new owner, and they closed it down,” Broderick said. That trail was predominantly used by young families. So, we saw an increase in people coming [to Cobble], and it started to swell, and by unofficial estimates, we get close to 10,000 visitors a year.”
At the same time, school safety started to become an issue nationwide.
“The school board, led by the safety committee, started to question why we were inviting 10,000 visitors on campus,” Broderick said. “If you live in Berg, you see people parking in that lot and walking into the woods. When the pandemic hit, we closed public access to our campus. Those signs are down, and we still say there’s no parking, but until we rectify the access at the bottom of the road, people continue,” he continued,” Broderick added.
There were several incidents this summer of people wandering around on school property. Over the summer, a woman walked into Mr. Spear’s apartment in the Bergamini dorm looking for a bathroom. Also, just recently, a couple parked their car on the Northwood front loop, and wandered their way to the pavilion looking for the trailhead, following directions on a out-of-date website.
“During the pandemic, we also closed off the access to the Cobble trails across from the Berg parking lot,” Broderick remembered. “The problem was that with so many visitors, the trail started to get wider and deteriorate. So, about two years ago, I spoke to the Adirondack Land Trust, who was concerned when we closed it down during COVID. They wanted the trail open again and said, ‘we need to redesign this trail,’” recounted Broderick.
“So, the Cobble Hill Trail Organization, consisting of the school, which is the lead because we own the property, neighbors, BETA, and invested partners have all gotten together to ask what we can do to make the trail better,” said Broderick. “The Adirondack Land Trust has raised $500,000 to renovate the trails,” he added.
The trail renovation has 4 phases to completion. 2 of the phases have already been completed, and Mr. Broderick estimates that all 4 phases will be completed in the next year.
Broderick says he hopes the trail can also be used as an outdoor learning space that also promotes the school to visitors of the trail.
