Hometown USA: Glens Falls, NY

[adrider83]

Thanks! I sure hope so. Time will tell if it sticks. Oh, and my family sure will let me know.

I definitely need to do some more research on this. Without blowing the spot, do you think Kaydeross and Battenkill public access spots are good starting points? We are most interested in native brookies but beggars can't be choosers. I have to (re)acquaint myself with NYS stream laws. Montana is quite magnanimous in that regard. As long as you stay below high water line, you can ignore private property boundaries.

Those are fine starting points. Both have wild brookies in their upper reaches, but you're more likely to catch a lot browns. The Battenkill is a much better fishery, imo. Kaydeross is primarily a put-and-take fishery, though I've caught some impressive holdovers in there. Those rivers also good mileage of public fishing rights.

 

[Ripitz]

The biggest issue we're running into is disrespectful riders going off trail.

It’s a big problem out West in the National Wilderness areas. Sucks watching (and listening to) people high mark the bowl you just skied miles to get to. It gives slednecks a bad rap.

 

[Campgottagopee]

Fascinating. How much does that cost? Is it an annual registration?

If you join a club (crazy not too) it's around $50 (i think, it's close to that) with $40 of that going to the club you join. The monies are used for trail signs, fuel, etc etc. If you don't join a club it's around $90. You can join all clubs online and you get a member number you simply present to DMV (online or in person) for the discount.

Can people use tracked side by sides too?

Excellent question. Yes, any and all tracked vehicles can be used on designated snowmobile trails.

 

[Campgottagopee]

It’s a big problem out West in the National Wilderness areas. Sucks watching (and listening to) people high mark the bowl you just skied miles to get to. It gives slednecks a bad rap.

For sure

I get so damn mad seeing tracks off the trail. Just once I'd love to catch somebody doing it. I'd like to think it's just ignorance as to what can happen, but who knows.

 

[tirolski]

We are most interested in native brookies but beggars can't be choosers. I have to (re)acquaint myself with NYS stream laws.

NY trout fishing regs changed again this year.
Here’s a link but some DEC’s links in it are dead as of now. Hopefully they’ll fix it.
It’s their “convenient” summary.

https://www.dec.ny.gov/docs/fish_marine_pdf/fishguide.pdf

 

[Geezer]

I guess my question is what do these look like when there is no snow? Is it just a cleared swath with leaves and some understory or is there a trail (singletrack/ doubletrack)? Leads into my mtb question...


Why not? Are these all on public land? Easements on private land? So you can snowmobile, and I presume XC ski on them, but they can't be used at all in the summer?

Annual rainfall in the east, particularly summer, is way higher than Montana. Winter ground is frozen so no mud or drainage problems. Summer trails need to have good drainage and hardened if used by bikes or atvs.

 

[Campgottagopee]

Fascinating. How much does that cost? Is it an annual registration?

Oddly enough I just got this in an email from the NYSSA


This year snowmobile registration transactions will exceed 115,000. That is 17,000 more than last year but still less than 2010-11 when registrations totaled 134,000 and less than 2014-15 when we hit 121,000. The last time there was a registration fee structure change was in 2005 when the Snowmobiler Rights and Responsibility Act was passed. Sixteen years is a long time for the price of something to stay the same, especially when considering that almost all the items the clubs use to maintain trails have had significant price increases. Over the past several years, New Hampshire and Vermont have both raised their fees substantially and Maine is considering a hike also. Those states all recognize that a large groomer (Class A) which cost $160,000 in 2006, now costs $260,000 or more. This past year we have seen the number of nonclub registrations grow substantially. They usually run between 12-14% of all registrations and this year, they grew to 20%. It is time to raise the nonclub registration per sled and distribute that additional revenue to the clubs that need it the most to keep up with the traffic on their trails. The increase could generate another $600,000 for the Trail Development and Maintenance Fund and/or generate more club memberships. Either way, it will mean more resources for the care and maintenance of our trail system.
On March 13th, 2021, the NYSSA Board of Directors endorsed a plan to raise nonclub resident registrations to $125 and to raise nonclub nonresident registrations to $150. Such an action will have to go through the legislature, so we will have to see if that is tempered by either the potential sponsors or the legislative committees this will need to pass through.
This proposal makes no adjustment to club member registration fees which would stay at $45.
By the way, New Hampshire charges nonclub nonresidents $149 and Vermont charges $225, where you must join a club.

 

[Duckbutter]

Summer trails need to have good drainage and hardened if used by bikes or atvs.

100%, but the first step is having the land to create the trail. Just seems like a shame that at least some of these corridors can't accommodate other uses as well. Maybe like a snowmobile / Kingdom trail model, or I guess the Catamount trail though I'd assume a much greater percentage of the latter is on public land.

 

[Ripitz]

Just like skiing, when the snow melts you can’t believe what you’ve been traveling over. Logs, rocks, streams and an abundance of plant life. Winter travel is so much less impactful than the rest of the year. Especially in mud season, stay out of the fields and off the trails.