Oswegatchie River Blueway Trail

       My first exposure to the Adirondacks was on my Triple Combo pre-orientation trip in the August of 2014. Our trip started on the east end of Lows Lake, where we paddled 14 miles to the west end to a 3.5 mile carry that would take us to the Oswegatchie River. Once we were on the river, we were able to paddle down 16 miles of pristine Adirondack waters. The stretch of the Oswegatchie that we canoed on snakes through the Five Ponds Wilderness Area, and has a beaver dam around almost every bend. These aspects of the river can make it difficult to navigate but also more wild because it isn't the most accessible waterway in the park. The river flows out of the park and eventually feeds into the St. Lawrence River. My trip on the Oswegatchie River was an incredible experience that has made me want to keep coming back to the Adirondack Park.
       The Oswegatchie River in the near future could see a rise in users with the new Blueway Trail that has been proposed. The trail would cover the area shown in the map below, which means it would create easier access to 112 miles of river for 20 communities that live along the Oswegatchie River. Guide services for paddlers and new/renovated boat launches are some ways the Blueway Trail plans to improve access. The two year study that has been collecting the public's concerns and ideas will be over by the end of november. Once it concludes, a plan will be finalized for the trail. While it is good to get more people educated about the park and the Oswegatchie River, making the river more accessible could do more harm then could. Having more people using the river could harm the habitat. The report on the study only shows the social benefits of the Blueway, perhaps a study on the environmental impacts could be useful too.

Oswegatchie Watershed. Lows Lake is not shown but would just be off of the lower right hand corner.

Source
Mende, Susan. "Study for Proposed Oswegatchie River Blueway Trail Nears Completion; Ideas Still Being Collected." Watertown Daily Times. N.p., 03 Nov. 2015. Web. 06 Nov. 2015. <http://www.watertowndailytimes.com/news05/study-for-proposed-oswegatchie-river-blueway-trail-nears-completion-ideas-still-being-collected-20151103>.