State closes to assess potential danger
The popular Breakneck Ridge hiking trail closed this past weekend after a rockslide on Friday (April 26) left a boulder blocking the 8.6-mile trail.
Park officials, fearing other boulders might come down, closed the trail and, briefly, Route 9D. The trail remained closed as of Thursday (May 2).
This article is misleading because only one section of the Breakneck ridge trail (albeit the most popular starting point) is closed. There are, however, many other routes and entrances to the trail.
Also, it would be great to have more information on exactly who closed the trail and on what basis. Did an engineer make the determination?
I hike this trail almost every day. A few weeks ago I noticed a large boulder had moved about 30 feet. It was rather surprising, but other than that there are no other changes. Apparently although the boulder that moved had been there for a couple of weeks, 9D was closed for a short time. The trail also was closed from the tunnel entrance to the yellow trail.
What surprises me is the lack of information regarding the closure and that all the news reports inaccurately describe the closure as if the entire trail is closed rather than the one section.
Thanks for this update, Dan. You’re right, it is frustrating. The state parks department has provided no details or updates that I could find and, when we call anyone local to get information, we are told we have to call Albany. When we do that, we get no response.
Chip Rowe
Managing Editor
Is it still closed? Do you have an update?
It has reopened. See https://parks.ny.gov/parks/9/details.aspx.