Liberty-Water Gap:

A project currently underway in New Jersey aims to create a continuous corridor running from Liberty State Park to the Delaware Water Gap along the Pennsylvania border. The 100-mile route connects the Paulinskill Valley Trail with the Sussex Valley Trail in Newtown, N.J., then follows the Patriot's Path past Morristown to the Lenape Trail. The Lenape Trail ends in Jersey City at Liberty State Park.

First proposed by West Orange, N.J. resident Al Kent, the plan quickly built momentum at the local level and has progressed smoothly through the public input process. RTC's Pennsylvania field office director Tom Sexton is participating with a trail coordinating committee to define a specific connection point between the Paulinskill Valley Trail and the Delaware Water Gap.

In July, Brian Kladko, a columnist with The Record newspaper in Bergen County, N.J., took it upon himself to walk the Liberty-Water Gap route over a two week period, publishing a story from the walk roughly every other day. Brian's archived columns are available at www.northjersey.com .

For more information on the Liberty-Water Gap Trail project please contact Jerry Willis of the National Park Service at jerry_willis@nps.gov.