Starting this spring and continuing through the summer, a popular trailhead from Keene Valley, New York, into the Adirondack High Peaks will be closed to public traffic.
The Garden Parking Lot will be closed to vehicles during to the replacement of a bridge over Johns Brook on the road leading to the parking area. The Garden is one of the primary access points for hikers entering the Eastern High Peaks Wilderness, including the Johns Brook Valley, the Adirondack Mountain Club’s Johns Brook Lodge, Big Slide Mountain, northern access to the Great Range, as well as the Phelps Trail up the north side of Mount Marcy, among other trails.
Construction work on the bridge will begin as early as road conditions and weather permit, according to Keene town officials, and is expected to continue through the summer.
The only access to The Garden Trailhead will for hikers who park at the Marcy Field Parking Lot, north of town, and taking a shuttle provided by the town which has been running for the last several years. The shuttle, which costs $10 round-trip per hiker, is expected to operate seven days a week during peak season, between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m, but town officials note that a lack of bus drivers could cause alterations to that schedule.
“The town recognizes that this is a major disruption during the nicest hiking weather, but the bridge replacement is critical,” a news release from the Town reads. “The current bridge is in such poor shape that the town can’t run plow trucks over it safely.”
The Town will update this website with current information on the shuttle, as well as its schedule.
Ryan was goEast's only editor from it's launch in 2016 until 2023. Now, he's the founding editor of Trails Magazine, the only print publication for backpackers and people who sleep in the dirt. When he's not worthsmithing, he's skiing, hiking, mountain biking, trail running or more in Colorado's San Juan Mountains and beyond.
