Pat McGee Trail
The Pat McGee Trail is a rail trail in Cattaraugus County, New York, United States, named for Patricia McGee (1934-2005).
Background
Pat McGee was an area legislator of Cattaraugus County who lived in
The trail path lies entirely on a railbed that was used by the
The Cattaraugus Local Development Corporation (CLDC) acquired the railbed several years after the railroad's closure and removed the rails and ties. Under the preliminary name "Southern Tier Area Rails to Trails" (START), the trail opened for public use in the early 2000s.
In March 2021, the CLDC entered negotiations to sell the trail to the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation. The proposed sale drew some controversy from the original START group, which had turned the trail over to the CLDC for $1, and stated that while they had no objections to the state buying the trail, they were concerned that the CLDC was using the sale to profit and exploit the original below-market-value sale price, a charge the CLDC denied.[2] The sale finalized in April, with a portion of the sale price being set aside to aid in the trail's maintenance.[3]
Description
The trail, which was formally dedicated in June 2005 (shortly after McGee's death), includes five trailheads with its main trailhead being located in
The trail is open to pedestrian, horseback and bicycle traffic during the spring, summer and autumn months and snowmobile traffic in the winter months when conditions permit. Other than snowmobiles, the use of motorized off-road vehicles (except for trail maintenance staff) is prohibited.
References
- ^ a b c Western New York outdoors: Pat McGee Trail Archived 2013-11-13 at the Wayback Machine, Classicbuffalo.com, Buffalo, NY: Classicbuffalo.com, Retrieved 13 November 2013
- ^ State in line to purchase Salamanca to Cattaraugus Pat McGee Trail. Olean Times Herald. Retrieved March 13, 2021.
- ^ NYS Parks buys Pat McGee Trail. Olean Times Herald (April 22, 2021). Retrieved April 22, 2021.
- ^ a b c Enchanted Mountains: Cattaraugus County: Pat McGee Trail, Enchantedmountains.com, Little Valley, NY: Cattaraugus County Tourism, Retrieved 13 November 2013
- ^ a b TrailLink by Rails-to-Trails Conservancy: Pat McGee Trail, Traillink.com, Washington, DC: Rails-to-Trails Conservancy, Retrieved 13 November 2013