Hike-a-thon in the hills
Updated: Oct 26
On October 3, about 150 people came to Merck Forest to hike together. The morning broke with a bluebird sky, crisp air, and the landscape glowing in autumn gold, orange, and red. In the early hours, volunteers were already setting up coffee and granola bars on the sap house deck and starting a 200-cup pot of Tall Cat coffee that needed two hours to brew.
Hikers picked their routes and headed out. Families with kids, longtime regulars who know all 35 miles of our trails, and some hikers here for the first time. Together, hikers and sponsors raised over $30,000 in support of Merck Forest's land stewardship and place-based education.
As hikers returned to the sap house, they enjoyed live music, hands-on kids' crafts and a scavenger hunt for the littlest hikers, and incredible raffle prizes donated by our sponsors. Taqueria el Chepe, Willoughby's Depot Eatery, and Canopy Juice kept everyone fed and refreshed.
Here's where the funds go:
Learning by doing. More than 3,200 students, from pre-K to graduate school, come here each year to plant, track animals, tap maple trees, and build things with their hands. Many of them leave seeing themselves differently, as people connected to this landscape and part of the living world everywhere.
Tending forest and farm. We harvest and plant trees, rotate grazing animals, and watch what the saplings tell us about the climate we're living in now. This work supports the forest as it responds to change. To learn more about this work, visit our Taconic Impact Alliance page.)
Access for everyone. The trails have had no gate and no fee for 76 years. They are open every day, because this community has chosen to keep them that way. Thank you!
This work matters beyond here. Merck Forest is part of a 42,000-acre unbroken forest block. As the climate warms, wildlife is moving toward higher elevations and cooler ground. They need unbroken forest to travel through safely. The water that begins here flows toward people in New York and Montreal. The bear, the warbler, the maple, the stream, and the person on the trail all depend on this same landscape.
Thank you to everyone who hiked, to the sponsors who made the day possible, and to the volunteers who were up early and stayed late. If you have a favorite photo from the day, share it with us on Instagram or Facebook. Thank you to those who’ve already shared their photos, and to Jenn Perry Photography for capturing the beauty and energy of the day. We'll see you on the trails.
