Champlain Area Trails (CATS) will host a Grand Opening Celebration for the Essex Quarry Nature Preserve on Saturday, September 18th.
The Grand Opening will feature live music by Taylor Haskins, a ribbon cutting ceremony, and free food donated by Chef Rose at Essex Eats Café in Essex. The Essex Quarry Nature Preserve is located on the south edge of the hamlet, just a short distance from the Lake Champlain Ferry’s Essex/Charlotte, VT landing.
The Essex Quarry Nature Preserve is 35 acres. It began operating as a quarry in the 1800s, constructing many Essex buildings and even part of the Brooklyn Bridge’s foundation. Multiple buildings in Essex were built with its stone, including the Belden Noble Memorial Library, Essex Community United Methodist Church and the Methodist Episcopal Church.
Today, the quarry site showcases a combination of natural, geological, paleontological and historic features. The quarry is home to 400-million-year-old fossils, once part of the world’s oldest coral reef. It also features a globally rare forest called the “Limestone Woodland”.
Staff and volunteers have constructed over a mile of trails throughout the quarry, both for walking and cross-country skiing. An informational kiosk has been installed, along with a series of interpretive signs.
For more information, call (518) 962-2287, email info@champlainareatrails.com, or visit the Champlain Area Trails website.
Photo of Essex Quarry provided by CATS.
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