The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has announced the completion of the 135-foot Big Slope Bridge and improvements to the Big Slope Trail and Powerhouse Trail, part of the Great Camp Sagamore trail system in the Blue Ridge Wilderness in Hamilton County.

The new bridge is located over wetlands on the Big Slope Connector Trail between the Sagamore Lake Trail and the Power House Trail.

After an initial site visit and development of a work plan in November 2017, DEC, Camp Sagamore staff, and volunteers worked for nearly two years to complete the bridge.

In June 2018, DEC and Camp Sagamore staff rowed 4,500 pounds of lumber and 65 pounds of hardware by boat 0.4 miles across Sagamore Lake. Throughout the summer and early fall of 2018, volunteers carried materials the remaining 0.5 miles from the lake to the work site. Construction began in October 2018 and continued until December 2018 when the ground became too frozen to continue and snow depths reached approximately two feet. Work began again in April 2019, and was completed on June 20, 2019.

Great Camp Sagamore is one of several historic Great Camps located in the Adirondack Mountains. Part of the Historic Great Camps Special Management Area, it includes nearly seven miles of scenic trails along the shores of Sagamore Lake and the South Inlet of Raquette Lake in the 47,177-acre Blue Ridge Wilderness.