The Adirondack Chapter of The Nature Conservancy has opened a half-mile trail connecting Willsboro’s Main Street with the Boquet River Nature Preserve’s existing trail network.

The trail provides convenient access to the Conservancy’s 120-acre preserve, and gives a further boost to the village’s ongoing downtown revitalization.

The natural dirt and stone trail, which features 60 stone steps, is the latest improvement the Conservancy’s Adirondack Chapter has made to the preserve. In 2017, the Conservancy opened Tim’s Trail, a mile-long, wheelchair-accessible loop that is the second-longest such trail in the Adirondacks.

A year before, crews upgraded the River Trail with stone steps for better angler access to the Boquet River, improved erosion control, and installed a new bridge and boardwalks.

The new trail was designed and built by Tahawus Trails LLC, which also worked on Tim’s Trail. A new trailhead kiosk, additional interpretive signs, and educational materials to further enhance the visitor experience are slated to be installed by next spring.

Acquired by The Conservancy in 2004, the preserve is open to the public and stretches along two miles of shore on the Boquet River. It protects 20 different ecological communities and nearly 400 different species of plants, including a 200-year-old stand of American sycamore trees.

Visitors may walk along more than two miles of interconnected trails that meander through upland and floodplain forest, and anglers can access the lower Boquet River to enjoy fishing for several species, including trout and bass. The river also provides spawning habitat for Lake Champlain’s rebounding freshwater Atlantic salmon population.

Map of Village Trail courtesy Adirondack Atlas, photo of Village Trail Trailhead courtesy The Nature Conservancy/Erika Bailey.