Moreau Lake State Park adds 860-acre Big Bend Preserve

By Mark Frost, Chronicle Editor

State Senator Jim Tedisco and Randy Simons, New York State Parks Commissioner Pro Tempore, cut the ribbon Thursday, July 11, officially opening the Big Bend Preserve addition to Moreau Lake State Park. Entry and parking is available at 110 Old Bend Road. The address says Fort Edward, but it’s actually in the Town of Moreau.

New York’s Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation described the 860-acre Preserve as a “former logging area that features six miles of easy trails for walking, horseback-riding, birding and access to the Hudson River shoreline.”

Finch, Pruyn bought the parcel in 1959 and used it as timberland, as well as having “created a fish hatchery” in the 1960s that “helped stock trout in Adirondack lakes,” new state signage notes.

It says Finch sold the land to the Open Space Institute which in turn sold it to the state in 2021.

It includes 2.5 miles of Hudson River shoreline.

With the Big Bend addition, “Moreau Lake State Park will become one of the 10 largest State Parks in New York State. The land is undergoing ecological restoration to promote native species and habitats, notably the Karner Blue Butterfly, an endangered species that requires specific conditions to flourish.”

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