Getting bored with the various lakes and rivers (fla****er) in southwestern
Massachusetts and someone recommended the area around Tivoli, NY. Anyone
know anything about paddling that area?

Alan:

The attractions at Tivoli are the Saugerties lighthouse, the fresh water tidal
bays south of there which are delimited by the railroad causeway, and several
islands. The bays are sorrounded by parkland.

Its an interesting ecosystem in that hardwood forest comes right down to the
edge of the marsh, and the marsh is unique due to its fresh-water-tidal nature.
Archeologists have surveyed the islands, and evidence of activity that depended
on the fishing and shellfish goes back about 8,000 years or so. If you run
Tivoli Bays on Google, you'll turn up a bunch of stuff on both the ecology and
the archeology.

There's a put-in right where the main drag meets the railroad at the edge of
the river. It's an enjoyable trip which is made better if you do your homework
first to appreciate the history and ecology.

Honcho1

On Mon, 25 Aug 2003 17:20:20 GMT, "Alan Smith"
wrote:

Getting bored with the various lakes and rivers (fla****er) in southwestern
Massachusetts and someone recommended the area around Tivoli, NY. Anyone
know anything about paddling that area?

The AMC has a large number of paddling guidebooks for the Northeast.

www.outdoors.org
and look for publications or bookstore.

Happy trails,
Gary (net.yogi.bear)
------------------------------------------------
at the 51st percentile of ursine intelligence

Gary D. Schwartz, Needham, MA, USA
Please reply to: garyDOTschwartzATpoboxDOTcom

Is there any potential problems if you bring a 17' boat in there?
In other words, does it get really narrow?

I'd imagine the tide impacts on the the water depth.
Signifincantly?

Thanks
TwoK

The 17 footer should do just fine -- in fact its probably exactly what you
want. There are a couple of places in the marsh where it might be a little
tight, but most of your paddling will be on the Hudson so you may have a knot
or so of current, some wind possibly and perhaps a barge wake or two. It's
probably three miles south from the put in to the south end of Kreuger (sp?)
Island, and a mile north to the lighthouse. It should be very pleasant in a
couple of weeks when the leaves change.

Enjoy your paddle,
Honcho1