Celebrate Trails at Minisink Battleground
The Delaware Company Hosts Highland History Hike
Photos by Dan Hust
BARRYVILLE—In what has become a tradition over the past few years, The Delaware Company will be commemorating national Celebrate Trails Day a day late when it hosts another Highland History Hike at the Minisink Battleground Park on Sunday, April 28 at 2 p.m.
The hike will be led by Sullivan County Historian John Conway, who is also a founder and the president of The Delaware Company. Participants should meet at the Tusten Pavilion at the Park at 2 p.m.
“If you have experienced one of our history hikes at the Battleground before, you know there is a lot more discussed than the Revolutionary War battle, and it is different every time,” says Debra Conway, the Executive Director of The Delaware Company. “And if you haven’t experienced one of our history hikes, you have no idea what you’re missing. The trails at the Minisink Battleground Park are among the most interesting trails in the region.”
In addition to a discussion of the Battle of Minisink, which took place on the grounds of what is today the Park on July 22, 1779, topics to be covered during the hike include the legacy of the Lenape tribe that inhabited the area prior to the arrival of the Europeans, the Cushetunk settlement and the bloody divisions among the settlers caused by the Revolutionary War, the timber rafting industry and its impact on the area, and stories of people like Joseph and Daniel Skinner, Robert and Phoebe Land, Joseph Brant, and Benjamin Tusten.
Celebrate Trails Day is an annual spring celebration of America’s trails started by Rails to Trails Conservancy in 2013 to encourage people across the country to get outside and enjoy the nation’s exceptional trails and trail systems.
The Minisink Battleground is located just off NYS Route 97, the Upper Delaware Scenic Byway, at 58 County Road 168, north of Barryville. It is owned by Sullivan County, with programming provided by The Delaware Company, a Barryville based non-profit history education group founded in 2012 with a mission to promote and support the history and historic landmarks of the Upper Delaware River Valley and beyond. Click the name to email John Conway for more information about the Highland History Hike.