The Crawford Walking Trail, a two-mile walkway off Ward Avenue and Searsville Road, just received a huge extension: an unpaved, 1.3-mile hiking and nature loop starting at the trail’s highest point, sloping through open fields before connecting with the trail’s parking lot on Searsville Road. Several town officials unveiled the new section with a ribbon-cutting ceremony last Thursday, August 15, discussing the trail’s development over the years and offering attendees free food from Pine Bush Deli & Pizza.

“Today, we’re dedicating this new section of the trail. This area used to be an old farm dump and the county was generous enough to come out and clean it,” said Crawford Supervisor Charles Carnes. “You’ll go out this way, go through a couple of fields downhill, turn west, and you’ll come out right by the parking lot down on Searsville.”

The Crawford Walking Trail was an eight-year project unveiled in 2016, transforming the Wild Family’s old farmland property into a forested getaway, providing routes for both easygoing walkers and ambitious hikers. The new hiking and nature section took between six to 12 months to complete.

“This area used to have a road going through here, and we thought it would be a great idea to make this a walking trail. Every morning I come out and see cars parked near the trail and people walking dogs; I think it’s been a great asset for the town,” Carnes said. “We were initially given a hard time when putting this whole trail in, between spending grant money and fighting the people who were against it, saying it was a waste of tax dollars.”

Carnes added that the town hopes to add another route to the trail in 2025, similar to the latest extension except going in the opposite direction and connecting to the parking lot on Ward Avenue.

“Our plan next year is to do a wing off toward the eastern side of the trail that comes down by the parking lot on Ward,” Carnes said. “We’re having a tough time there’s a lot of wetlands down there – but we hope to get one going soon.”