Neversink Mountain Nature Preserve
Hoping everyone had a lovely Thanksgiving Break! Though a lot of mine was spent working, I did get a chance to visit one of my favorite natural spots (one of the few) in my home town. The Neversink Mountain Preserve is not only a gorgeous system of hiking/mountain biking trails that offers beautiful views of the surrounding area and underlying city, but has a really cool historical background as well.
http://www.goreadingberks.com/articles/article.php?articleID=3
I highly encourage you to check out this website, which gives a pretty detailed look into the mountain’s history, but if you don’t feel like it, I’ll give you the abbreviated version. Much like Vermont, Neversink at one point, had very few trees and natural life because of the heavy development that took place on it. However, unlike Vermont, it was hotels that were being built on the mountain. These were pretty high class spots, much like the modern-day resorts you might see tucked away on mountainsides today. To get to these hotels and attractions, a trolley system was put in place that carried passengers from the bottom of the mountain to the top by riding along the Neversink Mountain Road. You can still see remnants of buildings, and even the frame of a trolley car that ran off the tracks if you travel far enough up the road, which is now a hiking trail. What led to the demise of all of this was a terrible fire that started in one of the hotels, burning it almost entirely to the ground, as the whole thing was made of wood. Again, this is just the broad background story, the rest is very interesting so give the website a look!
Here is a map of exactly where the mountain is, in case you’re ever, for one reason or another, in Berks County and want to check it out:
And last but certainly not least, enjoy some photos I’ve taken of one of my favorite hometown spots!
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