Clifton Park, Riverview Road
The preserve, owned by the New York State Canal Corporation, is approximately 740 acres featuring exceptional wetlands rich in plants and birds and sections of the 1825 (40 foot) canal and tow path. It is also the site of the 1862 Whipple Truss Bridge built by Squire Whipple, an 1830 Union College graduate and the “Father of American iron bridge construction.” The bridge at this preserve was reconstructed by Professor Francis Griggs, Professor Phil Snow and their students at Union College. Another rebuilt Whipple truss bridge spans Hans Grootz Kill on the Union College Campus. Hundreds of Whipple’s bridges once spanned the Erie Canal, but all but one have now been razed or relocated.
Distance: 12 miles, 25 minutes from Union College