36° and Overcast
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Knowing the weather would be nicer Saturday than Sunday, we decided to visit Camp Stonehaven for the 4th time since it became a nature preserve shared by the Town of Lewiston and the Land Conservancy.
It is amazing looking at that 70-acre or so parcel and wondering how the bankruptcy court allowed it to sell for a bargain price rather than insisting on full market value both for the plaintiffs in the Scouts case and so it could be on the tax rolls.
Someone could have easily paid $1 million rather than the $665,000 it sold for in March of 2023 with $526,200 from the Niagara River Greenway Commission and the remainder from the Town in March, 2023.
It is easy to imagine someone purchasing it, harvesting the timber and dividing it into 10 $100,000 lots of 4 acres each. Anyway, all those dreams are about mistakes not made.
The place is pristine. I must confess, Gord our poodle has never been on his leash there, even a little. Instead, he bounds ahead in the trail, usually just for fun, disappearing for short times only to charge back joyfully.
Saturday we headed left from the parking lot up a trail behind the cabin where, after a short time, we saw a disc golf goal at Burmaster Park.
Then, along the top of the escarpment, we walked along a well-marked path blazed with yellow triangles. I would guess it was supposed to be a cross country ski trail designed for times when there is more snow than now.
The terrain is rolling, mature forest carpeted with limestone boulders almost giving the impression of karst in Killarney, Ontario or along the Burren in Ireland or Singing Sands on the Bruce Peninsula.
We will go back in the spring. I think I may have found the elusive place where ramps may grow naturally.
As for the camp, what a great decision to maintain it for the public good rather than returning it to the tax rolls. I am positive preserving green space that way, just like adding bike paths or other recreation facilities have a net positive impact on property values and tax revenue.
