Hackensack Riverkeeper Bill Sheehan and Hudson County Executive Tom DeGise officially opened the Riverkeeper’s newest canoe and kayak dock. The dock, located in Laurel Hill Park in Secaucus, is the first of 13 similar docks that will eventually dot a 21-mile stretch along the Hackensack River from Jersey City to Oradell.
The U.S. National Park Service is working in concert with the Hackensack Riverkeeper staff to create a public water trail that can be used by North Jersey’s growing community of paddlers. Five years ago the two organizations drafted a plan that calls for 13 docks that can be easily and safely accessed by the public along the Jersey City-Oradell water trail.
The dock that was inaugurated on April 23 in Laurel Hill resembles a collection of large Leggo pieces. Actually comprised of air-filled plastic cubes, the dock is expandable and modular in design. Each cube offers more than 200 pounds of buoyancy.
Laurel Hill Park in Secaucus is open to the public, free of charge, from dusk until dawn. Access to the Hackensack River is also free and available to boaters with crafts up to 24 feet long.
Somewhere between 1,300 and 1,400 boaters are expected to use the new dock each year.