A map of the Bemus Point—Ellery Paddle Trail and Blueway Waterway was presented at a Tuesday meeting of the Bemus Point Board of Trustees. Submitted photo

BEMUS POINT–The Village of Bemus Point is aiming to turn the brown water between itself and the town Of Ellery into the color of money.

During a recent Bemus Point Village Board meeting, Mayor Jeff Molnar said the Bemus Point-Ellery Paddle Trial and Blueway Course is moving at full speed and that he hopes to open and run it soon.

“We have copies of our Paddle Trail and Blueway route, canoeing and kayaking trail maps for everyone,” he said. “We’ve been working on this for the past two years and are trying to open it soon.”

Molnar explained that Bemus Point revived a $15,000 grant to investigate and set up a blue water trail along the roaming shores of Chautauqua Lake.

Water trails or blueways are marked routes on navigable waterways such as rivers, lakes, canals and coastlines for recreational use. They allow access to rivers and waterways for non-motorized boats and sometimes motorized vessels, inner tubes, and other craft. Water trails require suitable access points and take-outs for exit and provide places ashore to camp and picnic or other facilities for boaters.

“The trail runs from Long Point State Park into the town of Ellery,” said Molnar. “We’ve got swag to pass out to promote the trail like water-proof cell phone bags and other smaller items.”

Adding a bluewater pathway on Chautauqua Lake will enable the area to join the growing trend of other states and municipalities that have embraced the paddle trails.

National water trails are a subset of the national recreation trails. National water trails have been established to protect and restore America’s rivers, shorelines, and waterways; conserve natural areas along waterways, and increase access to outdoor recreation on shorelines and waterways. The trails are a distinctive national network of water trails.

A memorandum from the United States Department of the Interior, dated May 2012, created a federal entity charged with protecting, establishing, and mapping out a national blue waterway system. In 2014 the Department of the Interior disbanded its blueway initiative in favor of returning management and control to the states. While the national program was disbanded, the local Bemus Point-Ellery Paddle Trail and Blueway Course project continues to move forward, independently managed and supported by local stakeholders.

“We’ve got five miles of a navigable waterway trail mapped out,” said Molnar. “We hope this will become a destination of choice for outdoor enthusiasts to come and paddle our lake, enjoy a meal, and stay for a weekend.”