Named for local preservationist John F. Brown, Jr., the John Brown Hiking Trails wind through 100 acres on Niskayuna Town land and 117 acres in Mohawk River State Park, formerly the Schenectady Museum Preserve. A Niskayuna resident and former GE Research Laboratory chemist, Brown hiked these trails for over fifty years and helped develop and maintain them before his death in 2012. Volunteers from the Friends of Niskayuna Trails have continued that work, giving local residents a place to enjoy nature close to home. The trails pass over and around the Niskayuna segment of the Mohawk Hudson Bike Hike Trail, built on the original railroad bed of the New York Central Railroad that ran alongside the Erie Canal.