Mark Schaefer
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A Mountain laurel, views, and rock scramble hike. Click on any thumbnails to enter the photo gallery.
I got out for an afternoon hike at the Mohonk Preserve and Resort on Thursday, June 12. Both are located on the Shawangunk Ridge west of New Paltz, NY. I started at the Preserve's Spring Farm trailhead where a $9 visitor's fee is charged (free with Preserve membership). Parking at the Resort's Gatehouse on Mountain Rest Road is more expensive. From the Preserve you can hike onto the Resort property at no additional charge. Much of the hiking is on old carriageways.
The first stop was at the North Lookout gazebo which is typical of the Resort's many rustic viewpoints. This is also where I started to encounter the mountain laurel which is currently blooming profusely on many areas of the Shawangunk Ridge.
I got my first view of the rambling Mohonk Mountain House at an overlook of the formal gardens.
I hiked up past the Lily Pond, one of two small reservoirs, up to the Skytop Tower.
For some distance from the stone tower I could hear boisterous echoes emanating from inside the tower. A very large school group of about 80 young children was just leaving the tower. That must have been some exercise in patience and organization for that group to climb up and down the tower. It was the only moment during the hike where I encountered a crowd. Midweek hiking is normally very quiet at the busy resort. On good weather weekends it is advisable to arrive early as the hikers' parking lots can fill up.
From the top of the former fire tower there are extensive views of the Mountain House, Shawangunks, and the Catskills.
No hiking trip to Mohonk seems complete without some rock scrambling. I chose to scramble down through the Humpty Dumpty and the Giant's Workshop.
And then climbed back up the Cathedral Path scramble to Copes Lookout.
I made one last stop at the Million Dollar view of the Catskills. It is at the crest of a hill on the Spring Farm Road just a short distance from the trailhead. The vista is one of the widest sweeping views of the Catskills. The vista extends from Cherrytown Mountain near Napanoch to the Cairo Roundtop. The photo in the album is just a small portion of the view, the Devil's Path mountains in the northern Catskills.
The mountain laurel should continue to bloom through the weekend into next week on the Shawangunk Ridge.
I got out for an afternoon hike at the Mohonk Preserve and Resort on Thursday, June 12. Both are located on the Shawangunk Ridge west of New Paltz, NY. I started at the Preserve's Spring Farm trailhead where a $9 visitor's fee is charged (free with Preserve membership). Parking at the Resort's Gatehouse on Mountain Rest Road is more expensive. From the Preserve you can hike onto the Resort property at no additional charge. Much of the hiking is on old carriageways.
The first stop was at the North Lookout gazebo which is typical of the Resort's many rustic viewpoints. This is also where I started to encounter the mountain laurel which is currently blooming profusely on many areas of the Shawangunk Ridge.
I got my first view of the rambling Mohonk Mountain House at an overlook of the formal gardens.
I hiked up past the Lily Pond, one of two small reservoirs, up to the Skytop Tower.
For some distance from the stone tower I could hear boisterous echoes emanating from inside the tower. A very large school group of about 80 young children was just leaving the tower. That must have been some exercise in patience and organization for that group to climb up and down the tower. It was the only moment during the hike where I encountered a crowd. Midweek hiking is normally very quiet at the busy resort. On good weather weekends it is advisable to arrive early as the hikers' parking lots can fill up.
From the top of the former fire tower there are extensive views of the Mountain House, Shawangunks, and the Catskills.
No hiking trip to Mohonk seems complete without some rock scrambling. I chose to scramble down through the Humpty Dumpty and the Giant's Workshop.
And then climbed back up the Cathedral Path scramble to Copes Lookout.
I made one last stop at the Million Dollar view of the Catskills. It is at the crest of a hill on the Spring Farm Road just a short distance from the trailhead. The vista is one of the widest sweeping views of the Catskills. The vista extends from Cherrytown Mountain near Napanoch to the Cairo Roundtop. The photo in the album is just a small portion of the view, the Devil's Path mountains in the northern Catskills.The mountain laurel should continue to bloom through the weekend into next week on the Shawangunk Ridge.
