Sharing some photos from Vernooykill Falls & Sam's Point

[Jay H]

Did some short dayhikes on Sunday on parts of the LP in Ulster County. Hiked the 1.8 miles out to Vernooykill Falls near Kerhonkson and then travelled south to Ellenville to visit Sam's Point Preserve and the ice caves:

Conditions were posted in the NY section of the VFTT trail conditions and photos are here:

Webshots

Anybody know of NY maps of the Vernooykill area? I'm looking for some kind of guide to the seemingly snowmobile trails in the area. Too far north of the Shawangunks and too far south of the Catskill maps.

Jay

 

[hermit]

Great pictures Jay,I have lived in the area my whole life and have never made it over there.I will certainly make it a point to go there soon. Thanks for sharing.
Ralph

 

[Jay H]

Yeah, It is 8 miles from where the LP meets Peekamoose road, just west of the free camping spots on Peekamoose rd.

Would make a nice hike. Sorry we couldn't hook up on Hunter! I need SW Hunter for my winter 35, would of been convienient.

I think Fred and Josef want to finish up their 35 now so we can truly have a huge table at the 3500 dinner in Kingston.. We might go do something like Halcott and Rusk .

Jay

 

[hermit]

I will be hiking S.W. hunter again in Feb. for the 35x12.I will need to do Halcott and Rusk again also.Maybe Sat.?They are pretty easy,so I think we can do the 2 the same day.Rusk is a short drive away.I may have to go on a ski trip soon.That may interrupt some of my hiking endeavors.

 

[Jay H]

Yup, I'll talk to Fred soon... Maybe post a trip event. My friend Jim and I did Halcott and rusk in one trip one winter ago. Followed a well trodden path to each but made our own path on the way back. Maybe I can look for my hat on Rusk. I lost it when I slipped down a huge hole and when I got out of it, it must of been sucked out of my pocket.

Jay

 

[MattC]

Nice pics Jay. Funny-I just got back from "waterfalling" in the 'Gunks. I did a Peters Kill loop-along the creek to Awosting Falls, then a road walk up to the High Peters Kill Trail, then back to my car at the West Trapps lot.
Used up a roll of film on Split Rock Falls, Peters Kill Falls, Sheldon Falls and Awosting Falls, plus other random stuff. Unfortunately I don't have a digital or a working scanner, so it might be a while until I can convert these into electronic form. All of the waterfalls were spectacular, particularly Sheldon and Awosting.

As they did for Hermit, your shots inpire me to go check out the Vernoy Kill. As for maps, yeah, it's too bad that's a little too far south for NYNJTC # 43. The DEC has a map in their little brochure for the Sundown Wild Forest, but it's got no topo lines, and very little detail in general. You are correct about the snowmobiles though-that's marked on the DEC map. On my way home today I bought a copy of the Long Path guide today at the Mohonk Preserve Visitors Center and there's also a map in there, but again no detail. It only shows the LP (of course) and a few roads. Maybe there's something at the NYNJTC website.

What Catskill peaks do your friends still need?

Matt

P.S. I had my snowshoes hanging off my pack again today. Not even "just in case" (Who am I kidding? There's no way I was gonna use them), but just out of stubborness.

 

[Jay H]

Re: Sundown Wild Forest:

I thought I struck gold when I came across this on the internet:

DEC link

Alas it's only a area map and not a trail map.
Here's an interesting history on the falls and the area. I saw the stone wall , part of the Vernooy Mill mentioned here:

NYNJ Botany club link

Again, I don't know if I'm going nuts or not, but their directions are wrong too.. there is no Lower Cherrytown Road.. there is cherrytown Road or Upper Cherrytown road. If you go 3.5 miles north on Samsonville Rd and make a left onto Veritas Village sign, that is UPPER Cherrytown rd and then when you cross a stream, you'll see Cherrytown road on the left and Upper Cherrytown continues to the right, bear right to stay on Upper Cherrytown and in 3.1 miles the DEC trailhead is on the right. You'll see LP markers all the way up this part of Upper Cherrytown and there is a sign at the parking lot.

I am going to see if there is a loop at the falls itself, in that way it would make this a longer hike than simply 3.6 miles, unless you wanted to go out on the LP and come back...

Re: The friend in question is FunkyFreddy and I think he said he has 6 peaks left but I don't know which other than Halcott and Rusk. I do believe he has pretty much all the easy bushwacks though. You could PM him, but I might try to call him tonight to see what day he is free.

jay

 

[Mark Schaefer]

FYI What formerly was called "Lower Cherrytown" Road has been renamed "Water Falls" Road.

I am also rather disappointed in the trail maps in the current (2002) Long Path Guide. Early editions (e.g. 1996) had some topos. There are more detailed line drawing maps (not topos) in a couple of other trail guides:

Catskill Day Hikes for all Seasons
Walks and Rambles in the Western Hudson Valley​

The map in the second book does show the loop, although neither book describes the loop. I have done the loop which I would estimate is about 7 miles as a tag on to the 3.6 mile round trip hike you did. You could also just do the loop from the crossroad in Greenville - from County Route 46 (Yeagerville and Greenville Roads). The loop is rather uneventful and a fairly level walk mostly on old 4WD roads.

From the falls the loop follows the Long Path to the right. It passes the end of the very rough Trails End Road mentioned in the Catskill Day Hikes book. 4 miles from the Falls the Long Path leaves the old road on a path going up toward Samson Mt and Bangle Hill. The loop continues on the old road known as Spencer Road. Then a short road walk on Dymond Road brings you to Greenville (nothing more than a crossroad). The other side of the loop is the Snowmobile Trail through "Balsam Swamp" which leads back to the trail bridge at Vernooy Kill falls. The snowmobile trail through the Swamp was quite dry when I made the loop in summer.

There is also a larger, more impressive waterfall a little more than a half mile down the Vernooy Kill from the Vernooy Kill Falls. There is sort of a herd path to that falls, initially on the west side of the Kill that switches to the east side. This falls is a tight double falls about 15-20 feet high, It very much resembles Fawns Leap in the Kaaterskill Clove. Portions of the forest east of the Kill have burned or been scorched a couple of times in recent years.

 

[Jay H]

Thanks Mark.. I actually have a Hagstrom map of "Hudson Valley and the Catskills" and it has 'Water Falls Rd' and I saw that as I went by...

As far as the falls 1/2 mile downstream, I bushwacked a bit upstream and got some pictures a little up from the falls but didn't go to far south. I think I might of seen that herdpath going south. There's a neet campside on the east side of the VerNooy Kill and what looked to me initially to be a path going downstream. Might check it out the next time I'm there.

I'm currently, contacting the DEC about if they can mail me their little free infoguide on the area... I've picked up some of them from the Catskill Hiking Shack in Wurtsboro before but they didn't have all of them.

Jay

 

[Mark Schaefer]

Sundown Wild Forest Map and Guide

That DEC pamphlet does contain a reasonable trail map, and also shows the state land boundaries. My copy is a few years old and does not yet show the Lundy Estate as state land. The OSI bought about 5000 acres of the estate along Lundy Road and the Vernooy Kill a few years back for inclusion in the forest preserve. There has been talk of rerouting the Long Path down the Vernooy Kill from the falls and through the Lundy Estate. Then after crossing 209, up Lewis Ravine (Witch's' Hole) to Napanoch Point, High Point, and Sam's Point on the Shawangunk Ridge. That reroute is probably a few years away. It will eliminate a lot of the road walks on the Long Path, and bypass the closed section of the path on the Ridge.

 

[Jay H]

Hi Mark, I did unearth my copy of the DEC catskills map and I see they do list the trail to Vernooy Kill Falls and it shows the loop you mentioned above. Mine says 1997 on it but I know I picked it up last year at the Catskills Hiking Shack.

I think this summer, my friend and I are going to do some bushwacking on the LP between Mud Pond and Minnewaska. Ever since the landowner closed access to that section, my friend wants to finish that section of the LP. The LP folks don't really care how you get from point to point, so long as you do.

Jay