ABOUT THE PARK:
Groundswell of Community Passion Helps OSI Preserve More Goosepond Mountain - OSI
Your Environment Podcast - OSI
Open Space Preserved in Chester - The Chronicle
Trail Walker (page 2) - New York New Jersey Trail Conference
Goosepond Mountain State Park -New York State Parks
DIRECTIONS:
GPS Coordinates 41.30814, -74.24732
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| Goosepond South parking off Bull Mill Road. |
TRAIL MAPS:
Goosepond South - New York New Jersey Trail Conference
Goosepond Mountain State Park - New York State Parks
Goosepond Mountain State Park and Goosepond South, NY at EveryTrail
HIKE DISTANCE: 5.8 miles
plus .4 miles separately at Goose Mountain Pond Area
THE HIKE:
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| Birds serenading in the parking area. |
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| Common Yellowthroat |
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| Newly constructed section of the Highlands Trail through Goosepond South. |
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| Trout Brook |
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| The trail is a work in progress and is well-blazed until ... |
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| ... the view. |
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| At this time there are some blazes beyond the view but also ribbons. |
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| We actually lost the trail and ended up checking out what appeared to be some mountain bike trails. |
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| Until we had to turn back. |
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| Another unmarked trail up above Bull Mill Road. |
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| It descends to Bull Mill Road but it's all homes on the other side so back to connect up with the Highlands Trail. |
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| A sign that we are back on the Highlands Trail. |
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| Confirmation! |
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| Crossing Bull Mill Road ... |
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| ... the continuation of the Highlands Trail on the other side. |
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| Creek Crossing |
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| The trail crosses a power cut that appears to be overgrown but there was actually a faint path. |
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| Currently the end of the new part of the Highlands Trail stops at a stone wall but I wanted to see if there were any mountain bike paths into Goosepond State Park. |
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| Sure enough, Shawnee saw it the same time I did - a few steps to the left ... |
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| ... an unmarked trail! You really need a GPS to navigate these trails. I would still be there wandering around if I hadn't had mine. |
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| A double power cut crossing. |
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| Horses use this trail! |
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| Perhaps this is the new part of the Highlands Trail marked with ribbons that will connect to the existing Highlands Trail? It was in the direction I wanted to go so that is the way we went. |
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| Indeed, straight ahead, Lazy Hill Road which is ... |
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| ... the existing Highlands Trail. |
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| A bridge over ... |
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| (It is much more sturdy than it looks.) |
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| ... Seely Brook. |
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| The Highlands Trail exits the park on to ... |
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| ... Laroe Road. This is the road walk portion that is being eliminated by the new section through Goosepond South and that is a VERY good thing because this road walk is just awful! |
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| Tried to make the most of the 1-mile road walk by looking for wildlife but ... |
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| ... stinky, loud trucks and nonstop traffic, ugh. |
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| Finally, our turn at Bull Mill Road. |
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| Red-Winged Blackbird |
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| A red-winged blackbird chasing a turkey vulture. That little bird was tenacious and chased that big bird right out of his airspace! |
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| Crossing over Trout Brook on Bull Mill Road. |
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| Back at the parking area. |
Very nice pictures! Great to see Shawnee on the trail! Thanks for sharing. Joanne
ReplyDeleteVery interesting hike...even though I've never been on the Highlands Trail, the re-route concept reminds me of the Batona Trail down here in South Jersey (i.e. the elimination of the road walk portion thanks to the Franklin Parker Preserve re-route.) Although, it looks like the Highlands re-route isn't yet complete. This may actually make your shots even more interesting, as you seemed to catch things in "transition" phase! Then, if you go again in the future, it may be (again) slightly different when the re-route is complete. (Nice shot of the truck on the road walk section...I bet there were NO trucks going by _until_ you were walking there, trying to get some nature shots. And let me guess, right when the truck went by, it emitted the worst of its horrible pollution. Ugh! Bet that finished re-route can't come soon enough for you! But as always, you and Shawnee are real troopers...if it isn't overgrown, tick-infested tall brush/weeds/grass trails, it's noisy, stinky road walks!) :)
ReplyDeleteBut all in all, the park/trail still looked interesting, and I'm sure Shawnee never gets tired of the "wet" crossings! At least you were "serenaded" in the beginning, and you got a nice shot of the red-winged blackbird...I could almost hear him calling out with its one-of-a-kind "scream"!
Happy hiking!
-- Jim