Taconic State Park/Mount Washington State Forest (NY, CT and MA)

ABOUT THE PARK:
Taconic State Park, NY - NY/NJ Trail Conference Description
Mount Washington State Forest, MA - Massachusetts DCR

TRAIL MAP:
NY/NJ Trail Conference South Taconic Trails Map
Mount Washington State Forest Map - Massachusetts DCR

Most of this hike is in Mount Washington State Forest.


DIRECTIONS:
At first I thought my GPS was malfunctioning since it took me north through Taconic State Park to head back south instead of from south to north through Salisbury, CT, which is the direct route Google Maps gives. I headed south through Salisbury, CT on the way home and now I know why the northern route was better. Heading south towards Salisbury, CT you will be on 7 miles of rutted gravel road hoping another vehicle is not coming towards you because it would be a very tight squeeze. There are even warning signs to proceed at your own risk. It wasn't all that bad since I did not run into other cars, but the northern route would actually be faster and easier so I would recommend going that way. The GPS coordinates that took me on the northern route to the Mt. Frissel trailhead parking lot:


From the New York State Thruway I-87, take the Saw Mill Parkway north to I-684 north. I-684 north turns into 22 north. Stay on 22 north all the way to Copake Falls, NY, (50 some miles) then turn right on 344 through Taconic State Park, right on West Street, right on East Street at the Mount Washington Forest Headquarters entrance, two miles farther to the Mt Frissel trailhead parking on the right. (I believe as East Street crosses the state line into CT it becomes Mt Washington Road.) If full, the AMC lot is 100 feet farther on the left. The drive was just under 3 hours from Central New Jersey.


HIKE DISTANCE: 11 mile loop. It seems that most people parking at the Mt. Frissell trailhead were doing an out and back to Brace Mountain which would be about 5 miles total.

HIKE DIRECTIONS:
With the exception of one short section around Alander Mountain, the trails are very well defined, well blazed and intersections are clearly marked. Made for very enjoyable hiking!

Start at the red-blazed Mr. Frissell trail in the smaller parking lot. On this 2.2 mile trail you will hike in 3 states, cross the summits of Round Mountain and Mt. Frissell (CT high point with actual summit in MA) with great views and pass by the 1898 tri-state marker which indicates where CT, NY and MA come together. There will be some steep rock scrambles while ascending the summits. I found this trail to be the most difficult of the hike so you get that out of the way early on.






The orange-blazed Mount Frissell Trail ends at the white-blazed South Taconic Trail where there are more great views to the south and west.





Turn right heading north on the white-blazed South Taconic Trail. For about the next 2 miles the trail will be a pleasant and easy woods road through pretty, quite, shaded forest with minor ups and downs. When you reach the intersection with the Alander Brook Trail, keep right on the South Taconic Trail where it will begin to go uphill steeply on Alander Mountain. There are no rock scrambles but it is a long uphill climb to the fantastic 360 degree views at the top.

Views of Mount Frissell and Brace Mountain to south:


Views of the Catskills to the west:





Old fire tower foundation:


Very shortly after passing the fire tower foundation, watch for the cairn with a very faint blue blaze below it. This is where the trail gets tricky briefly. Turn right at the cairn where the trail will be overgrown, the blazes very faded if you can see them at all, and you will think you are on the wrong trail.


It's not for very long and you will come out at an intersection with a cabin straight ahead. All the trails are blue-blazed here and you do not want the loop trails or they will take you back around to where you came from. Keep straight passing the cabin on your right and you will be on the blue-blazed Alander Mountain Trail which goes to the Mount Washington State Park headquarters.


The Alander Mountain Tail blazes will become blue rectangles that will be angled to point in the direction you need to go.


This trail will take you on woods roads through pleasant, thick, dark hemlock forests.


Up to this point, all of the brook crossings were dry due to the lack of rainfall but you will start to hear Ashley Hill Brook as it parallels the Alander Mountain trail in the valley below and a sturdy log bridge takes you to the other side when the trail crosses over.



Farther up the trail there is another smaller brook crossing.


Keep straight through a mowed field...


...which brings you to the Alander Mountain Trail trailhead at the Mount Washington State Forest headquarters. (This view is looking back in the direction I came from.)


Veer right through the parking lot continuing on towards the headquarters building. On the far side of the building is a spigot far drinking water. Great tasting water - my dog and I really appreciated the refill!


Exiting Mount Washington State Forest headquarters, turn right on East Street which is paved until beyond the bridge where it becomes gravel. You will be on this road for a little over two miles until you arrive back at the parking area on the right. The road becomes shaded and it is a very pleasant and easy walk through the Massachusetts countryside.



LITTER REPORT:
This was the only litter I found were these small rip-off pieces that can easily fall out of pockets so I am not even considering them litter. Even along East Street, a gravel road where you would expect to find it, amazingly, no litter.

Splitrock Reservoir/Farny State Park (Rockaway, NJ)

SPLIT ROCK ROAD PARKING REOPENED: http://www.dailyrecord.com/article/20100804/COMMUNITIES/100803073/1005/NEWS01/Split-Rock-Reservoir-compromise--Rockaway-Twp.-to-enforce-rules


ABOUT THE PARK:
Farny State Park - NY/NJ Trail Conference Description
Splitrock Reservoir - Wikipedia
From the Rockaway Township Web Site:

Splitrock Reservoir – The reservoir and surrounding land is owned by the City of Jersey City and the public may access the water body for fishing and kayaking only from the public access parking area located near the dam. Only Car top watercraft is permitted providing it is launched from the access located at the parking area. Gas powered motors are not permitted. Shoreline fishing is not permitted. Hiking is allowed only on the specific marked trails – other access will be considered trespass and violators will be subject to fine.

TRAIL MAP:
NY/NJ Trail Conference Online Map (north, south and middle sections of the Four Birds Trail)
South and middle maps merged to fit this hike on one page:


DIRECTIONS:
I-287 to exit 43 to north on Fanny Road to Powerville Road, left on Valley Road, eight on Rockaway Valley Road, left on Split Rock Road which turns to gravel, parking lot on right at Reservoir.

The parking lot holds about 25 cars and I got the last spot at 7:15 am on a Saturday so get there early, mostly people there for fishing and kayaking. Do not park along the road. At the end of the hike every single car I passed that was parked along Split Rock Road had been ticketed and the area was being actively patrolled.


HIKE DISTANCE: 10.5 miles if you can manage to follow the trail - my hike ended up being 9 hours and 14 miles due to backtracking because of poorly marked trails.

HIKE DIRECTIONS:
From the parking lot, turn left and walk along Split Rock Road for about .3 miles. At the second power cut, start looking for the blue blaze on a tree to the left going into the woods. The trail is somewhat obstructed by weeds so you will probably miss it if you aren't looking for the blaze on the tree.


For the first couple of miles the blazing is pretty good. Then it gets spotty. You will find clearly marked blazes in two different shades of blue:


Faded out blazes which are very hard to see:


Blazes which have fallen to the ground or no blazes at all:


Another problem was a blaze indicating a turn but no discernible trail to turn on to. After the 4th time of backtracking, going in circles and not being able to find the continuation of the trail, in sheer frustration I cut through the woods towards the reservoir and continued north on Charlottsburg Road which is a dirt road closed to traffic, mostly running along the reservoir.


Along this stretch there were some nice views of the reservoir but you had to overlook the broken glass and empty beer cans all along the shore.



I tried to pick up the blue-blazed trail again when it met up with Charlottsburg Road where the McMansions start appearing to the right only to end up in somebody's back yard so I went back and stayed on Charlottsburg Road. There were some faint white blazes and although it was not the right place to run into the white-blazed Four Birds Trail, I followed them only to find the trail terminated at the reservoir.


Continued north along Charlottsburg Road where it becomes a dumping ground for tires, car seats, floor tiles and other assorted garbage until I started noticing orange diamond blazes to the left. I have not seen this trail on maps but really not wanting to hook back up with the blue-blazed trail, I followed to find this trail to be very well-blazed.


The orange-blazed trail terminates right at the white-blazed Four Birds Trail where you turn left.


The white-blazed trail is much better marked than the blue trail. There are a few questionable spots but not near as bad. Others I ran into who hike/run there frequently say they avoid the blue-blazed trail on the east side of the reservoir because it is so difficult to follow. This trail follows along the reservoir for 1 1/2 miles.


Follow the white-blazed trail until it goes downhill steeply to Split Rock Road.


Turn left on Split Rock Road.


Cross the bridge at the dam back to the parking lot on the left just beyond the dam.



To do this hike my recommendation would be to start on the blue-blazed trail but as soon as you start having problems, head on over towards the reservoir to Charlottsburg Road. Don't keep trying and get frustrated like I did - that takes all of the fun out of hiking.