Minisink Battleground Park, NY

ABOUT THE PARK:
Minisink Battleground Park - Sullivan County, NY
Minisink Battleground Park - Minisink Valley Historical Society
Trails of the Upper Delaware River Valley - National Park Service

DIRECTIONS:
GPS Coordinates  41.487069, -74.970041

Minisink Battleground Park parking lot.

TRAIL MAP:
Orientation Map - Minisink Valley Hisorical Society

The trails are not blazed but intersections are all marked.  I colored the trails on the map to better distinguish them.

Minisink Battleground Park, NY at EveryTrail

HIKE DISTANCES:
These three hikes all done in one day along with a scenic drive from one to the other.
Mongaup Valley WMA, NY - Mongaup River Trail - 2.3 miles
     drive 8.3 miles/20 minutes to Plank Road Viewing Area (41.52152, -74.76094)
     drive 4.1 miles/9 minutes to Route 43 Viewing Area (41.55491, -74.78505)
     drive 16.2 miles/26 minutes to
Minisink Battleground Park, NY - 2 miles
     drive 24 miles/41 minutes to
Huckleberry Ridge State Forest, NY (not part of the Upper Delaware NPS trails) - 4.3 miles

THE HIKE:

Head towards the Interpretive Center to access the trails.

I turned right to start on the Battleground Trail which leads to the Woodland Trail.  The Quarry Trail was my return route.

Left on the Woodland Trail a short distance ahead.

This is about what all of the trails look like.

There is gravel must mostly covered with moss.

Very easy on the paws.

Trails intersections have signs but they can be a little confusing.  This looks like it's a connector trail to the Battleground Trail on the map but we stayed on the Woodland Trail.

On to the Rockshelter Loop.

From the Rockshelter Trail back to continue a short distance on the Woodland Trail to the Battlefield Trail.

Hospital Rock

On to Sentinel Rock.

Sentinel Rock

The Battlefield Trail continues on to the Minsink Monument.

Take one of the connector trails (hand drawn in on the map above) back to the Battlefield Trail ...

... Old Quarry Trail.

Indian Rock at the beginning of the Old Quarry Trail.

Old Quarry Trail

The end of the Old Quarry Trail back at the interpretive center.

Mongaup Valley WMA, NY - Mongaup River Trail

ABOUT THE PARK:
Mongaup Valley WMA - New York State DEP
Trails of the Upper Delaware River Valley - National Park Service

Note that this trail is closed from December 1 through March 31.

DIRECTIONS:
GPS Coordinates 41.42717, -74.75539

Parking on the north side of Route 97 just east of the Mongaup River bridge.

TRAIL MAP:
Mongaup Valley WMA - New York State DEP (does not show trails - not able to locate a trail map)
Mongaup River WMA, NY at EveryTrail

HIKE DISTANCES:
These three hikes all done in one day along with a scenic drive from one to the other.
Mongaup Valley WMA, NY - Mongaup River Trail - 2.3 miles
     drive 8.3 miles/20 minutes to Plank Road Viewing Area (41.52152, -74.76094)
     drive 4.1 miles/9 minutes to Route 43 Viewing Area (41.55491, -74.78505)
     drive 16.2 miles/26 minutes to
Minisink Battleground Park, NY - 2 miles
     drive 24 miles/41 minutes to
Huckleberry Ridge State Forest, NY (not part of the Upper Delaware NPS trails) - 4.3 miles

THE HIKE:

You pretty much can't touch the pull off for the view at Hawk's nest on a weekend because it's packed with cars but at 7AM, not another soul around.

The Mongaup River Trail starts to the left of the kiosk - not so visible from the parking but it is there.

The trail goes along the Mongaup River.

About 10 minutes in, there went a bald eagle down the river corridor.  I wasn't fast enough but got a little bit of his white feathers and a blur that was the eagle flying by.

Around the .7 mile point the trail seems to become less defined but keep going because it opens up again.

The end of the trail is actually just beyond this stone wall which is...

... an old cemetery from the early 1800's.

Shawnee wanted to keep going but there was no trail at all any more so time to turn around.

On the way back the sun had made its way over the ridge.

Coming back out at the parking lot.

On the way to our next stop, one of the eagle blinds on Rio Reservoir, I had to stop twice for turkey crossings.

Rio Reservoir

The eagle blind at Rio Reservoir just past the boat launch.

I knew there would be no eagle viewing here today because...

... they were weed whacking in the power cut :(

I pulled over because I thought I saw an eagle on a stump on the way to the Mongaup Falls Reservoir eagle blind but it turned out to be a Belted Kingfisher.  Can't believe I saw this guy way out there from the car!

Mongaup Falls Reservoir

There are supposed to be hiking trails in this WMA but could see no evidence of this while driving around and have not been able to find a map.