Manitou Point Preserve, NY with Appalachian Trail from Anthony's Nose to Manitoga

ABOUT THE PARK:
Manitou Point Preserve - Scenic Hudson
Manitou Point Preserve - Open Space Institute

DIRECTIONS:
GPS Coordinates 41.337945, -73.958481

Manitou Point Preserve parking lot up a short drive off of Route 9D.

TRAIL MAPS:
Manitou Point Trail Map - Open Space Institute (not easy to use because it shows the trails by names and the colors don't match the blazing.
East Hudson Trails Map #101 - NY/NJ Trail Conference (has an enlarged inset of the Manitou trails)

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HIKE DISTANCE:  9.7 miles

THE HIKE:
There was a 2-mile stretch of the Appalachian Trail I had never hiked between hikes I had done with Shawnee at Anthony's Nose and Manitoga in 2011.  Linking to that section of the AT from Manitou Point with a residential road walk made for a hike long enough to warrant the drive.

The white trail starts at the kiosk next to the parking lot.

From white we turned right on yellow,

Yellow ends at the gravel drive where we turned left.

A view of Sugarloaf Mountain from the stone bridge over the railroad tracks.

The gravel road leads to private property.

Before the private property gate and just after the stone bridge, the blue trail starts to the left.

Coming up on the Hudson River.

Hudson River Views

We startled a bald eagle and he promptly soared away.

He was too fast for a clear shot.

A barge in the Hudson River.

Hudson views from the far end of the blue trail before it loops back.

On the way back, the the same spot we started the bald eagle previously, we apparently startled the same eagle again who must have returned to that spot.  Sorry!

Leaving blue on the red trail which is a grassy woods road.

Red meets back up with blue.

Then blue is a woods road all the way back to where we retrace back to the stone bridge.

Crossing the stone bridge and continuing almost to where we came off of yellow, turning right on the green trail before the creek.

The green trail ends at a gravel road where we turned left.

Coming up on Manitou Marsh on the right.

Manitou Marsh

At the gate at the end of the gravel road ...

... right goes to the Manitou train stop so this hike can be reached by train ...

... but we turned left on Manitou Station Road to road walk to the Appalachian Trail.

It's that ridge on the horizon where we needed to be.  It's about a 1.2 mile road walk on quiet residential streets.

Crossing over Route 9D and I suggest sprinting across since there are bends in either direction and you can't see if cars are coming.  When I did not hear any cars, we made a run for it and got across just in time before cars started coming around the bends.

Manitou Road ....

... to a right on South Mountain Pass.  We would be coming down South Mountain Pass on the return route keeping straight which would be to the left in this picture.  For now, to the right uphill we go.

Once South Mountain Road become gravel and US boundary signs appear on the right ...

... start watching for AT blazes on the left.  I did not see them heading up the hill on South Mountain Pass Road because, well, I suppose there are no blazes visible because nobody else approaches that way.  This picture is looking back at the blazes.

We turned right at the post with the AT blazes on to the gated woods road following the AT south.

This part of the AT starts out as a woods road (which we would be returning on) ...

... then leaves to the right and becomes quite rugged.  Maybe it seemed more rugged to me than it might have otherwise since we had just walked 1.2 miles mostly uphill and the temps were reaching the 90's with high humidity.

Uphill and downhill, uphill and downhill on the AT.

A tent off of the trail.

Zooming in to a pink lady slipper in the distance visible from the trail.

The older version of the trail conference map show a scenic view here.  It's pretty overgrown and this is all that is left so that is probably why it's not on the newer version of the map. 

An Eastern Wood Peewee who sang and posed so nicely for me. 

The AT comes out on the same woods road where it started and goes downhill with some partial views of the Hudson on the right.  This would probably be a very scenic hike when the leaves are down.

Here we are at the blue trail that leads to Anthony's Nose completing this end of the AT part.  I had absolutely no desire to continue on to Anthony's Nose because as I expected when I left and drove by parking for Anthony's Nose it was bedlam with cars lining both sides of Route 9D and large groups of people everywhere.  Our hike was nice and quiet and we only ran into two other hikers the entire time.

We retraced a little and sat for Brodie to have some chicken jerky in honor of Shawnee.

Truth be told, he'll eat anything for any occasion.

Back up the woods road to where the AT leaves to the left, we stayed straight on the woods road.

Passing a small pond on the left.

This was a very pleasant, gradual downhill route.

Just don't wander off to the right.

Coming up on the gate at South Mountain Pass Road.

Right on South Mountain Pass Road where there is parking for a couple of cars ...

... and left just a short distance ahead.

The AT switchbacks up Canada Hill.

We were stopping for a lot of breaks.  Did I mention it was in the 90's and humid?  What happened to spring?

At the top of the switchbacks, a graduation balloon from 2017.  It had been laying there a short distance off trail for a whole year.

At the top the trail smooths out and any uphills are very gradual.

Again, the old map showed a scenic view where the new map does not and this is all there is left of it.

Where the AT turns right ...

... the blue trail to the left goes to the Manitoga trails.  This completes the other end of our AT section.

Since the map showed a woods road a short distance to the right heading back down, I though we might make a loop like we had done with the woods road on the other side.

But turns out this was no longer a woods road, rather a narrow path loaded with blow downs and spider webs.

So we headed back and retraced on the AT instead.

Just before the road walk I wanted Brodie to drink water not knowing how much sun exposure there would be.  If he is really thirsty he might lap once or twice but he usually refuses water.  I crumbled some of that chicken jerky in the water and he lapped up the entire bowl of water to get to the chicken jerky at the bottom.  Score one for me.

Turning right on South Mountain Pass Road.

Fortunately there were enough spots of shade that so we didn't have to be in the sun that long.

It's about 1/2 mile of downhill to the point where we stay right on South Mountain Pass Road, having come up on Manitou Road to the left earlier.

Just a short distance ahead, Route 9D.

It's not very far and there was enough room to walk on the right side.  There is our car behind the trees on the left.

Crossing Route 9D to the drive to the parking lot.

One more order of business for the day.  I had posted Shawnee's stroller on eBay for local pickup only.  It was in almost new condition having only been used for about 2 months.  A woman in Westchester County purchased it and this hike was the perfect choice for us to meet afterwards to pass off the stroller.  It will be used well by her 4 small dogs who can all ride in it together.  I'll be putting Shawnee's wheelchair on eBay next.