Pisgah State Park, NH

ABOUT THE PARK:  Pisgah State Park - New Hampshire State Parks

TRAIL MAP:  Pisgah State Park Summer Trail Map

DIRECTIONS:
GPS Coordinates: 42.841475,-72.483612

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HIKE DISTANCE:
Pisgah Mountain Loop - 8.5 miles (click here for brochure with directions - also gives shorter options)
My version of the hike - 10.1 miles

HIKE DIRECTIONS:
Some of the trails are blazed but the colors are not shown on the park map.  On the map below are the colored blazes as I saw them during the hike, with the exception of the green which is to show an unmarked trail.

I had intended to follow the brochure with some modifications.  Although Intersections are marked with signs, I misinterpreted one of the intersections and ended up on an unmarked, unmaintained trail (shown in lime green on the map) early on.  This resulted in coming out at what would have been the final section of the hike so I had to flip the directions.  Most of what I am describing will be backwards if you are following the brochure link above.

From the parking lot, start on Killburn Road, a wide woods road, to the right of the park sign.  At .6 miles, keep straight as Killburn Road becomes Killburn Loop which also goes to the right.

At 1.1 miles the blue Killburn Loop trail turns sharply to the right - this is where I was confused.  So to follow the brochure, turn right at the intersection below at 1.1 miles and cross over a bridge.

If you want to follow my hike, keep straight instead of turning right on the blue Killburn Loop trail and you will see this sign - they really mean it when they say "not a maintained trail" - expect a few rock hops over a creek and some difficulty in following the trail.

At 1.9 miles the unmarked, unmaintained trail comes out at an intersection with the blue Baker Pond trail; turn left on the Baker Pond Trail.

At the next intersection with the Davis Hill and Hubbard Hill Trails, a short unmarked trail to the left takes you closer to Baker Pond.

Return to the intersection and take the red Hubbard Hill Trail.  (You would have turned right on the red Hubbard Hill Trail from the blue Baker Pond Trail if you did not detour to the pond.)

When you come to a fork on the red Hubbard Hill Trail, go left towards the vista.

View to the west from Hubbard Hill vista.

Log bench at the Hubbard Hill vista.

Retrace your steps on the red Hubbard Hill trail back to the intersection; turn left on the blue Baker Pond Trail.  At 3.65 miles, stay on the blue Baker Pond Trail as the Pisgah Ridge Trail goes to the right.  At 4.0 miles, turn right on the Reservoir Trail, a multi-use trail where you will cross several bridges and see many traffic signs.

 

 

At 4.80 miles a short yellow-blazed side trail goes to North Round Pond.

 

Return to the Reservoir Trail, passing the North Pond Trail on the left at 5.1 miles and the Parker Trail on the left at 5.9 miles.  At 6.3 miles turn right on the orange Pisgah Ridge Trail at the edge of the Pisgah Reservoir.  This trail climbs uphill with alternating uphills and downhills along the way.  This trail takes you through beautiful forests.

Arrive at an overlook with views of Pisgah Reservoir and the park to the east from above at 7.3 miles.

Mt. Monadnock to the east.

Continue on the orange Pisgah Ridge Trail over the wooded summit of Pisgah Mountain to the Pisgah Mountain vista at 8.1 miles.

View of Mt. Monadnock to the east from Pisgah Mountain vista.

View from Pisgah Mountain vista to the west.

Continue on the orange Pisgah Ridge Trail which now proceeds downhill to a junction with a yellow trail at 8.4 miles.  Turn left on the yellow trail.

At 8.9 miles turn right on the blue Killburn Loop trail, cross over a bridge, turn left staying on the blue Killburn Loop trail.  At 9.5 miles the blue Killburn Loop trail goes left; stay straight on Killburn Road back to the parking lot.

HIKE SUMMARY:
[  0.00]  Kilburn Road trailhead parking; start on Kilburn Road at opposite end of parking lot
[  0.60]  Keep left as Killburn Road becomes blue Killburn Loop Trail which also goes right
[  1.10]  Blue Killburn Loop Trail turns right and crosses bridge
   ***at this point we went straight on the unmaintained trail (green on map) instead of right***
[  1.90]  Unmaintained trail ends at junction; left on blue Baker Pond Trail
[  2.25]  Right on red Hubbard Hill Trail where David Hill Trail goes left; at fork left to vista
[  2.75]  Hubbard Hill vista; retrace steps back to Baker Pond Trail
[  3.25]  Back at junction where David Hill Trail goes right, turn left on blue Baker Pond Trail
[  3.65]  Arrive back at junction where unmaintained trail joins; stay left on blue Baker Pond Trail
[  4.00]  Blue Baker Pond trail ends at multi-use Reservoir Trail; right on Reservoir Trail
[  4.80]  Left on yellow trail to North Round Pond
[  4.90]  Arrive at North Round Pond; retrace steps back to Reservoir Trail
[  5.00]  Left on Reservoir Trail
[  5.10]  Stay on Reservoir Trail as North Pond Trail leaves to the left
[  5.90]  Stay on Reservoir Trail as Parker Trail leaves to the left
[  6.30]  Turn right on orange Pisgah Ridge Trail from the Reservoir Trail
[  7.30]  Arrive at vista with eastern views of Pisgah State Park and Pisgah Reservoir
[  8.10]  Arrive at open ledge of Pisgah Mountain vista with west and east views.
[  8.40]  Turn left on yellow diamond blazed trail
[  8.90]  Turn right on blue Killburn Loop trail
[  9.00]  Killburn Loop trail veers left after crossing over bridge
[  9.50]  Stay straight on Kilburn Road as blue Killburn Loop goes to the left
[10.10]  Arrive back at parking lot

Hunter Mountain, Catskill Forest Preserve, NY

 

ABOUT THE PARK:  

Hunter Mountain - New York Department of Environmental Conservation

Hunter Mountain - Wikipedia

TRAIL MAP:  

Northeastern Catskill Trails Map #141 - NY/NJ Trail Conference

Hunter Mountain Fire Tower Trail Map Brochure - NY/NJ Trail Conference

DIRECTIONS:

GPS Coordinates:  42.18454, -74.27265

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Should this lot be full, there are two more lots on the right a little farther up Spruceton Road.  You will pass those two parking lots at the end of the hike so regardless of where you park, the hike will take you back to the right lot.  If you park in one of the other lots, walk back to the first lot to start the hike.

HIKE DISTANCE:

Hunter Mountain Loop without Colonel's Chair - 8.30 miles

Hunter Mountain Loop with Colonel's Chair - 10.50 miles

HIKE DIRECTIONS:

Click here for NY/NJ Trail Conference hike directions.

From the parking lot take the blue Spruceton trail which will be a woods road for 3.4 miles, mostly uphill, all the way to the fire tower at the summit.  Be sure to sign in at the trail register at the beginning of the trail.

 

At .5 miles cross over a bridge.

At 2.1 miles a hitching post and water for horses on the right.

At 2.4 miles, arrive at the intersection with the Colonel's Chair trail which goes to the Hunter Mountain Ski Area.  This adds 2.2 miles to the hike and involves descending and ascending again on the return trip.

At 3 miles the yellow trail turns from a footpath to a woods road as it levels out

 

There are several mountain bike trails near the ski area.  Watch for a side trail to the right with boulders straight ahead for a view beyond the boulder.

 

 Arrive at Hunter Mountain Ski Area at 3.5 miles.

New high speed 6 passenger chair lift installed with helicopters August 2010

 

Head back on the yellow trail arriving back at the blue Spruceton trail at 4.6 miles; turn left.

Turn left on side trail at 4.9 miles to a view.

At 5.6 miles arrive at the fire tower at the summit of Hunter Mountain, the second highest peak in the Catskills at 4,040 feet.  I was only able to make it up to the third level of the fire tower to get some shots from above the trees while hanging on for dear life - that fear of heights thing.  Views from the very top must be incredible.

 

 

 

 

At 5.9 miles arrive at an intersection that bring you to the site of the original fire tower on the left and a short yellow trail to the right to a great break area at a rock outcropping with nice views.

 

Return to the intersection and turn right on the yellow Hunter Mountain Trail.  At 7.25 miles, at the end of the yellow trail, turn right on the red Devil's Path.  While this part of the Devil's Path is rocky and does descend steeply at times, there are no rock scrambles and it is the easiest part of the Devil's Path, which is very challenging to the east.

 

 At 8 miles at a fork in the trail, go left briefly to views at Geiger Point then return to continue.

Continue on the red Devil's Path to Diamond Notch Falls at the intersection with the blue Diamond Notch trail.

Turn right on the blue Diamond Notch trail which runs parallel to multiple smaller falls on the left.

At 10.2 miles the trail ends at a barrier, beyond which is Spruceton Road and a parking lot on the left.  Continue along Spruceton Road past another parking lot on the left, arriving at the first parking lot on the right at 10.5 miles.

Early fall colors in the Catskills.

HIKE SUMMARY:

[  0.00] Blue trail from parking lot; sign trail register

[  0.50] Cross over bridge
[  1.60] Blue trail makes right turn then steeper uphill
[  2.10] Hitching post and water for horses on right
[  2.25] Yellow trail to right goes to a shelter
[  2.40] Left on yellow Colonel's Chair trail
[  3.00] Yellow trail becomes woods road and levels out
[  3.50] Arrive at Hunter Mountain Ski Area; retrace back to blue trail
[  3.90] Yellow trail turns left and becomes footpath and goes uphill
[  4.10] Trail register on left, on right opposite register short side trail to view
[  4.60] Left on blue Spruceton trail
[  4.90] Side trail to left goes to view
[  5.60] Fire tower
[  5.90] Intersection with old fire tower site, trail to view and yellow Hunter Mountain trail

[  7.25] Right on red Devil's Path

[  8.00] Fork in trail; Geiger Point to left, trail continues to right
[  9.50] Arrive at Diamond Notch Falls; turn right on blue Diamond Notch trail
[10.20] Trail ends at Spruceton Road; follow Spruceton Road
[10.50] Arrive at parking lot on right

Delaware Water Gap NRA, PA - McDade Recreational Trail from Milford Beach to Conashaugh

ABOUT THE PARK:  
McDade Trail - National Park Service
History of the McDade Trail - Milford Beach to Pitman Orchard
Update:  Where there were two sections of the McDade Trail completed previously, all sections are now complete and connected and will be dedicated on September 25, 2010.  See article here.

TRAIL MAPS:  McDade Recreational Trail - National Park Service

DIRECTIONS:  Parking is available at the beginning of the trail at Milford Beach but this is a fee area as there are beach facilities and boat launches.  There are multiple free parking areas/pullouts along Route 209.  For this hike the parking lot on the east side of Route 209 north of mile post 18 was used.
GPS coordinates:   41.297348,-74.823503

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HIKE DISTANCES:

McDade Trail from Pitman Orchard north to Milford Beach out and back - 5 miles

McDade Trail from Pitman Orchard south to Conashaugh out and back - 4.2 miles

HIKE DIRECTIONS:

McDade Trail from Pitman Orchard North to Milford Beach

Take the short connector trail from the parking lot to the McDade trail.  Turn left and follow the trail through open fields.  There will be no shade for the first mile and even on a cool day, it gets hot in full sunshine.

To the left, the cliffs of the Cliff Park Trail System

On the right, an old silo, the only farm building to survive a fire in 1950.

At 1.0 mile start entering the woods where there will be minor elevation changes.

At 1.9 miles go under the Route 206 bridge which crosses over the Delaware River from New Jersey to Pennsylvania:

 

At 2.5 miles arrive at the Milford Beach parking lot where there is a restroom a short distance ahead.

The Route 206 bridge from the Milford Beach parking area.

From this point turn around and retrace back to where you parked.  Although this part of the trail was interesting in that it went through diverse landscape and I could see the cliffs where we had just hiked earlier from down below, I was disappointed that there were no river views.  The trail surface is gravel and is more of a bike trail.  So when I arrived back at the parking lot, I decided to continue farther south so see if any of the trail had been completed that had been shown on the map as under construction.

McDade Trail from Pitman Orchard South to Conashaugh
From the parking lot take the access trail to the McDade Trail and turn right.  At 0.4 miles cross a bridge over a creek.

Newer section of gravel trail before second bridge.

Cross over a second bridge and soon the gravel trail turns to a dirt foot path heading towards the river.  From this point on there will be many nice views of the river while the trail goes up and down and twists and turns to conform to the landscape.

I ran into a forest ranger working on this part of the trail.  He was doing some finishing touches before the dedication the following Saturday.  He was thrilled that people had already been using his trail.  He said he tried to build it to take advantage of the views and that he did.  It's a really nice trail and enjoyable to hike.  Lots of traffic noise from Route 209 but the views are so nice you can almost ignore the traffic sounds.

At 2.1 miles the foot trail comes to the Conashaugh parking lot on Route 209 where the trail continues along the road as the gravel trail it was previously.  This was the point where I turned around and headed back north on the foot trail.

These sections of the McDade Trail can be hiked in conjunction with the Cliff Park Trails, hike details here.  It is a very short drive but there are no trails connecting to two so you do have to drive from one to the other.