Hennig Preserve(Providence, Saratoga County)/ Sanders Preserve(Glenville, Schenectady County)

It's been a pleasure getting out with my dad since his retirement and today was another opportunity to do some exploring.  Our first stop was up in rural Saratoga County in the quiet town of Providence at the 606 acre Hennig Preserve.  The Preserve is owned and maintained by Saratoga PLAN, and located on both sides of Center Line Road just below the Adirondack blue line, offering over 10 miles of trails.

 Stone walls are found throughout the woods.  Trails are well marked and preserve maps are found at all trail junctions.

 Dad balancing on a board crossing over Joby Creek.

 Babbling Joby Creek.

We followed the yellow marked trail through mixed woods and across Packer Road(a jeep road).

 A short distance beyond Packer Road, the sounds of Cadman Creek could be heard.  We soon found our way to the banks of the creek, which was running strong from our recent rains.

Near the southern edge of the property, the yellow trail bends and heads east with a nice view over a creek and a large meadow.

After returning into the woods, the trail soon crosses back over the rushing waters of Cadman Creek on a well built foot bridge.

 We stumbled across a crumbling old foundation near the creek.

Remnants from one of four former sawmills that existed along this section of Cadman Creek.

 The stone work and engineering from over a century ago is truly something to marvel at.

 Beautiful Cadman Creek.

 Dad admiring a small waterfall on the creek, which was really more of a series of small, powerful cascades.

 Dad getting creative, rock hopping smaller cascades.

The trail is a really nice walk through mostly mixed woods and ferns along the creek. 

 After completing the 2.5 mile yellow trail, we arrived back at gravel Centerline Road about 1 mile east of where the truck was parked.  We saw a few other people out talking by the road and soon were introduced to the Preserve's namesake, Barbara Hennig as well as other trail volunteers.  After some pleasant conversation we continued our walk the one mile west to the truck.  There were many butterflies and wildflowers along very quiet Centerline Road.

 After returning to the truck, we decided to explore some of the trails on the north side of the road.  Almost as soon as you enter the woods, the trail comes to a fork.  We took the white trail to the right and after .6 of a mile, we came to an overlook of a large beaver meadow.  Centerline Road can be seen all the way across the meadow, in the background.

 The white trail meets back up with the yellow trail and then heads back southwest towards the road again, basically forming a large loop.  Along the way we found another old foundation(this one much more overgrown) on the upper yellow trail.

 The well next to the old foundation.

We walked about 5 miles RT under ideal conditions.  After leaving the Hennig Preserve, we drove south to the 370 acre Sanders Preserve in Glenville.  We parked at the trail head on the south side of Sanders Road and entered the woods.  The trail leaves the southwest end of the lot and drops down a little over a mile on a gentle grade down, with a steep hillside off to the right over Washout Creek.

The trail eventually comes to a steep descent where the Washout Creek and its tributary Whitetail Creek meet.

We paused to soak in peaceful views of crystal clear Washout Creek.

 We returned via the same route we came down, ascending for about 1.1 miles to the truck for a total of 2.2 miles RT.  A great day out with my dad at a couple local preserves for a total of 7.2 miles RT.