Winding Hills County Park(Montgomery-Orange County)

While visiting my wife's family down in the small town of Montgomery in Orange County this weekend, I found an hour of free time to explore nearby Winding Hills County Park, located off of Old Route 17K. There are over 500 acres to explore at this popular park, with many different trail options.  At the entrance gate on Diamond Valley Road(the park road), a small but pretty pond sits along the edge of the road.

I parked at the main parking area, and headed down towards the park's centerpiece, 40 acre Diamond Lake. 

You can make a full loop around the lake, staying fairly close to the shore nearly the whole time. 

Being a weekend, there were many people out on the water or fishing along the shore, so I headed up into the woods for a bit more solitude.  There are 51 campsites spaced out in the park, and I checked out some of the rustic sites not far off the trail.

Once away from the lake, the woods are quiet and lined with old stone walls. 

The trails don't offer much in the way of views, but a short bushwhack near the eastern edge of the park offered up a nice view just above the tree tops all the way to the Hudson Highlands to the east.

I found my way back to the trail and eventually over to a picturesque 4 acre pond, nestled at the foot of the hills.

There are several benches along the pond's shore to soak in the serenity. 

A quiet spot along the shore.

I looped around the small pond, where I passed by more old stone walls running right up the wooded hillside.

I walked both the Nature Trail and the Heritage Trail at the north end of the park, passing by some nice foliage along the main lake shore. 

Hiked a little over 2 miles total, with limited time on a nice, cool fall day at a nice park.