Moreau Lake State Park

Headed north on Black Friday to get far away from the crowds and into the woods of Moreau Lake State Park.  The popular park is just south of Glens Falls covering 4,100 acres and offers nearly 20 miles of hiking trails, including access to Moreau Lake and the Hudson River near Spier Falls Dam.

 Parked at the front gate and walked down to Moreau Lake.  The lakeside trail is exactly what it suggests, following the shoreline of the lake very closely.  With temps in the 20's, I kept a brisk pace all the way around to the beach area.  While very popular during the summer season, this time of year the beach is almost completely vacant.

 Sandy beach

 I then looped back to the Red Oak Ridge trail, which is a nice walk through the woods.

 A trail off of the Red Oak Ridge trail leads to an overlook area.  The overlook trail is less than a half mile up, but very steep most of the way.  I had worked up a pretty good sweat, but the views are outstanding, making all the hard work well worth it.  Views are easterly over Moreau Lake and into the Hudson River valley.

 Rural Saratoga and Washington County with the Green Mountains of Vermont in the distance.

 Moreau Lake below the overlook.

 Vermont's Green Mountains.

 Me.

 I then followed the trails down off the ridgeline down to Mud Pond.

 Mud Pond is a much smaller lake and a bit shallower, which caused it to freeze up much quicker than the larger Moreau Lake very close by.  Palmertown Mountain Range looms above in the background,

 Cattails along Moreau Lake's shoreline.

 Moreau Lake with sunny reflections.

 A footbridge over the dammed area.

 A lone picnic table on the beach of the lake.

 Sunset Cabin directly on Moreau Lake can be rented weekly.

 The deck of the cabin provides excellent views across the lake.

 Moreau Lake's freezing waters.

 Sunset Cabin.

 The Hudson River from Spier Falls Road.

 The Palmertown Mountain Range and Spier Falls Road along the Hudson River.

I walked close to 6 miles today but the early sunset prevented me from exploring more of the park. There are plenty of other trails, including the popular Western Ridge Trail, that I would love to explore on another day.