Van Dyke Preserve & Schiffendecker Farm Preserve(Bethlehem)

After running a bunch of errands all day I finally had a chance to get out on a pleasantly, cool, sunny fall day.  Visited a couple of local Mohawk Hudson Land Conservancy properties in the town of Bethlehem.  First stop was the 33 acre Van Dyke Preserve, located off of Van Dyke Road, which is just west of Elm Avenue Town Park.  The trail, marked with red discs, starts off heading west then north, passing above the Phillipin Kill.

 Puncheon crosses a wet area of the trail.

The Mohawk Hudson Land Conservancy does a great job maintaining their trails

 A bridge crossing.

 The preserve has 2/3 of a mile of frontage on the Phillipin Kill, offering up plenty of opportunities to absorb the tranquil setting.

The trail forms a pleasant loop on the west side of the creek.

Yes, there are woods in suburbia.  The trail passes through forested land and floodplains on former agricultural land.

 A perfect fall day along the Phillipin Kill.

Arrived back at the car after one mile of hiking at the preserve, and then headed a short distance away to the 40 acre Schiffendecker Farm Preserve, also located in the town of Bethlehem. I parked at the trailhead off of Bender Road(which can only be accessed from the Route 32 Bypass to the west)and dropped down the steep wooden stairway to start the trail.

 The preserve is named for the family that farmed this land back in the 19th century, and even today is an wooded oasis in a sprawling, developed area.

 A small unnamed tributary of the Normans Kill runs through the middle of the preserve and is crossed by a sturdy wooden foot bridge.

After dropping down into the deep ravine of the stream, the yellow trail climbs uphill to the north, meeting up with a red marked trail.  The red trail forms a quarter mile loop, passing a deep ravine to the north.  Unfortunately, this part of the trail also offers screened views of the back of several big box stores just to the east.

Arrived back at the car after 1.1 miles round trip at this preserve and 2.1 miles total for the day.