Folded Rock(Battenkill State Forest)

Beautiful, sunny weather broke out this afternoon, so I decided to revisit a hike I hadn't done in over 5 years.  Folded Rock is a ledge in the Battenkill State Forest, just west of the New York/ Vermont state line along Route 313, and offers up outstanding views over the Battenkill valley.  I started at a low elevation of 525 feet, where a trail sign is found in a grassy parking area.

 The trail heads east, ascending slightly at first, through meadows with pleasant west facing views.

 Several feet off trail I noticed an old, rusted piece of farm equipment.

 Once the trail enters the woods, it crosses a small drainage on a footbridge and then begins a steep climb, gaining nearly 800 feet in 6/10 of a mile.

The ascent heads towards a false summit of Goose Egg Ridge, before turning sharply south on the ridge.

The trail meanders a bit, turning west, then south again, gaining the Folded Rock Ridge.

Once on the ridge, the trail inches closer and closer to the steep west slopes of Folded Rock.  When you arrive at the ledge, there is no mistaking it.

The open ledge of Folded Rock.

The superb vista from Folded Rock.

SW views.

 West views down to farmland along Route 313.

After looking over the map and my GPS, I decided to bushwhack down the steep west slopes instead of taking the long, winding trail.  This proved to be time effective, but tricky  The slopes were very, very steep in spots, but I took my time and made it okay.

Once down off the steepest parts, I picked up an old woods road, which lead me right back to the trail, less than a half mile to the car.

Hiked a little over 4 miles total, with the ascent being trial and the descent(mostly) being bushwhack.  Elevation gain was 1260 feet.
It was a gorgeous evening for the ride home on rural Washington County backroads. This pastoral scene in the town of White Creek summed it up perfectly.