Black Rock Mountain(Black Rock Forest Consortium-Hudson Valley)

After an early morning bushwhack in the Catskills, I decided to head further south to the Black Rock Forest Consortium, an area I had never visited before, located just west of Storm King Mountain in the western Hudson Highlands.  The Black Rock Forest is a private 3870 acre forest and biological field station with over 30 miles of trails and roads open to the public for hiking.  With it already being early afternoon, I decided to dip my toes in the water and try a small hike up to 1402 foot Black Rock, the forest's namesake.  Got started from the parking area next to gated Pecks Road, located on the west side of Route 9w in Cornwall and headed out, starting at an elevation of only 400 feet.   The temperature had spiked to over 60 degrees by this point and it was really starting to feel like spring.
I wanted to make a loop hike of this peak, so I decided to first continue south along gravel Pecks Road, which closely follows pretty Black Hollow Brook for a distance. 

As I arrived at a Filtration Plant, the white blazed Black Rock Hollow Trail turns west, leaving the road and heading up into the woods on a footpath.

The trail steadily climbs up through the hollow, circling around Black Rock's steepest slopes to a junction with the Stillman Trail.  

Once on the Stillman Trail, the trail heads straight up towards the summit, with the woods above really beginning to open up. 

Emerging into the open summit area, the views are really quite nice.  Having climbed about 1000 feet from the car, it's easy to see why the valley views are so good! 

Wandering along the open rock, I found the great north view up the Hudson River.  A unique perspective of the river basin.

To the SW, many of the rolling summit bumps that make up the Black Rock Forest can be seen.

NW views spread all the way up to the distant Catskills.

After enjoying the spectacular summit views, I began my descent.  The initial drop off the summit is a fun little rock jumble.  Nothing too tough, but definitely fun.

I continued on the Stillman Trail until it met up with gravel Hulse Road, which drops all the way back down towards Peck Road and the beginning of the hike. 

A nice little introduction to a gorgeous area!  Hiked about 4 miles RT with over 1000 feet of ascent.  Looking forward to future visits to this beautiful forest.