Decided to head south to visit 14,337 acre Clarence Fahnestock State Park in northern Putnam County this morning. This would be my first visit to this State Park, so I wanted to check out Round Hill and East Mountain, the two most prominent peaks in the park. To start I headed to Hubbard Lodge, located just north of Route 301 and east of Route 9 in Cold Spring, elevation 420 feet.
The white blazed trail sets out east, passing by the lodge and heading down to School Mountain Road, an old, abandoned farm road . Within just a few moments the old road crosses two well crafted footbridges over pretty Clove Creek, which is wide and slow moving through this area.
Beyond the creek crossings,the old road continues east, entering a hardwood forest and dropping into a deep draw between the peaks.
Yellow blazes and crumbling stone pillars mark the entrance to the old Hubbard Mansion, which leaves School Mountain Road to the north.
Just beyond the pillars, I left School Mountain Road and picked up the blue blazes of the Fahnestock Trail, which head right following along one of the branches of wintry Clove Creek.
The trail stays level for a bit, heading toward the southern end of Round Hill's steep slopes, before finally beginning a steep climb up the southern tip of the peak.
After a steep push up through the rocky slopes, a small, somewhat grown in view to the SW appears from a ledge. The junctions of Route 9 and 301 can be seen down in the valley below.
Once up on the ridge, the walking is nice and mellow, with through the trees views all around.
The trail slowly gains elevation, passing through wide open hardwoods and laced with old stone walls.
After a benign walk up the ridge, the trail finally becomes steep once again on its way up to the summit. Just below Round Hill's summit, I found the best views of the day looking mostly west.
Crows Nest, North Point and Storm King Mountain across the Hudson can easily be seen from here, as well as Bull Hill, rising prominently above the east side of the river.
Looking up at Round Hill's summit from the view spot.
Just a few yards off trail sits the 1090 foot summit of Round Hill, easily accessed by a small herd path.
From a small window near the summit, I caught this nice east facing view towards Route 301 and the rolling peaks in the of Fahnestock State Park.
After dropping down off the summit and then passing over the green blazed Round Hill By-Pass, the trail continues basically east undulating along the ridge.
While no grand views can be found on this ridge, there are decent "almost" views to be had.
After a pleasant but fairly uneventful ridge walk, the trail finally begins to descend a bit, coming to a junction with the yellow blazed Perkins Trail. This trail heads north/ northwest dropping down along a winding, fast flowing stream.
Near the base of the deep drop, the Perkins Trail meets back up with the white blazes of School Mountain Road. From here, an old abandoned farm house can be seen in the woods, looking oddly out of place.
With the old house in site, the red blazes of the East Mountain Loop Trail head right, passing between well built stone walls and old cellar holes.
The farm house is in rough condition and doesn't look very stable anymore. Not sure of the exact history of the farmhouse but it is certainly a very interesting find.
This particular stretch of the hike along the East Mountain Loop is literally laced with stone walls, old foundations and many other signs of the past.
Would love to know the history of this area along the trail. There are many, many fascinating remnants to check out. While seemingly away from the rest of the world today, these woods were once bustling with farming activity in the not so distant past.
The East Mountain Trail heads north then bends west, climbing steadily but not steeply up the slopes of the mountain. Just a couple yards off trail sits the 1070 foot, nondescript summit.
After some poking around just below the summit, I was able to find some decent views from the steep west facing slopes towards Schofield Ridge and Fishkill Ridge.
Leaving the views up high, I began my descent along the red blazed trail along more stone walls, with Round Hill's profile rising above through the trees.
Back down off the slopes of East Mountain, I picked up the familiar white blazes of School Mountain Road once again.
One of several crossings over babbling Clove Creek.
School Mountain Road makes for a very pleasant, easy walk along an old abandoned farm road. I followed this west back towards where I had left the road near the start of the hike by the Hubbard Mansion pillars and eventually Hubbard Ledge and my car.
Hiked just over 7.5 miles total, with over 1700 feet of ascent along the way. Was really shocked to only see two other people the entire day. A nice winter day with minimal snow or ice to speak of.
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