Thacher Park south of Beaver Dam Road(Albany County)

Decided to do a short and easy little hike this morning in the southern section of Thacher Park, where more snowmobiles tend to be on the trail than hikers.  I parked at the west parking lot on Beaver Dam Road(a short distance before Bush Road) and crossed the road heading south.  I carried my snowshoes, but ended up not needing them at all, as the trail was completely packed down by snowmobile tracks.  Might as well have been a paved highway!  Elevation to start was 1355 feet, as I followed the old Long Path, where some blazes can still be seen on trees.

As I headed south, some of the broadcast towers along Pinnacle Road could be seen rising above the nearby ridgeline. 

The trail is pretty straightforward and soon comes to a steeper spot where the tracks are split by a stand of conifers.  This spot, especially in the dead of winter, looks more like a ski slope than hiking trail.

Near the top of the large clearing, a Lean To sits unassumingly a few yards into the woods.  This spot is about 3/4 of a mile south of the parking area.

This looks like a well known hang out spot with a ton of beer cans filling a trash can.  Thankfully, there is no graffiti or trash lying around that I could see, so it looks like all are respectful.

Just past the Lean To, a rough outhouse sits in the woods.  Looks like it could use a little TLC.

Back on the snowmobile tracks, I headed up to the high spot on state park land, at roughly 1696 feet. The woods here are quite steep but there were still snowmobile tracks to follow, making for an easy ascent.  I did step off the beaten path in a couple of spots and the snow was easily knee deep. 

Turned around at the high spot and headed back to the car as a steady light snow began to fall.  A good stretch your legs, nice and easy 1.6 miles RT.  Didn't see anyone until I got back down to Beaver Dam Road, where several locals were out walking their dogs on the trails north of the road.