Finally had a little free time Thursday afternoon to do a little exploring at Albany County's Lawson Lake Park, located off CR 109 in the town of New Scotland. It has been several years since my last visit here, so it was nice to rediscover these woods once again. Parked in the lot on Lower Camp Road just south of Lawson Lake(Elevation 750 feet) and then walked the service road to its end to check out the lake itself. This is the view north near the dock along the west shore.
Backtracked south to the Loop Trail, and then broke off onto a yellow blazed trail, which hugs the southwest perimeter of the park. Even though I started my walk at about 2pm, daylight was already showing signs of fleeting in the late autumn woods.
After completing the western trails in the park, I crossed over CR 109 to the east side and picked up the Upper Camp Road. This service road climbs quite steeply up to a campsite with several cabins, before a foot path heads up to a red marked "Summit" loop trail. This trail hugs the outside of the small, flat summit of a 1003 foot hill, with decent views through the bare trees.
From the red summit trail, I bushwhacked east, dropping down and crossing over a "Notch" trail on my way to a slightly higher hill.
There is no trail on this 1038 foot eastern hill, but the woods are quite open and easy to explore. Unfortunately, public land doesn't extend all the way to the true summit, although it does hit the summit plateau.
Followed the edge of the steep western slopes of this hill, where I found numerous game paths but not much in the way of views.
Explored the hill all the way to the south edge of public land before bushwhacking my way back down to Upper Camp Road and eventually my car. A nice and easy 2.8 miles RT, with 500 feet of climbing.
Map below. Red P=Parking
