Description

From the parking area, walk around the gate and take the right fork of the Loop Road (a crumbling paved road, now closed to private vehicles). Follow the road uphill on switchbacks through a deciduous forest. In about half a mile, you'll pass dramatic cliffs of Shawangunk Conglomerate to the left, with excellent views from rock outcrops to the right. Just beyond, you'll see a wide dirt road that goes off to the left. Turn left and follow this road, which leads in a short distance to the top of Sam's Point, with even more spectacular views to the south along the Shawangunk Ridge and to the east over the Wallkill Valley. This is a good spot to take a break.

After taking in the views, return to the Loop Road and turn left. The road now levels off, and the vegetation changes dramatically. The deciduous forest that you have encountered up to here is replaced by a ridgetop dwarf pitch pine forest, with a thick understory of blueberries and huckleberries. The pitch pines grow only about three-to-six feet high - not much higher than the blueberries in the understory!

Continue along the road for another half a mile until you reach a junction where a dirt road descends to the right. Turn right, following a sign to the Ice Caves. In a short distance, you'll notice a sign marking the start of the Verkeerderkill Falls Trail to the left. Continue ahead along the road, but note this turn, as the continuation of the hike will use this trail. As the road descends, it curves to the north, with views ahead over the northern part of the Shawangunk Ridge, including Castle Point and Gertrude's Nose in Minnewaska State Park.

At the end of the road, you'll come to a large open area that formerly was used for parking when the road was open to vehicular traffic. Towards the end of the open area, a kiosk marks the start of the Ice Caves Trail. [Developed as a commercial tourist attraction by a private individual in 1967, the Ice Caves were closed in 1996 when the property was acquired by The Nature Conservancy. In 2002, they reopened, but some artificial features (such as colored lights) have been eliminated.]

Turn right at the kiosk and descend on a winding footpath, with wooden guardrails, steeply in places. Soon, you'll descend stone steps into a crevice in the rock, passing underneath a rock wedged overhead. The difference in temperature is quite noticeable! After descending through a narrower crevice, the trail emerges in an open area. A faint path leads ahead downhill, but you should turn left and continue on the main Ice Caves Trail, which follows the base of cliffs to the left, passing beneath overhanging rock ledges and crossing several wet areas on wooden planks. At one point, you'll have to climb a short wooden ladder.

The most interesting part of the trail is just ahead. The trail turns left, goes through a doorway (please close the door behind you), and follows a boardwalk through a rock crevice deep below the surface. Motion-sensitive lighting has been installed to illuminate your passage through this cool, dark area. The Ice Caves are named for this spot, where ice and snow can usually be seen even in late summer!

Leaving this rock crevice, you'll climb stone steps and a wooden ladder and emerge on a open rock outcrop where a solar panel has been installed to provide power to the lighting in the caves. This marks the end of your spectacular trip through the Ice Caves. After resting and enjoying the excellent views to the north and east, continue ahead on the trail that leads back to the open area near the kiosk where you started the descent into the Ice Caves.

Now retrace your steps up the dirt road to the junction with the Verkeerderkill Falls Trail (just before you reach the main Loop Road). Turn right and follow this trail, marked with the aqua blazes of the Long Path, which proceeds through a dwarf pitch pine forest, with a thick understory of blueberries. There are good views ahead of the northern Shawangunk Ridge.

After about 20 minutes, you'll cross the outlet stream of Lake Maratanza. Here, the vegetation briefly changes to a deciduous oak-birch forest, with an understory of ferns. Soon, the pitch pines reappear. A short distance ahead, you'll reach a T-intersection where you should bear right. As the trail begins to descend towards Verkeerderkill Falls, the pitch pines first increase in size, then disappear altogether, with deciduous trees and other evergreen species becoming more prevalent.

In about an hour from the beginning of the Verkeerderkill Falls Trail, you'll reach the Verkeerder Kill - a braided stream in an area of hemlock and rhododendron. Unless the water is very high, the stream can be easily crossed on rocks. The open rock slabs along the stream provide a pleasant setting to take a break, but you'll want to continue ahead a short distance along the aqua-blazed trail. After passing a sign designating this area as one of the world's "last great places," the trail makes a sharp turn to the left. Bear right here and follow an unmarked path to a rock ledge overlooking the dramatic 180-foot-high Verkeerderkill Falls - the highest waterfall in the Shawangunks. Be careful, as there is a sheer drop from here to the bottom of the falls! You'll want to spend some time at this place of special beauty.

It is possible to make a longer ten-mile loop hike by continuing ahead on the aqua-blazed Long Path for another 0.4 mile, turning left onto the red-blazed High Point Trail (a relatively difficult route, requiring the use of hands as well as feet), then turning left and following the High Point Carriageway back to the Loop Road. However, the most direct return route is to retrace your steps along the Long Path to the Ice Caves Road, turn right for about 200 feet along the road, then turn left and follow the Loop Road back to the parking area where you began the hike.