Hike Reviews

May 12, 2019
5
Great Hike! Perfect description
atopping
Did this hike today with three friends. It's a really great long hike with some beautiful ponds, streams, outlooks and dramatic fallen trees and remnants from the storm last year. It was a bit muddy at times, but you can make your way around it. The trail instructions here were spot-on and very helpful as there are many junctions and different trails intersecting. Also, as someone else posted about getting from Garrison train station to the trailhead; once you get up to Garrison Institute just keep going around the building and through their parking lot to 9D and you'll see the entrance across the street! Thanks so much for great trail instructions!!
April 01, 2019
0
Hike and mileage have been updated
Daniel Chazin
<p>Thank you for your comment on my hike.&nbsp; You are indeed correct that the hike is significantly longer than 7 miles.&nbsp; Trail Conference Map 101, which now contains mileages on the face of the map, indicates that the hike is actually 8.2 miles long, and I have changed the hike mileage accordingly.&nbsp; I have also updated the hike description with information regarding the devastation caused by the severe storms in May 2018.</p>
March 31, 2019
4
More Like 8.5 Miles
jmtoconnor
This was a great hike with views that offered enough challenge to both a seasoned hiker and a fit novice. However, the total mileage that we ended up with was 8.5 miles, not 7. Not sure if we somehow misread the directions here, but we were a bit surprised by the additional time we were out on the trail. We wondered if the devastation evident from the tornadoes that cut through this part of Putnam County in May 2018 may have caused some re-routing, resulting in a longer hike? No matter. Few other hikers were seen on an unseasonably warm spring Saturday, so this is a nice break from the often over-crowded hikes nearby, e.g., Breakneck.
May 07, 2017
0
Excellent Choice For Train Users
Michael K7
Great Hike, great for those using the train since it starts right at the train station.
September 02, 2013
0
Directions from the train
rhorton
<p>If you are taking the train to Garrison and do not have a detailed map, this is the most direct route to the start of the trail:</p> <p>- Find the stone pillars (marked Arden Highlands) at the southern end of the train station parking area</p> <p>- Follow that trail (blue markers) passing over a narrow wooden bridge and then coming to a metal bridge over the tracks. If you continue straight at that junction (and do not take the bridge) you will be on a white trail that will bring you to the Garrison Institute (0.5 - 1 mile to Garrison Institute from the train station)</p> <p>- You can get to the main road by walking up the stairs and around the side of the main Garrison building and follow the Garrison driveway to the main road, Route 9D. &nbsp;(this was not a problem when we did it and Garrison has many hiking trails in the woods surrounding it)</p> <p>- Walk right (south) on Route 9D for 300 feet to Wing and Wing Drive (two more stone pillars) then go left thru the pillars and you will be on the Driving directions above. &nbsp;Follow the road towards the parking area then see the directions above.</p> <p>(If anyone knows of a route to avoid walking through Garrison Institute please update these directions for those taking the train)</p>
May 06, 2010
0
Prickly Pear Cactus
Walt Daniels
When you reach the top of Sugarloaf Hill please be careful to not step on the prickly pear cactus. In the NY area it is not uncommon on southfacing rocky outcrops. Even though most people think of it as a desert plant it is found in almost all states and not necessarily in a desert enviroment, though typically dry.
May 06, 2010
0
More about how to do it from the train
Walt Daniels
See http://www.nynjtc.org/hike/arden-point-and-glenclyffe-garrison-ny for more information about the trails from the train station parking lot.
January 24, 2010
0
Sugarloaf trail
PJ
Just to follow up on Michael K7 re the alternate start: From the parking area, you can look for the blue "New York Department of Environmental Conservation" blazes. These will take you maybe 100 yards, past a red pumphouse and up to the beginning of a field. Follow the tire tracks across the field toward Castle Rock and into the woods. You will come to the carriage road about 20 yards into the woods, and it is not marked in either direction. Make a right onto the carriage road, which parallels the top edge of the field, and it will take you to meet the official (red-blazed) trail at the gazebo, as Michael said. This is more pleasant than walking back along the road to the official trailhead, and I saw no markers discouraging the use of this route.
July 18, 2009
0
Slight changes
Michael K7
Just did this hike today, and now there is a path right from the parking area through the field to the woods road. When you reach the woods road, go right, and you will pass the gazebo in a few hundred feet. keep going and you will be on the red blazed trail. Also, for those taking the train to Garrison, stay alert. I took the trail that begins at the station and came out on the Garrison Institute grounds, and had to walk a bit to get to 9D. Once there though, the Castle Rock Unique area entrance was right across the street :)
April 06, 2009
0
Fire at Castle Rock Unique Area
Georgette Weir
A brush fire on March 24, 2009 burned approximately 50 acres on the west face of Sugarloaf Mountain in the Castle Rock Unique Area. Firefighters brought the fire under control before it spread more widely. They suspect a discarded cigarette was the cause. The Red Trail that ascends the mountain from the west passes through the area that burned.