Hike Reviews
June 16, 2016
This could have been an enjoyable hike, but...
<p>We did this hike the yesterday (6/15/16). The directions are fine but there are a couple of places where they are a little ambiguous.</p>
<p>85-90% of this hike is fine, but the other 10-15% of the hike miserable, especially if you don't like ticks, thorns, and poison ivy. There are several sections that are very overgrown with vegetation, to the point where you cannot tell where the trail is. I flet like I was rubbing against ticks and poison ivy for so much of the hike that I could not wait for it to be over. (If it was fall and I had long pants I wouldn't have minded so much).</p>
<p>When I got home I was picking ticks off my legs, and scrubbing with poison ivy soap for quite a while.</p>
<p>This hike is overdue for maintenance, at which point I would probably recommend it, but not before.</p>
May 10, 2014
Further Detail
<p>Unlike most trails where you park and head into the woods as you follow the blazes, this one requires you to park, walk in the opposite direction away from the trail and uphill on Hall Drive, then across the street and over the footbridge across the stream. If you do a lot of hiking, the beginning is counter-intuitive unless you read these posts before proceeding. And don't bother looking for the white blazes on Hall Drive - they may be there, but for the normal mortal hiker its a puzzle. As for the walk, I don't rate this area highly. The furnace is interesting to look at and you cover the overgrown slag on your way to the trail but you don't get the kind of views you get on the Hudson trails or in the North Jersey trails. Thanks to Daniel Chazin for revising the trail description. </p>
May 09, 2014
Description is correct
<p>I was very surprised to see your comment -- especially since I just did the hike about a year ago and was virtually certain that my description is correct. So I made a special trip this afternoon to the trailhead and found that, as I had thought, my description is completely accurate. There are a few white blazes along Hall Drive as you proceed north. There is a double blaze on the pavement right by the parking area, and there is also a white blaze on a tree further north along the road. It is true that the blazing is rather sparse (and I've amended the description to point this out), but, if you look for them, you will notice a few white blazes along the road. When you reach Orange Turnpike, you turn right (not left), cross the road, climb over the guardrail, and descend to cross the footbridge.</p>
<p>Presumably, you headed south, rather than north, on Hall Drive. If you do this, you then have to turn left onto Orange Turnpike and walk along this busy road for several hundred yards until you come to the trail. But if you follow the directions and head <em>north</em> rather than <em>south</em> on Hall Drive, the directions are entirely correct as written.</p>
May 09, 2014
Poor description
<p>A friend and I did this hike on 5/3/14. The initial description above is misleading and wrong. Misleading in that you are told to proceed north on Hall Drive following the white blazes -- there are no white blazes along the road. The only while blazes lead up a hill and away from the road. Wrong in that you are instructed to proceed to Orange Tpke and<span style="text-decoration: underline;"> turn right</span> -- do not turn right! You <span style="text-decoration: underline;">must turn left,</span> and walk up about 100 yards in order to get to the footbridge.</p>