Huckleberry Ridge State Forest

Near Port Jervis: Trailhead parking for the Minisink Trail (Y), which also links to the Lenape Ridge Trail (R), is from Minisink Ave./Old Greenville Turnpike near 17 Old Greenville Turnpike, Port Jervis, NY 12771.  GPS Coordinates: 41.358297, -74.677262

Along Route 6 (Slate Hill Road), near Hawthorne Lake:

• Trailhead parking for a DEC connector trail (Y) to Lenape Ridge Trail (R) at the end of Raymond Drive.  GPS Coordinates: 41.378486, -74.624827 (55 Raymond Drive, Port Jervis, NY 12771)
• Trailhead parking for the Shawangunk Ridge Trail (SRT) and the White Trail (W) -- the old route of the SRT -- at a cul-de-sac at the end of Lake Side Drive, approached via Hathorn Blvd off Route 6.  GPS Coordinates: 41.378890, -74.620194 (299 Lake Side Drive, Port Jervis, NY 12771).

Along Route 6 near the Deerpark-Greenville town line:

•  Another trailhead parking area for the Minisink Trail (Y).  Approximate GPS Coordinates: 41.366335, -74.654297

Take NJ Transit's Main/Bergen/Port Jervis Line to the Port Jervis station. From the station, take the Delaware River Heritage Trail for about two miles to the Route 6 bridge over the Neversink River. Near a DRHT historic sign on the west bank of the river, look for three red blazes on a telephone pole, indicating the trailhead of the Lenape Ridge Trail. Follow the trail across the bridge, then turn left onto Minisink Avenue, which changes into Old Greenville Turnpike  The trail follows this road for about half a mile until it enters the woods on the left, at a DEC parking area.

Trailhead GPS coordinates: 41.358297, -74.677262

Huckleberry Ridge State Forest is located in the southernmost section of the Shawangunk Ridge in New York State, near the New Jersey-Pennsylvania border.

Huckleberry Ridge State Forest, consisting of 11-segmented parcels of land, features hiking trails that cross between the different parcels and provide spectacular views of the Neversink River Valley. The Shawangunk Ridge Trail (SRT -- blue blazes) is one of these trails that passes through this forest.  Additional major trails include the Lenape Ridge (R) and the Minisink (Y) trails. To view the entire network of trails use the Web Map link on this site.  

Click for a detailed description of a hike in the forest.

Huckleberry Ridge State Forest

At the turn of the 21st century, no state forest land existed at the southern end of the Shawangunk Ridge in Orange County.  Now, more than 1,500 acres, called Huckleberry Ridge State Forest, in and around Port Jervis have been protected as a result of cooperative efforts by the NY-NJ Trail Conference, the Open Space Institute, The Nature Conservancy, and the Orange County Land Trust, in conjunction with the NY Department of Environmental Conservation.  For a fuller description see a news release from the Trail Conference (ignore the 2011 map contained in the article, use web map link above).

Camping is allowed as long as you are 150 feet away from any road, trail or water source.