Vernooy Kill State Forest Hike
There are so many hidden hiking spots that we didn’t know about such as Vernooy Kill state forest. We finally went yesterday to check it out and were pleasantly surprised. As we made the turn into the park, we saw the Long Path trail marks! They ended up going right while we continued two miles on the road straight to the forest parking lot. Now, this is tricky. We came to see the waterfall but missed the parking lot for it. Instead, we drove straight now to the end of Lundry road where the official parking for the park is. After parking the car, we put on our shoe traction and started walking the icy road by the stream.
Ice, Ice, Baby!
We really haven’t done a lot of hiking in the snow or on icy roads before and never had the reason to purchase shoe traction. This year, we wanted to be out there and avoid the cabin fever and long, cold, winter months. I’m really glad we purchased the snow and ice cleats because they are awesome! While we overpaid for them, they have served us now for at least three hikes. They make walking on ice easy peasy and at Vernooy Kill Lundry road it was all ice! In some small sections the snow was starting to melt but not enough to go without the ice cleats.
We followed the Lundry road path and came to an intersection. Instead of taking the road right we went straight. After realizing we make a mistake, we went back and took the road up surrounded by the magical large pine trees. There was plenty of snow in this area after the gate, which we assume is another parking spot for hikers.
While we did not make it too far on the path, it was still beautiful. We stopped by the steam because we didn’t have snow shoes and the snow on the other side of the stream was untouched. It would have been impossible to continue without sinking and getting snow in our boots.
Overall, the area is beautiful and unmarked. You can come here, get lost and explore the wild forest. You’ll also see a lot of house rebels and an abandoned stone home. The area was owned by Dutch families before it was purchased by Frederick W.I. Lundy, a NY restaurateur. He owned 30,000 acres of this state forest. In 2002, the State took the land and has made it part of the Catskill Forest Preserve.
