Hiking at Minnewaska State Park Preserve

Today was a beautiful spring-like day that helped us put on our shorts and go to Minnewaska State Park Preserve. If you’re looking for the perfect waterfall Wednesday spot, this is it. There are six waterfalls on the map that you can check out. They all have different trail conditions so you can easily find one that’s perfect for your hiking needs. The most popular is the Awosting Falls but if you’re looking for a more private waterfall spot for your wedding photos, we have better options.

Hiking to the Falls

We were hoping the parking by the route 44/55 would be open this time and it was. Once we parked, we gathered out backpacks and went on our merry way. I went ahead to see how the trail was. It was wet and muddy in some sections. Just before the pile of white stone rocks there is a path to your right. It takes you to the Jenny Lane trail and to a small but beautiful little waterfall. After taking a short break here, we trekked on. The trail here is narrow and single-lane, if you will. Don’t worry, Minnewaska State Park Preserve has plenty of carriage roads and wider trails so you can find other trails suitable for your group.

We followed Jenny Lane trail to Rainbow falls. Here we met other hikers that were enjoying the pleasantly warm day and the beautiful falls. After the falls we followed the Upper Awosting Trail to Lower Awosting trail. This is a nice carriage road that can take you the Awosting Lake. You can walk around the lake and do a nice loop but we decided not to do this this time. After walking back towards the main parking entrance we jumped back on the Blueberry Run trail to Mossy Glen. You will get to cross a wooden bridge if you take this trail. It’s beautiful, scenic and rocky.

The mossy Glen trail takes you back to Lower Awosting trail and main parking area. We walked passed the parking, across the street and continued on the trail to our car. This #waterfallwednesday trail was a little over nine miles long. It was a beautiful day that needed to be enjoyed outdoors and Minnewaska State Park Preserve was the perfect place for it. If you’re in the area or looking for some nice trails with different hiking levels, this is a great place. You can also bike the carriage road as well as some other trails. We might be doing this next, we just have to wait and see.