Beautiful! Easy access to parking and the Falls, at least during the week. There were numerous…read moresmall groups up and down the banks, many of us wading in the water.

Ahhhh.. Umpachene - how do I bottle you and bring you home?…read more Delightful 18 minute ride from where we were staying in Sheffield. Suggest loading GPS or navigation app before losing signal in the mountains. Of note, and quite a surprise after a score of years closed, the bridge on Umpachene Falls Road has been rebuilt and is open. Yesterday, the falls were rushing abs bracingly cold! While I didn't fully submerge or hide behind the water curtain, I sat in the flow and was transfixed and refreshed for an hour. Remains a Berkshire treasure!

Here's a tiny spot in one of the rural corners of Connecticut, but a fun spot to poke around…read more Seeing the images of Beckley Furnace, then and now, are astoundingly different! It's a place you can get up close to the past, but also a peaceful spot to view the river and furnace locks, I especially recommend being here in autumn, watching sycamore leaves float down the river. Parking by the furnace isn't huge, but additional parking is just over the small bridge. There is plenty of interpretive signage to guide you, and ample picnic space to enjoy, but no facilities. We didn't even see a port-o-let. All the same, enjoy your drive and short hike!

I wouldn't exactly call this a destination sort of park, it's a landmark/monument with a little…read moreparkette along Lower Road in East Canaan. IIt's mainly of interest if you're interested in the history of the area, but something you could combine with visiting nearby Haystack Mountain Park. Still, it's well maintained and has a nice parking area, with a number of highly informative signs around the area, leading you on a short walk from the furnace over to the dam where the piping for the steam turbine is still somewhat in place. There's a few picnic tables as well, if you're in the mood for a picnic. Altogether a nice little pleasant stop on the road.

The trail isn't marked well but even in a light snow cover we were able to figure it out. Watch out…read morefor a few icy patches on the trail that we had to work around if you'll be on the trail in the winter. The falls were gorgeous ... parts along the cascade edges were frozen but running full force! And we met a young porcupine near the trailhead just after the parking area! It was a bit shy ...

This was the second falls visited by our gang of three adventurers last Wednesday. Both Bash Bish…read moreFalls and Campbell Falls were uniquely picturesque. While the trek to BBF was 3/4 mi from the NY parking lot, the jaunt to Campbell Falls was much closer from our dirt parking area. Both falls were similar heights. I inclined to say that BBF was a little higher. Intrepid Paul ventured into the deep pool at the bottom. He looked refreshed. Mountain goat Jamie climbed up the steep terrain to the right of the Falls, and appeared to be standing right in the middle of it at the top. In reality, there is also an opening in the paved road at the top that allows one to get close. Be careful if you do this !!!!!. All-in-all, worth the trip.

Decent hike. Interesting boulders covered in vegetation. River views. Buggy and mucky on a lot of…read morethe trails. Trails not as well marked as others in the Land Trust. View from the summit, reached by walking up a huge field, was spectacular

A series of well-marked hiking trails snake through some strikingly massive and odd-looking stones,…read moremany of them topped with moss so soft-looking you'll be tempted to pet it. This lush park is also home to some of the most beautiful ferns I've ever seen. There's also a huge cottonwood tree, with a cubby hole large enough to fit several small children. The visitor center is also worth a visit, and not just for the real flushing toilets. There's a stuffed bobcat, and a helpful staff member who says complimentary things like, "You guys are pretty fit! You'll finish that trail loop in half an hour." (In reality it took an hour, mostly because we kept stopping to take pictures. (There are a bunch of longer trails as well).

No climb to Squaw Peak at Monument Mountain Reservation should by-pass the stairs up to the view of…read moreDevil's Pulpit! Take strenuous Hickey Trail up and continue after Squaw Peak to the marker!

I hiked this mountain on October 18, 2024. I hiked Bear Mountain trail. Bear mountain did not…read moredisappoint. The fall foliage was beautiful. So many yellows and oranges. The was one little fly that we seem to make friends with. The scrabbles were good and a nice mix up to the trail. The trail was well marked and maintained. We were able to stand on the CT/MA line. The trail was about 6.5 miles long.

As the tallest peak in Connecticut (2,300 ft.) Bear Mountain has to be one of my favorite CT hikes…read more There are several ways up to the summit, all of which are steep, long, and strenuous. On our most recent visit, we used Lion's Head. Although it's a bit longer than the Undermountain Trail, it's less vigorous and I think it has some really spectacular views. This is the perfect spot if you love panoramic overviews. From several lookouts, you can actually take in some great long-distance views. The southern part of Connecticut spreads out in front of you with the rolling Litchfield Hills to the south, Twin Lakes east, Massachusetts north-northeast, and surrounding mountainsides, farmland, woodlands, and small towns fill in the pieces of this picturesque puzzle (no western views). If you use Lion's head to reach the summit of Bear Mountain, it's a 6-mile round trip. As you near the top, the Appalachian Trail appears and is marked with white hash marks whereas the Lion's Head trail is marked by blue hash marks. Keep this in mind for your return trip or you be going off course! FYI: Park at the dirt parking lot on Bunker Hill Rd on the labeled "hiker parking" lot. All in all, the hike(s) up to Bear Mountain are tough and challenging even for the average day-hiker. With some patience, plenty of water and snacks, some determination and good company, Bear Mountain will be a great day-hike for any level. If you're feeling fancy, bring a bottle of wine and actual food and have a picnic at the summit. And if that still isn't enough, don't forget the journey's reward -- great overviews, Appalachian Trail access, title of hiking Connecticut's highest peaks, waterfalls, and woodlands.

Small parking lot. 3 hikes to choose from. We did the river walk. Very easy trail, relatively flat…read moreand there's benches along the trail. Didn't run into many people. The bridge is pretty cool to cross.

This park is absolutely beautiful. Great views! It is a must see if in the Hudson valley area. New…read moreYork does have some pretty spectacular mountains. It's a nice clean park. Lots of picnic tables. It's nice to go somewhere and people actually adhere to the no smoking/vaping signs.

I made my Gunks debut yesterday and was pretty impressed despite the very meh weather situation…read more This is about 90 minutes from my HQ so probably right at the limit of a convenient day hike, and somehow I've never really been in this area before beyond travelling past it going up and down the NY Thruway. Definitely returning when the sun is actually out. I did the 8.7-mile Castle Point hike (my gut says it wasn't QUITE that long, but I don't want to argue with my book) from the Awosting parking lot down the Mossy Glen Trail (yellow blazes), making a left onto and up Blueberry Run (blue) to Castle Point itself, and then went basically straight down the cliff on the Scenic Trail (lavenderish and formerly light blue), down the Rainbow Falls Trail (orange) and finally making a right on the Lower Awosting Carriageway back to the parking lot. Wasn't crazy about the $10 fee to park - nature shouldn't cost anything - but it is what it is. It's really a shame the weather was crappy because I could tell that viewpoint at Castle Point is legit - it's sprawling and you can see for miles in almost every direction. That's a very cool spot and easily the highlight of the hike. There are some interesting viewpoints throughout the rest of the adventure, but I'd say they're primarily of rock formations and water features, which have their selling points but nothing beats a view at the top. I'm in decent hiking shape right now, and this was just not particularly challenging for me. The only part where I was even a little out of breath (and it was humid, so grain of salt in that regard) was on Blueberry Run, which was a pretty steady incline up, but really not hardcore at all from my perspective. The drop down from Castle Point on the Scenic Trail IS a little tricky and you really want to spend some time there figuring out where your foot is going to go next. Compared to other parks in the tristate area, this one definitely has more hazards, cliffs you could potentially fall down, etc. But same token, it has a ton of these completely flat carriageways as well. It rained while I was on the Rainbow Falls trail and I DID slip/fall on some of the rocks at one point, but that's on me since I willingly came over here knowing what the forecast was. Wasn't impressed by the Rainbow Falls themselves, and neither were the other hikers who were there at the time. Maybe it was just not an ideal situation for them, but it's been rainy the last few days so unclear when you should take advantage of the optics there. The trail blazes were EXCELLENT, easily some of the best I've ever encountered. Each official trail had an accompanying sign that not only gave you the name of the trail, but a map of the nearby area, the grade profile so you can see what types of inclines/declines you'll experience on that trail and tons of basic facts. Really well done stuff. The bathroom situation was pretty good as well, with ample restroom options in the parking lot albeit without plumbing. You get what you get, but I'll take a clean bathroom situation in a heartbeat, regardless. Okay wildlife sightings. The rain I'm sure kept some of the good quality shizzle away, but I got a cool shot of a black vulture and saw an edgy newt. Worth the trek and will return for further investigation shortly.

Great visit to Kaaterskill Falls on Wednesday, October 7, 2026…read more Decided to visit mid-week to avoid the crowds as it approached peak fall colors...I think October 7th was a bit too early...another week or so would have been better for colors. I have read that the Main Trailhead Lot (Laurel House Road), closest to the waterfall trails, fills up quickly during the fall. I arrived there at 8:30am and was the 9th car in the 40-50-capacity parking lot. When I left at 11:30am, the lot was full and staff was routing visiting from the main road (North Lake Road) to the Scutt Road parking lot...which is a bit further away from the falls. Once parked, the fall viewing platform was a short 0.1 mile walk. It offers some lovely views of the falls from higher up. From there, the walk to the lower falls was about 0.5 miles, but be advised that there are lots of steps (over 300) to get from the top of the falls to the bottom of the falls. You can walk even further from the base of the falls, along Spruce Creek, toward Route 23A and you will get to Bastion Falls. Since I arrived earlier, there were too many people on the trails...which made picture-taking a lot easier. I suspect the crowds increase as the area approached peak fall colors and on the weekends...so plan accordingly. The falls were great...I actually preferred the lower falls viewing area, for its consistent lighting and heavier waterfall flow. The upper was very high but the flow wasn't as heavy. The park is well-maintained with efficient trail marking and directional signage throughout. Free to park and enter the park/waterfall area. Port a potties in parking lot...are as clean as you can expect from a popular public parking port a potty.

Be prepared, the trail down to the falls is very long and while its quite easy going down ,getting…read moreback up is a definitely a treck. It's so worth it though. If however you decide not to go down to the bottom, there is a viewing platform . The waterfall pressure/flow can vary depending on when you visit. Heavy after rain or less during the summer months. Swimming is allowed in the basin , the water is cold . The fall and parking are free in designated parking lots. There was a porta potty in tje lot we parked in. Not sure if there's one in each parking lot though. Don't park anywhere along the roads as you will get ticketed and/or towed. Arrive early aa the parking lots fill up quickly, especially on weekends. Personally I wouldn't do this trail on a rainy day especially if you're a beginner. Lots of stepping stones that can be slippery when wet. Other than that it's one of the most beautiful trails I've been on.