Upstate NY Hiking: March 2009

Hey There!

I've compiled some basic information about my recent hike to the Overlook Mountain. Hopefully it'll be of help to someone out there :)

Day Hiked: 03/25/09, Wednesday

Weather: Mid to high 40's

Trail Length: ~5 Miles roundtrip.

Summit: Remains of the old Overlook Mt. Hotel, Fire Tower, Transmission Tower

Elevation: ~3100 Ft.

Trail Head: On Mead Mountain Road in Woodstock, NY right opposite the KTD Buddhist Monastery.

Geotag: 42.07N, -74.12 W, Altitude 1558Ft
Google Map Link

Parking is free. Although the lot is kinda small, there's ample parking around the monastery and on the road itself.

Getting there: In Woodstock, Mill Hill Rd., Right at Rock City Rd., Left at Mead Mt. Rd. Pay close attention to the turns..we took a wrong turn and ended up on Glasgow Tpke and had to turn around. Also, it's an all uphill drive up to the trail head which is almost at an elevation of 1500ft.

Trail Info:

Yes, the hike is a little strenous for the first mile and half with an elevation gain of almost 1000 Ft. within this time. We were cursing since we had all heavily stuffed backpacks and that kinda made it even more difficult. I think all we needed was light weight clothing, 1.5 l water/person, lunch, some extra food coz I like to take breaks in between, camera.

The trail is not that bad but we had a lot of snow/ice on the way. I think we saw a natural spring on the way up on the left side but din't pay too much attention. Once you reach the hotel, the trail is all rocky, red and dusty. The best part starts here since it's almost 1/2 mile more to the Firetower and Cabin and the view is purely spectacular..no kidding. If you're up for the extra challenege, you can climb the fire tower all the way up (we did). It was really windy up there and we had to keep our hats and sun-glasses inside our backpacks.

Also, at the top there's a another trail coming from the left leading to Echoes Lake. We din't do it, maybe some other time:)