Home ⎟ Hikes & Wanderings ⎟ New York ⎟ Hudson Valley ⎟ Goosepond Mt.
Distance: 5.47 mile shuttle hike; 8 mile out and back
Time: 2.5 hours
Difficulty: Moderate
Trailhead Parking: 31 Bull Mill Road Monroe, NY
Elevation Gain: 860 feet
Trailhead Directions: For the shuttle hike, park one car on Route 17M, a mile beyond the entrance to Route 17S. Then go to 31 Bull Mill Road to begin the hike.
Hike Directions: From the Open Space Institute parking lot on the south side of Bull Mill Road, enter the woods on the teal-blazed Highlands Trail (south side of the road), and follow uphill eventually winding back down to a more easterly crossing of Bull Mill Road. 
Continue on the teal blazes until they are replaced by red bands of cloth tied around the trees as you wind your way up, down and around hill and dale, eventually reaching Lazy Hill Road, a once active road that now lays quiet after the state took over the area to create Goosepond Mountain State Park in the 1960’s. Foundations of old houses, root cellars and ruins dot these woods, beckoning the imagination to weave tales of what life was once like here. Turn left at Lazy Hill Road and follow to an intersection at a stream. Cross the stream uphill and continue on hunter green blazes as you veer right and ascend the mountain. The hunter green blazes taper off and give way to white blazes that wind you to the summit of Goosepond Mountain. From here, 
you can retrace your steps for an out and back, or for a shuttle hike, continue on the white blazes all the way down the northern side of Goosepond to the roadside pull-off on Route 17M.
Dog Friendly: Yes.
Scenery: 7/10
The Rambling Wanderer 