Home ⎜ Hikes & Wanderings ⎜ New York ⎜ Hudson Valley ⎜ Mount Salem

Distance: 8.75 miles

Time: 4 hours

Difficulty: Moderate

Elevation Gain: 281 feet

Dog Friendly: Yes.

Trail Notes: This is best completed as a shuttle hike, where you drop a car on Oil City Road at the Liberty Loop Trailhead in Pine Island, New York, then begin the hike on County Route 519 in New Jersey at the foot of High Point State Park. Without the shuttle, the hike becomes 17.5 miles, though it is a very gentle ramble.

Trailhead GPS Address: Closest to 980 Greenville Road.

Hike Directions: From the County Route 519 / Greenville Road Trailhead, cross the street and walk south 200 feet to the entrance for the Appalachian Trail on your left. Follow the white blazes into a meadow and very shortly, you’ll pass through an old stone wall and continue into the forest. The trail is well-maintained and readily apparent, and most of it is downhill on a gentle grade.  Much of the trail winds through farms and meadows, and it’s out of the kindness of their hearts that the farmers have allowed hikers to cross their property (usually along the edges), so please be kind to their property, livestock and wildlife. This trail really is a ramble through field after field, quite reminiscent of the English countryside. A little less than a mile from the trailhead, you’ll reach Courtwright Road and cross, continuing into the woods. You’ll descend gently for 2 miles before reaching Gemmer Road and continuing across on the white blazes. 2.25 miles later you’ll cross Unionville Road, re-enter the woods and go uphill for a short stint, before quickly descending and veering to the right onto an abandoned railroad grade. The trail here is flat, as you walk parallel to NJ-284 for 0.75 miles before crossing and ascending to the top of a rise, a bucolic field overlooking Pochuck Mountain (that long chain of a ridge with multiple peaks). Walk to the left along the trail, circumventing the field and as you descend the hill, you’ll see the white blazes trailing off to your left. Re-enter the woods here and continue downhill for less than a mile to a stream with a bench alongside, and then immediately, you’ll find yourself on Carnegie Road. Notice an abandoned factory building on your right and turn left continuing on flat and then uphill slightly. The road is a little less than a half mile long and at the top of the road, turn right onto Oil City Road. Continue on Oil City Road, along the white blazes, as you’ll cross a bridge over the Wallkill River and soon after arrive at the entrance to the Liberty Loop Trail on your right. Enter through a gate and continue to the left just 0.25 to the trailhead parking for the Wallkill Wildlife Preserve / Liberty Loop Trail. From here you can retrace your steps, or for those that completed this as a shuttle hike, this is the Eastern terminus of the trail.

Scenery: 7/10