Scenes from the Trail: Sugarloaf Hill

Hike Date: October 17, 2010

Hike Difficulty: Easy-to-moderate

Hike Rating (Scenic views and/or interesting terrain/vegetation): A-

Hike Description: This was an incredibly confusing hike, at least in part because of the patchwork of public and private land that the trail passes through or skirts by. One has to be careful at all times about staying on the trail and not inadvertently wandering into private property. We took the Metro North Hudson Line to Garrison. From the SE corner of parking lot, we followed the blue-blazed Arden Point trail till we got to a bridge over the rail tracks. Here starts the white-blazed Marcia's Mile trail. After a brief detour across the bridge and back, we started out on Marcia's Mile till it ends at the edge of Route 9D and castle Rock is visible straight ahead. Here one must turn right (i.e., south) and walk a few minutes till one sees the gate/sign for the Castle Rock area. Here one sees red and blue blazes for a bit. The red blazes mark the Sugarloaf trail but are easy to lose track of (since the trail crosses an open field where it is not marked by blaze or cairn). We ended up taking a roundabout way...following the blue blazes past the parking lot, across the field and into the wooded area, where we turned right (southwards) on an unmarked carriage road and followed it along the edge of the field till we got a gazebo with a nice view, where one again finds the red blazes. We followed the red-blazed trail up Sugarloaf Hill...much of it is a easy walk with gentle slopes with a final steep ascent to get atop the ridge. The ridge itself is interesting to walk on, with a rather narrow and well-defined ridgeline. The red blazes continue on the ridge for a bit and lead to an open ledge with a clear view of Bear Mountain Bridge and the Hudson. Stopped here for a while, and then retraced steps back to the gazebo, and followed the red-blazed trail across the fields and back to the shoulder of 9D. Retraced rest of route along Marcia's Mile and Arden Point trail.