Fishkill Ridge

Date: October 20, 2012

Location: Fishkill Ridge Conservation Area, Beacon, NY

It is difficult to find superlatives to describe this hike. Fall and the recent rains conspired with the terrain itself to yield a hike that was incredibly scenic and interesting.

As fall gradually starts to make way for winter, I have been trying to make the most of the wonderful hiking opportunity that October provides in this area. Fishkill Ridge had been on my list of areas to hike, and this seemed an excellent chance to do so while also experiencing what was likely to be peak or near peak fall foliage in that part of Dutchess county.

So on the morning of October 20, a Saturday, I left my apartment at around 8:50 a.m. and got to GCT via the PATH/Subway to take the 9:52 a.m. Hudson line train. I arrived in Beacon around 11:10 or so. This was my third hiking excursion in Beacon, but the first in two years (the previous two had been in 2010...North Beacon and Dennings Point). I headed uphill on West Main Street, briefly turned onto Route 9D and thence to Main Street, where I stopped briefly at the Bank Square Coffee House before making my way along Main Street. After crossing Fishkill Creek just below the Beacon Falls, I turned onto East Main Street, and finally Pocket Road to reach the trailhead for the white-blazed Fishkill Ridge trail at around 12:10 p.m. The distance of the trailhead from the station is 2.3 miles.

The trailhead is marked by the Beacon water tank, which was surrounded by a dazzling array of fall foliage. A few yards further, Dry Brook creates a little pond of sorts, where the reflection of the foliage created a lovely sight.

The trailhead is near the Beacon water tank

Reflected colors

The Fishkill Ridge trail continues along the edge of Dry Brook for a little under a mile. The gradient in this stretch is quite gentle. However, the ground was very slippery and wet as a result of recent rains (including quite a downpour just the previous morning). But these rains had also caused Dry Brook to flow energetically with a lot of water. In addition, several rivulets were flowing down the steep slopes from various directions (forming little cataracts) and joining Dry Brook. At several places, the trail itself had become a stream bed.  The abundance of water and the natural terrain traversed by Dry Brook led to the entire stretch being a series of pretty cascades (this naturally made my progress quite slow since I found myself stopping every minute or two to take a photograph!), culminating in a bigger waterfall just above the point where the trail crosses Dry Brook. There is no bridge here, and I forded the brook by stepping over rocks and through 2-3 inches of water at a shallow spot...I was glad to find that my two month old hiking shoes proved suitably waterproof and did not admit any water at all.

A pretty cascade formed by not-so-dry Dry Brook 

More Dry Brook in action: If this had been bigger, someone
would surely have named it Buttermilk Falls :)

Yet more Dry Brook

A portion of the main "waterfall" where the trail crosses Dry Brook

 A "tributary" brook that joins Dry Brook near the trail crossing

A more encompassing view of the waterfall

After the brook crossing, the trail climbs relatively steeply, and emerges onto a woods road. The white blazes continue onward, again climbing steeply. This stretch has some interesting rock clambering, albeit nothing difficult. Eventually, the trail climbs up to a series of rocky ledges with sweeping views of the Hudson, and Dennings point. North Beacon is also clearly visible.

Dennings Point, Hudson, and flank of North Beacon
(from a viewpoint on the Fishkill Ridge Trail)

Newburgh-Beacon Bridge spans in the Hudson in a scene
dominated by by the orange and yellow hues of fall

A slightly different angle includes an area of spectacular color

A closer look at the above-mentioned "patch of color"

The trail continues on, and so did I. However, while the previous set of viewpoints had been heavily crowded, the trail now became much quieter. This sort of threshold effect is visible on many popular hikes in this area, where the crowds thin out after some point from where most folks return, and one has the trail to oneself for extended periods.  I walked on, enjoying the beauty and serenity of this walk in the woods. The trail climbs some more to get to the summit of Lamb's Hill. Here again, there are a rising series of ledges. I found a nice spot with a view just to the side of the trail, and stopped to have lunch and take more photos.  It was 2:00 p.m. at the time.  I spent around 15 minutes here, during which a large group came hiking down Lambs Hill from the reverse direction.  Continuing,  I found myself at the summit itself in a couple of minutes, where I found another solitary female hiker. Stopping for a few minutes to enjoy the wonderful cool breeze that was blowing (and of course, the views), and take more photos, I moved on.

The Mid-Hudson Bridge and Walkway over the Hudson further north
in Poughkeepsie (taken from Lamb Hill viewpoint on Fishkill Ridge Trail
with a telephoto lens)

A rusty orange color dominates this view which includes the Hudson,
and the distant outlines of the Catskills

North Beacon; the visible water body might be Beacon Reservoir

Beautiful shades emerge in this view

Another breathtaking view: small clouds seem to be suspended
over a rust-colored earth

The Fishkill Ridge trail starts descending after the Lambs Hill summit. This stretch was a very pleasant one despite having no viewpoints. In a while, I got to Dozer Junction. Here a blue connector trail splits off and heads towards the yellow-blazed Wilkinson Memorial Trail. The white blazes continue on to form a loop of Bald Hill as per the trail map. I had not made definite plans beyond this point, though I had resolved to skip the Bald Hill loop keeping time/light/roadwalk-to-station constraints in mind, and spent a few minutes poring over my map, trying to decide between retracing my steps, or making a loop by switching between trails and woods roads.

This rusted bulldozer gives Dozer Junction (the point where the blue
connector trail splits off from the Fishkill Ridge trail) its name

I usually find woods roads to be problematic because they all look similar and absent any markings, it is easy to confuse one for the other. However, wanting to do a loop if possible, I decided to forge ahead and switch to a woods road that emanates west from a point where the blue turns east to meet the yellow-blazed Wilkinson Memorial Trail, and then either follow it all the way down, or switch to another woods road that leads to the Beacon Reservoir.

Like so many stretches of trail today, the blue-blazed trail
was a bit of a stream-bed!

However, when I did get to the point where the blue trail turns left sharply, I developed doubts as to whether the woods road heading the other way was the right one. So I decided to stick to marked trails for a bit more and later try to switch to another woods road from the Wilkinson trail. The blue soon terminated at an intersection with the Wilkinson, and here I turned right (which would correspond to south) onto the Wilkinson trail. I headed on as the trail ascended. A few hikers coming from the opposite direction passed by, otherwise it was fairly quiet. Even after 15 minutes, I had not found the above-mentioned woods road. Finally, I got to a point where the trail turns left sharply. Checking the time and finding it to be approaching 3:30 p.m., I thought it best to not go further (since the next opportunity to leave the Wilkinson and head towards Beacon involved significant distances. However, noticing a sharply ascending trail just to the right, I did realize that I had reached the point where the map shows a tiny side trail to an unnamed-on-the-map summit at around 1500ft. Having come this far, it made sense to pay it a short visit. I was glad I did, since it provided a great view and a different perspective from the many other viewpoints I had passed through earlier. A distinctive feature of this summit is a US flag hoisted here on a wooden pole (I have learnt since, from a comment left on this blog, that the flag was placed here by a Beacon family-- the Darcys--around Memorial Day 1988, and they continue to maintain it; for details, see the comment section of this post).

US flag on a summit just off the
Wilkinson Memorial Trail

After a couple of minutes, I headed back down to the Wilkinson and retraced my steps on it, finally turning onto the blue trail. At this stage, I was contemplating retracing the entire route, but arriving at the previously mentioned turn, I checked my bearings again, and was now fairly convinced that the woods road was the one I wanted. So I took the plunge this time!  After a muddy stretch, it ran parallel to Dry Brook, which I could hear roaring in a gorge, and this confirmed that I had been right. I initially thought I might try to pick up the Fishkill Ridge trail somewhere and descend down to the brook to retrace the last part of the way (since it had looked so pretty earlier), but I was not very inclined to actively look for it. So, not seeing obvious signs of where I might be able to get back on to it, I simply followed the road the whole way down.  It descended fairly steadily, and made for a pleasant stroll with trees of varied color lining it.

The woods road, using which I made a swift descent on my way down,
was quite a pretty sight

Approximately 35-40 min later, I spotted the water tank and realized that I was almost back near the trailhead. The woods road opened onto Mountain Lane, where I turned left and then onto East Main Street.  It was around 4:10 p.m.

I still had 2.3 miles to walk to the station, and I was not sure that I would make it in time for the 4:52 p.m. train. Eventually, I did. The train pulled in just as I was running up the overbridge stairs, and I made it to the other side by the time the doors opened. This was a pleasant change from my recent streak of train misses. However, I was still slated for some delay. After a restful hour on the train, we were held up in the Bronx because the bridge the train was to traverse was open and stayed so for almost half an hour. But by 6:50 p.m., I was in GCT again.

This was by far one of the most scenic and enjoyable hikes I have been on. Even the 4.6 mile roundtrip road walk was not really a burden, in large part due to the weather and the season. Overall, I believe the distance would have been around 9 miles (including the road walk), with a cumulative elevation gain of around 2000 ft (noting that I started walking from the station which is almost at sea level).

Fishkill Ridge is a beautiful area for hiking, and I hope to visit it again sometime to experience those trails that I did not get a chance to traverse on this hike. Meanwhile,  I feel fortunate to have had such a perfect juxtaposition of various factors that made this one so memorable.

Relevant Trail Map: NY-NJTC Trail Map 102