places where you won't be able to wipe the wag off your dog's tail - New Paltz NY
The Shawangunk Ridge south of the Catskill Mountains is an ultra-hard gumbo of quartz pebbles and sandstone. It resists weathering while the underlying shale erodes relatively easily. The result is a series of dramatic cliffs and talus slopes, particularly noticeable when approaching from the east, which have been sculpted by retreating glaciers. The “Gunks”, as they are affectionately called, have become one of the prime rock-climbing destinations in North America. Luckily for your dog, going vertically up a rock face is not the only way to explore the Shawangunk Ridge.
Alfred and Albert Smiley opened the Shawangunk Mountains to the vacationing public after the Civil War when they built the Mohonk Mountain House. Later, a disagreement caused Alfred to move on and build the Cliff House nearby. The last guest checked out in 1979 and the state of New York stepped in to prevent any further development on the Ridge. Today the top of the ridge is mostly public land primarily in Minnewaska State Park Preserve, Mohonk Mountain House, Sam’s Point Preserve and Mohonk Preserve. Of this quartet, only the first and last are open to your dog.
Most of your dog’s hiking atop Shawangunk Ridge will take place on wide, carefully graded carriageways. After decades of jostling for tourist dollars the Smiley brothers eventually reconciled and began building a network of these graceful roadways between the two hotels. Expect to share the carriageways with plenty of bicyclists. In Minnewaska State Park Preserve several long parallel carriageways between Lake Awosting and Lake Minnewaska can be combined for loop hikes of several hours duration. For spectacular views of the Hudson Valley use the Castle Point Carriageway to Castle Point, the highest summit in the park. Looks at the Catskill Mountains come quickly on the short, steep Sunset Path near the entrance parking lots.
The narrow hiker-only paths, however, are where the adventure begins for canine hikers on the Ridge. These trails are generally moving up and down, leading to treasures deep in the Shawangunks like Stony Kill Falls. The trek to Gertrude’s Nose bursts from a dark hemlock forest for extended walking on exposed clifftops. This is not the place for a rambunctious dog (no fencing and long drop-offs) and inexperienced canine hikers may have trouble with the rock scrambles but otherwise is worth every step of the two-mile detour off the Millbrook Mountain Carriageway.
The unique environment on the Shawangunk Mountain ridge is extremely sensitive and access to the park is limited to reduce the impact of human - and canine - intrusion. Capacity in the parks on any given day is limited by the number of parking spaces in the lots. it is not unheard of for the park to be closed before it actually opens - so many cars are lined up for the 9:00 a.m. opening. When one car leaves, another is allowed in. Even with the restrictions the park averages more than 1,000 visitors per day. If you arrive early and get in, however, you will find the trails generally uncrowded, especially on the hiker-only footpaths.
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