Schunemunk Mountain Loop from Otterkill Road via Dark...

Schunemunk State Park (Schunnemunk State Park)

Along the ridge of Schunemunk Mountain - Photo by Daniel Chazin Along the ridge of Schunemunk Mountain - Photo by Daniel Chazin

This loop hike climbs about 1,500 feet to reach a ridge composed of unusual conglomerate rock, with many viewpoints from open rock ledges dotted with pitch pines.

41.425755, -74.101685

From the parking area, proceed ahead (east) on Otterkill Road for 0.2 mile. About 150 feet before reaching the massive Moodna Viaduct (which spans the valley to the left), turn right onto a footpath, following the white-blazed Trestle Trail, which proceeds uphill rather steeply on a woods road, with the Moodna Viaduct to the left.

In about 500 feet – just before reaching the level of...

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Avenza App Map: West Hudson 114

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Trip Reports

rate experience
June 11, 2020
5
STUNNING VIEWS
I did this hike with a friend yesterday. Despite it being a hazy day the views were gorgeous and the megaliths were very cool! Because of Schunemunk's location in between other state parks you get some amazing 360* sightlines. I would recommend reversing the loop. There is a steep scramble on the Western Ridge trail that we both agreed would be more fun to climb up than to climb down. Parts of the Western Ridge trail were poorly blazed and we lost some time double checking that we were still on trail. There are a lot of blueberry bushes along the path throughout the hike! It would be a real treat to do this route in late June, when the berries are ripe. We encountered a black bear on the Jessup Trail, approximately 1 mile south of the megaliths. It appeared to be a young bear and was startled by us -- we made some noise until it retreated a safe distance for us to continue. We also had bear spray with us and I would recommend all hikers in this area carry a can.
Holly.Johanna
August 07, 2017
4
rigorous hike, beautiful and difficult
this was a rigorous hike, beautiful and difficult. we did this hike in May 2016. climbing up was a challenge, but coming down there was a lot of scrambling. when we went, most of the people we saw were doing the loop the opposite way than we did it. probably b/c scrambling up is easier than scrambling down. and the descent along the dirt would have been easier than our descent. i rolled my ankle at one point during the scramble in the descent and was hurting. i suppose next time i should be more careful. we came to a point where we saw a black bear scurry across the rock. we stopped in our tracks until the bear was out of sight. later we saw the others wearing bear bells and told them, well, we did just see a bear. they said they hiked the area a lot and have never seen one but they know that others have. we also ran into the person who keeps the trail and he asked us what we thought of it and we told him we liked the condition of the trail a lot. he was happy with that and went on his way. i would suggest doing the loop up the scrambles and would probably do that if we come again to this hike.
SnowEcho
May 25, 2017
0
Nice Hike
<p>Did this hike on 6/9/16. This is a very nice hike with varied terrain. The rock and limb markers on the outcrops and megaliths are a HUGE help locating the paths as they re-enter the trees. Great workout, amazing views. Completed in about 5 hrs. Only ran into 1 person and her dog . &nbsp;Also saw 2 big snakes getting it on right on the trail. I was told they are Rat Snakes and not normally dangerous. None the less, I gave them a wide birth.</p> <p>&nbsp;<img src="/sites/default/files/u22212/thumb_IMG_20160609_130706962.jpg" alt="2 snakes" width="90" height="90"></p>
rdgee65
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