The High Point Carriage Road at Minnewaska

Posted on by Steve Aaron

In the last days of August, the High Point Carriage Road, a historic 2.8-mile piece of the Minnewaska State Park’s carriage road network, officially re-opened to the public. On September 1, my friend Brian and I set out to explore the new road on bicycles.

Smiley Carriage Road
Smiley Carriage Road

We started at the Minnewaska parking area and rode on the Upper Awosting Carriage Road to Lake Awosting. From Awosting, the Smiley Carriage Road would connect us with the new High Point road. Although I’m a frequent visitor to Minnewaska, this was my first cycling trip on the full length of the Smiley Carriageway that was restored a few years ago.

Continue reading →

Tagged: Biking, Gunks, Hiking8 Comments

The Paddle of Big Sandy Creek

Posted on by Robert

The Battle of Big Sandy Creek occurred on May 29th 1814 between British and American forces during the War of 1812. It was an American victory that would prove inconsequential as the British retained control of the Great Lakes.

The Pictorial Field-Book of the War of 1812.
Lossing, Benson (1868). The Pictorial Field-Book of the War of 1812. Harper & Brothers

The Paddle of Big Sandy Creek occurred last weekend and was significantly less violent. Farah and I had been scoping out beaches and kayaking spots along Lake Ontario when we learned of Big Sandy Creek.

Located within the Lakeview Wildlife Management area, the paddle is a 4 mile out-and-back that takes paddlers past Goose Pond and out to the sandy beaches along Lake Ontario. It is the same route used in the battle during The War of 1812.

Continue reading →

Tagged: Paddling, Tug Hill9 Comments

Monksville Reservoir Kayaking

Posted on by Brownski

Monksville Reservoir in Ringwood NJ is right in my backyard, but I’d never heard of it until the other day. Somebody saw my kayak on top of my car and struck up a conversation on paddling. When we were done discussing what we liked about our boats, we shifted to where we paddle and he said he always goes to Monksville.

Monksville Reservoir boat launch

Huh, really, where is that? I punched it into Apple Maps and realized I’d driven over it many times on my way to Mountain Creek Ski area. It looked like an cool spot so I went ahead and pencilled it into my list of stuff to do on my week off. So I looked up the stats.

Continue reading →

Tagged: NJ, Paddling5 Comments