Hike #1329; Mountainville to Chester

Hike #1329; Mountainville to Chester

6/4/20 Schunemunk Mountain to Chester NY with Justin Gurbisz, Jennifer Bee, Brittany Audrey, Professor John DiFiore, and Kirk Rohn

This next hike would be a point to point up in Orange County NY, with a mix of both trail and railroad bed that I’d been wanting to do for a long while.

Original Chester NY station postcard

The Orange County NY region had been stuff I’d continuously been doing, but there’s just a huge amount to see, and I even surprise myself at how much more railroad stuff I haven’t done. I’d been putting off a lot of it for a long while.

1915 Chester NY station now

The main purposes of this hike was to complete the western leg of the former Erie Railroad Newburgh Branch, and to complete the Sweet Clover Trail, which ascends Schunemunk Mountain, and was the only of the major trails to climb that mountain that I’d not done yet.

Highlands Trail in Schunemunk Mountain SP

My route would take us over the mountain, down to the Newburgh Branch and onto what we had already done before about four years ago, and then continue from where we first picked it up in Washingtonville back to the main line. We’d then walk the main line, which I’d done through there before, from Greycourt to Chester, now part of the Orange Heritage Trail and also the Long Path.
I figured it was a good one to do because there would be swim spots along the Moodna Creek along the way.
I made the meeting point the Chester Station, built in 1915. I had passed through there before, but I still had a lot of historic photos that I wanted to set up then and now compilations of. This seemed to be a good opportunity to do it.

Highlands Trail in Mountainville

While everyone was getting together and preparing to leave, I ran around and got the photos.
When everyone was ready, we all piled into my van to head to the starting point, which was the Schunemunk trailhead on Taylor Road in Mountainville.
This was a little village the Highlands Trail passes through after coming off of the Black Rock Fish and Game property.
When we got to the parking area, it was rather surprising to see that the Highlands Trail and all trails going up from that point were closed, and that there was only legal access to the meadows up that way.

View on the Sweet Clover Trail

What happened was people were trespassing too often at the Moodna Viaduct, the long railroad trestle to the north of that spot, and so the MTA closed down all trail crossings of the tracks even to the south.
This is a rather ridiculous thing because it’s only going to make people hate the railroad more. Regardless, we went anyway. It’s literally about a sixty foot dash across the tracks, and no one would ever see us do it anyway.
We followed the Highlands Trail route, which is coaligned with the Jessup Trail, out through the fields, and then headed toward the tracks on the Sweet Clover Trail. We headed up from there, mostly on woods roads and such, and beyond the tracks it became a good footpath.

Sweet Clover Trail

I had gone up Schunemunk Mountain by way of the Western Ridge Trail, which is the old Long Path, the Highlands/Jessup Trail, and the Trestle Trail, but never this one. I’d also gone down Dark Hollow Trail and the current Long Path routes. I had forgotten from those previous trips just how big an ascent this was.
The ascent seemed to go on forever, but it was quite pretty with great views along the way.
The trail on the way up went on and off of an old logging road or something, with foot path bits in between. There were two young girls we passed on the way up, and then we stopped at a small stream to wet our faces in a tiny waterfall. The girls caught up with us there, but we soon passed them again. Eventually, when we got to the first really good overlook, we took another break. The girls caught up with us again there, and probably didn’t continue on.

View from Schunemunk

The rest of us continued a little bit further up the mountain from there to reach the joint Highlands and Jessup Trails where we turned to the right.

Scene on Sweet Clover Trail

I’d done this bit before, and there were good views of the Hudson River to the northeast. We could also see all of Black Rock Forest, and out to Storm King Mountain on the near side of the Hudson, and Breakneck Ridge on the far side.
The views only got better as we walked down the spine of puddingstone conglomerate to the north.
In this stretch, I got ahead of the rest of the group by quite a lot, and then happened upon a Black Rat Snake I think it was basking in the middle of the trail.

Black Snake

I paused as it slithered up and off toward the right side. I waited for everyone else so that they didn’t get spooked by it on the trail. As we caught all up, another couple was walking from the other way, so I told them to watch for it.
Black Rat Snakes or Black Racers are not venomous, but they are carrion eaters, so the bacteria in their mouths can make them potentially more dangerous than some of the non venomous snakes.
We continued along the co-aligned trails, which soon started to dip down into the gully where we reached the Baby Brook. Here, the join Highlands Trail and Jessup Trail are off to the right, and another trail went left along the brook. From here, we were to continue straight uphill to another peak of the ridge to reach the Trestle Trail. Rather than just continue on, we had a nice break at the brook and sat in it in some of the nice little pools. They weren’t incredibly deep, but it was enough to cool off for a bit.

View on Schunemunk Mountain

We eventually made our way uphill to the next ridge, with a bit of a view along the way up from a shelf that looked back at the ridge we had just come off of.

On Schunemunk Mountain

That trail turned abruptly to the left once it reached near the peak of the hill, and paralleled the Trestle Trail briefly. I could hear people talking on that other trail not too far away. They were heading downhill on it back toward the Moodna Viaduct and complaining about high high up they had already come.
I waited for everyone to catch up at the intersection, and then we all turned to the north on Trestle Trail, which I think was white blazed.

Schunemunk view

We made our way gradually down hill, and there was a very nice Adirondack bench on the left on a side trail where there is an overlook of the Moodna Viaduct.

Schunemunk

I had remembered this overlook being much better in the past, with a better view of the Moodna Viaduct. It was now only barely visible at the bottom of the view. I got some great photos of it the last time I was out, but this view wasn’t nearly as impressive to me this time.
We continued steeply downhill, and the trail got more worn and dusty. Traction is always tougher in these times. Eventually, it picked up a bit of a woods road and started switching back toward the bottom.

Schunemunk

At the bottom, we reached the intersection with the Otterkill Trail, which skirts the edge of the mountain and heads north. Since the trails across the tracks are now officially closed, it’s necessary to use the Otterkill Trail for loops, so its getting more traffic. A group went by us on it soon after we walked over by there.

Hudson view

We chose to wander over to the Moodna Viaduct to have a better look. We passed an old storage building ruin or something, and then reached the bridge.
New fences had been erected around the end of the bridge since the last time we had been there. We had walked across the thing on a previous hike without a problem, and before that the Long Path used to actually cross it, but rules are much more serious these days.
We thought about crossing it this time, but then chose against it because it has caused so many problems for the trails in the area and we didn’t know when a train would be coming.

Moodna Viaduct from Trestle Trail

We headed back downhill on the Trestle Trail to the parking area, and then headed across the street into another bit of the state park in a large meadow. I am told there used to be a house on top of the hill in that meadow, among a few trees.

Moodna Viaduct

I walked over to that point and got some photos of the viaduct from a bit further away.
The Moodna Viaduct opened in 1909 on Erie Railroad's Graham Line, which was originally to be known as the Guymard Line but was changed after a family dispute near its western end.
At 3,200 feet long and 193 for high at its its highest, it is the longest and tallest railroad trestle east of the Mississippi.
Other rail bridges such as the Kinzua Viaduct used to have it beat, but that one blew down something like twenty years ago. There are a couple of them taller at the highest point, but I believe this one has them beat due to length.

Moodna Viaduct

It was definitely a sight to behold. We checked it out and walked the length of the bridge from beneath, then headed down to the Moodna Creek where it was obvious that ATVs pass through and ride across.
We had gotten really hot again, so this was a great spot to take another dip.
We all headed over into the creek, and there was a pile of rocks directly below the viaduct, holding back some water to provide just enough depth for us to enjoy.
We all sat directly below the bridge, which would have made for an amazing photo opportunity, but none of us brought out phones out there.
We all sat here for a little while because it was so amazing and relaxing before moving on.
Once we had had not nearly enough, we left anyway, and headed uphill and across Orrs Mills Road/Rt 20, and then up an ATV path beneath the Moodna Viaduct to reach the former Newburgh Branch of the Erie Railroad.

Moodna Viaduct

The Newburgh Branch is a very interesting line, and it came about pretty early on.
The Erie was in debt and constructing further west, but struck a deal and changed a charter where they would build a nineteen mile line from the main line at Greycourt up to Newburgh. This happened in 1845, and the line was completed through and opened in January of 1850.

Newburgh Branch

In 1867, a second Newburgh Branch was opened up between Harriman and Vail’s Gate on the original Newburgh Branch, seventeen miles in length, and so throughout its service time it was known as the “shortcut”. That line and the original Newburgh Branch were treated as one double tracked line despite the fact that the two branches were so far apart.
The line prospered over the coming decades with the construction of a coal pier in Newburgh, but things started to decline in the 1900s with the rise of the automobile.
Passenger service discontinued first on the line in 1938, but freight continued much longer.

Big tree along the Newburgh Branch

The line survived the merger with the Lackawanna, but in 1977, all service ended between Greycourt and Vails Gate. The original Erie main line was also abandoned about 1983, and the tracks of the Newburgh Branch were also ripped up that year. Only a short five or so mile section of it near the eastern terminus remains in light service I believe, but I’ve not tried to follow any of that yet.
The Erie main was much turned into a trail after abandonment, but the Newburgh Branch was amazingly just let go. Maybe it was because there are so many bridges on it. I’m not sure.

Bridge on the Newburgh Branch

It reminds me a lot of the old rail beds I used to follow when I started doing these hikes. It has rough spots, a few spots we have to go around, but mostly its a more intimate walk on a slightly narrower right of way than we see with typical rail trails.

Moodna Bridge

This time, the line started out looking much as it did the previous time I had walked it. It was very clear and wide, occasionally a mud puddle, but overall easy.
I spotted an awesome, giant tree along the way on the left side as well.
We followed this out toward the town of Salisbury Mills. As we approached that little settlement, there were some giant mud puddles and it started getting grown over.
We came out to Clover Road and Orrs Mills Road, and there was a giant war memorial statue from the War of 1812. The rail bed was pretty grown over and out in some yards at this point. I didn’t remember being off of it for very long the previous time I was out, nor did I remember it being hard to follow at all coming from the other side of town. This time, it was a little more questionable.

Bridge fun

I tried to see where the line crossed the road, and when I found it we had to push through an enormous and thick wall of Japanese Knotweed. We fortunately forced our way through it, and then immediately set foot on a through style truss bridge with missing railroad ties on the other side. The ties were the kind where we could see right down to the Moodna Creek below. We got across and took a little break on the other side, and Justin and Brittany climbed the trusses a bit. Justin got all the way on the top and walked across it.

Weird bridge art

From this point, we continued walking to the west on the right of way. It was a bit grassy and disused in this section, but that was because we were very close to the next bridge over the Moodna Creek.
This next one was a through girder bridge, and it too had the sort of open deck with a lot of missing railroad ties. We had to walk across in I-beams for much of it. This explained why it was so grown over on the other side. Some of these ties were clearly removed to keep the ATVs from traveling through town to the other side.
Once we were across this bridge, the right of way became much clearer with a wider worn in path. There was a lot of interesting graffiti of animals and such on this bridge.
We continued from here along the nice clear path and approached Washingtonville. We skirtd a new construction area with chain link fences I think at a municipal place or something, and crossed Cardinal Drive as well as Nicoll Street.

Moodna Bridge

Soon, we reached and crossed another through style truss bridge over the Moodna Creek. This one was the easiest one because it had planks placed across it for walking. It emerged on the other side near a park known as Mays Field. Justin, Brittany, and Kirk climbed around on the trusses again here before we moved on.

Newburgh Branch

We soon approached Rt 208/South Street, where the Washingtonville Station used to be. Here, we chose to take a break and get something to eat. I wasn’t really hungry, so I held off, but everyone else got something at La Villa Mexican Restaurant, where there was outdoor seating on the porch. Actually maybe I did get something. I seem to recall having something to eat while I was sitting there, but I can’t quite remember what it was.

Washingtonville Station

I did go off while the others were waiting and tried to get several photos for my then and now shots, which I think came out alright based on what was on the historic aerial images and maps.
Once we were done, we headed out and in back of the restaurant where the railroad used to go.
We walked along the edge of a business on the other side, and then went into more woods. Then, we crossed the Moodna Creek yet again on a through style girder bridge. This one also had lots of boards over the ties for people to get across, as well as a really nice boardwalk section that had been constructed.

Moodna Bridge

We made our way out to Main Street/Rt 94 in a short bit, after an open area, and crossed at an angle. The rail bed became a good ATV path again skirting the property of the property of the local high school.
I enjoyed some Riesling wine from Brotherhood Winery that I had picked up in Washingtonville, because the town is the home to Brotherhood Winery, oldest continuously operating winery in the US. It was quite good.

Moodna Bridge

We soon crossed a filled in former culvert and then came to yet another bridge over the Moodna Creek, this time a higher deck girder structure where we could look off at the creek in either direction.

Moodna Bridge

Once on the other side the right of way was rather badly washed out from floods. It was obvious that the water flows right through the right of way for a ways. A parallel ATV path took us around this bad spot and back up to it after it ended.
The right of way got to be very easy and relaxing. The time went by quickly. We passed parallel with a meadow, and then through very deep woods to the southwest, and crossed Tuthill Road.
There is a settlement called Farmingdale in this area, and we crossed Farmingdale Road, as well as near Blooming Grove. There must have been a station at Blooming Grove at one time but I don’t recall seeing anything of it here.

Moodna Bridge

We skirted a large wetland after crossing the road, and passed by an abandoned building ruin on the left side of the rail bed.
Eventually we came to a through girder style bridge that carried us over Rt 94.

Greycourt mile marker

We continued to pass through really pleasant woods on the way, and eventually hit Craigville Road. There might have been a station in this area. There was a wide open area with a truck place we had to walk across then into another wide section of ATV trail on the other side.
Another very pleasant section of woods skirted by swampland was ahead. Eventually, we came to a grade crossing of an abandoned road and I decided to try to walk it a bit to the left.
Almost immediately, I came upon an abandoned cemetery. This was really pretty cool. I didn’t know where we were but I wanted to check out more of it.

Old Camp LaGuardia cemetery

It turned out that this was part of the old Camp LaGuardia.
The camp was built in 1918 as a women's prison. At the time of World War I, likely with most the men away, crimes among women were going up, and so the call was made for the jail. The first women arrived from New York, City in the early twenties.
By the early thirties, there were less crimes among women, and so it was transformed to a camp for the homeless. It lasted without incident pretty much until the 1980s when the property was sold to Orange County. It remains in limbo today.

At Camp LaGuardia

I had walked along some abandoned stuff from this along the Erie main line, which meant we were getting closer, but I had not explored well into the facility yet. I figured it was worth having a closer look.
Up the road, there was an old gas pump straight ahead, and then some buildings to the left. There was even an abandoned truck parked in front of one of them. We walked over into the building to the left, which had a wide open door. It took us through the length of the building which didn’t really have anything inside. It was basically just the frame of a building with some graffiti in it. It was cool to see, but nothing too spectacular looking.

Don't Worry...

We made our way back down the road again, and onto the rail bed heading south. In a very short distance, we came to the split where to the right the Newburgh Branch connected to the westbound Erie main, and to the left led to the eastbound. We turned right here and continued south.
After a little bit we reached an undecked bridge over the Seely Brook. I was hoping to go down to the brook and find a nice spot to take a dip before we got closer to the end, but there was literally no good way to get in. It was really mucky and gross.

Seeley Brook bridge

We continued across the bridge and then out to the junction point on the old main line, where we turned to the right. There were tracks parallel with the paved trail, now known as Orange Heritage Trail, approaching the Greycourt yard. This is also the route of the Long Path now, which eliminated what was previously a long road walk through Orange County.

Greycourt NY

The remainder of the rail yard ahead is still somewhat used for storage, and it connects with the former Lehigh and Hudson River Railway, which goes over it on a girder bridge.
This is another line I have to get around to finishing. I’ve followed it all through NJ almost to the NY state line, where it’s still active, but never bothered following it the rest of the way up to Maybrook.
The trail passed by some big sod farm type of area just ahead, through the “black dirt” region, and toward Chester, which we reached in not too long, and got to our cars.

LHR underpass

Although I would have loved to have taken a dip somewhere near the end, I was glad to have had some a great relaxing walk along this awesome rail bed. It was better even than I had anticipated it would be, and probably one of the best walking routes in all of Orange County.
There are still so many more lines to walk. There’s the other Newburgh Banch which I’ve only walked a little of, the rest of the Erie main, the Lehigh and Hudson, the Lehigh and New England, and other branches of the Erie as well. There’s certainly no shortage, but I want to try to do stuff that’s appropriate for the seasons with swimming and such.
I hope to get back to exploring the remainder of the Newburgh Branch, but might wait a little while as not to keep doing the same places back to back.

HAM