Hike #1265; Wurtsboro to Ellenville
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10/20/19 Wurtsboro to Ellenville with Matthew Davis, James Quinn, Jennifer Berndt, Robin Deitz, Diane Reider, Serious Sean Dougherty, Cory Salvesen, Linda Salvesen, Stephen Argentina, John DiFiore, Kathryn Cataldo, Dan Lurie, Mr. Buckett (Jim Mathews), Russ Nelson, Ewa Wdzieczak-Smering, and Smile? (is that his name on Meetup?).
This next hike would be the next in the Delaware and Hudson series. We had last covered the section from Westbrookville to Wurtsboro with a loop, and I went back to photograph some of the stuff we missed in the dark a little over a week ago.
Delaware and Hudson Canal probably near Summitville
I was totally pumped for another hike along the old canal route. This time, I planned a route that was supposed to take us from where we left off in Wurtsboro up to Ellenville, at the Honors Haven Resort.
Seaside Supply Store in Wurtsboro
It was already a really busy time for me. My brother Tea Biscuit’s wedding was the night before. Jillane’s sister Jamie’s wedding was the night before that. I had a renter’s home inspection two days before that. On top of that, I’d been doing a lot of physical labor doing a trail work project through work on the Warren Highlands Trail. While extremely rewarding, it was also extremely tiring and labor intensive.
If that were’t enough, I went to the Washington Diner with my mom on Thurday night, and I ate some chicken medallions that were fantastic, but two of them were kind of pink inside. I didn’t think much of it.
The canal out of Wurtsboro
They were too chewy, but I ate them anyway. I figured I’m usually fine and I eat all sorts of awful crap.
Canal greenway in Wurtsboro
Well, by the later evening at Jamie’s wedding, I was getting sick. And then a headache. I barely drank much at it, and I’d forgotten about the chicken two nights before. I was still okay, and through the next day it wasn’t so bad save for a little headache.
The canal in Wurtsboro then
By the end of the night at my brother’s wedding, I was starting to feel it more, and as the morning came closer I felt absolutely awful. I felt feverish and sick, and then got sick once at home, then a second time while riding up to the start point at Dan’s house.
Matt was good enough to pick me up in the morning at my house. I had already planned this because I figured I wouldn’t be able to drive after all of the craziness of the days before. I’d be passing out. So, thankfully Matt came through on this one.
We picked up Mr. Buckett and Jen, and then on the way grabbed Dan and headed north, but my sickness set us behind more than anticipated. Everyone was calling and messaging me from Honors Haven, and I had never heard back from anyone there, so I didn’t know what we would do about parking.
The canal today
I figured it was too late to change the meet point, but at this point I was running really late. Instead of having me go up there, I figured I would have Russ arrange the car shuttle to Wurtsboro, and since we already had a full car, we could just drive to that point and we would save time.
This didn’t work out as planned. As everyone was shuffling cars to an on street point in Ellenville, they got lost and were calling me for where to go. I didn’t know where to send anyone, and they came to Wurtsboro in their own vehicles, not knowing where else to go. This messed it up because there were only two cars left at the end point of the hike. There wouldn’t be enough to drive the entire group back.
Sullivan St. crossing on the canal
I wasn’t going to head up there to get the cars with our already full car, and to mess around with more shuttles during important daylight hours made no sense. I told them we would shuttle the drivers back at the end and work out this shuttling them, rather than waste precious day light.
We waited for a while in Wurtsboro, and I got some then and now shots at the old railroad station. I felt like I was going to be sick again and went into the Stewart’s, but it was only dry heaves. I was dizzy and not getting any better for a while.
Sullivan Street crossing today
Jen gave me a TUMS which I think helped a bit. After standing somewhat still for a while, it seemed to start getting better.
We got almost everyone together, and Russ and Ewa ended up heading to where we were originally standing on Sullivan Street, in the middle of town.
When we started walking, we headed down Hudson Street to it’s dead end, and then got right on the old canal towpath, after walking through the prism. It was a wide grassy trail there. We turned left and followed it out to Pennsylvania Avenue. There, there was a snubbing post with engravements on it, denoting that this was where construction first started on the canal in 1825.
Sullivan St bridge just after canal abandonment
On the other side we crossed and passed around a turn. The former canal doubled as a power line clearing through this section.
We soon reached the crossing of Sullivan Street, where a bridge used to span the canal. We
Sullivan Street now
I was still having trouble thinking straight, but I was pushing through it.
Serious Sean had shuttled drivers to the south from Wurtsboro, and he was waiting in the middle of the greenway where we came to Sullivan Street. I had several historic photos of this crossing I tried to emulate, but none of them came out really great. Maybe I’ll hit them again another time.
We crossed directly, and the canal becomes a sort of winding paved path for a short distance. There is a big sign sign there with eloquent wording about the splendor of the towpath. On the other side was a big map.
Along the canal in Wurtsboro
It was a really nice copy of the NY/NJ Trail Conference map that shows the canal, the two branches of the New York, Ontario, and Western Railroad, and the Long Path.
The railroad, known as the O&W, had both it’s main line approach to the Highview Tunnel just up out of town, and the lower grade was the Port Jervis Branch that connects with the main at Summitville to the north. I’d hiked much of those before, and used them as parts of loops on previous hikes. They’ve been abandoned now since 1957, the first major railroad company to completely abandon in a day.
Up slope, the Long Path is a major trail that connects New York City with the Adirondacks. Blazed sections are from Fort Lee NJ at the GW Bridge all the way to north of the Mohawk River at the foothills to the Adirondacks, from which they have a designated road walk.
Sullivan St crossing
Serious Sean was already strumming away on his handsome wooden guitar, and we joined to walk through past the big sign.
We soon reached Pine Street, but there was no sign of Russ and Ewa.
I was too incoherent to properly lead on this one for one, and for two, my phone service was kind of bad and not getting the messages in a timely fashion.
We had initally been standing along Sullivan Street across from a yoga place, and Matt had sent them a link to where we were, but maybe it went through somewhat slow. I texted back that we were connecting from where we had last left off when we were in Wurtsboro, and were heading to them.
Map in Wurtsboro
It’s possible that my last texts never went through, but I thought they did.
We waited when we got to Pine Street briefly, which used to be the site of an old hotel during the canal days known as the Harding House.
Russ texted me back not to wait for them, that they would be able to catch up. I would have waited, but I also knew there were going to be things coming up that would be holding us up. I had some historic points to make along the way walking.
Historic Harding House image
The towpath was still intact and somewhat mowed going from the road, but the prism was sort of wrecked through this area. I don’t think it has been a trail for quite so long.
Canal towpath in Wurtsboro
The trail took us into an area with a fence on the former prism side, then into a weedy area. I seem to recall we came through here one time just as a new foot bridge was opening. There was some sort of new construction going on here now as well, partially taking over the old canal prism.
Just ahead, we came to a foot bridge over what the newer maps call the Willsey Brook, but in the canal days it was called the Youghousekill. The new foot bridge spanned the same location as the original Youghousekill Aqueduct, which was a wooden trunk structure with low clearance to the creek.
The canal in Wurtsboro
The stream below the bridge was just about completely a dry bed of rocks. I suppose if it was like that in canal days, they didn’t have much need for anything higher.
Site of Youghousekill Aqueduct
We crossed the bridge and the canal prism and towpath both became much more defined and recognizable as such.
We continued ahead and crossed over Ferguson Lane, which I think might be abandoned to the right now, I can’t remember.
We continued further ahead as the trail moved further away from the developed part of town and became more pleasant.
We soon came to the former site of Helm’s Bridge, now abandoned, but the former road still spans the canal on a stone causeway with a box culvert, which was made from the dismantled abutments.
The canal
Route 209 was in the distance to the left, but soon the canal started to turn off to the right away from it. To the left was the site of now dry former Hornbeck’s Basin.
Site of Helm's Bridge, now box culvert
We continued ahead on the towpath to the next former bridge site, known as Hornbecker’s Bridge. This too is a stone causeway with a box culvert in it. I chose to have everyone regroup here. We got pretty separated in this stretch, and I figured it would be a good opportunity to talk about how they dismantled abutments to make these box culverts, and give Russ and Ewa a big of a chance to catch up with us. Beyond this point, the canal started to curve more hard to the right, toward the Shawangunk Ridge in view.
Hornbeck's Bridge site
We weaved around through some swamp land, and crossed a foot bridge that spanned a cut through the towpath where the water from ahead drains out.
The canal
Beyond this breach point, the canal is pretty much watered all the way through to Summitville, over a mile up.
We passed a house off to the right with a guy working an earth mover. He had placed enormous cut trees blocking view of his property along the edge of the towpath to our right.
We continued ahead and soon reached McDonald Road, which joins with the towpath ahead for a short distance. This little community I believe had to do with the old lead mines.
The canal
The area of Mamakating is hugely historic.
The town of Mamakating predates Wurtsboro, having been established in 1743. By then, the Old Mine Road which finds it’s beginnings in New Jersey at the Pahaquarry Mines was already at least somewhat established.
Fortifications were developed along that route from the early to mid 1700s to protect settlers against natives during their westward expansion. Everyone talks about the Old Mine Road being the oldest commercial road in the US, and the Pahaquarry Copper Mines in NJ, but this area is also quite important.
Along the canal
Wurtsboro at the time was known as Fort Devans. Mamakating included all of the lands well down into Orange County and such, and to the north through Ulster. It was the first township in Sullivan County.
On the canal
The Mamakating Mine was the first mine in the state of New York.
It is believed that the Mamakating Mines might date back to the late 1600s. These mines were predominantly lead mines in the more recent operations, but they also found trace amounts of silver and even a tiny bit of gold among the fools gold (iron pyrite) as well as copper. The native Americans reportedly mined it as well, and the colonists had a hard time getting it out of them where they had gotten it from.
Along the canal
The mining operation grew more seriously after the arrival of the canal, and after that the O&W Railroad. The last time I was up in the area we explored the mines extensively.
On the canal
The mine holes go all through the edge of the ridge following the ore deposits from nearly at the top at the Long Path, down to the bottom along the railroad beds.
Our friend Cupcake told us that we needed to explore them at that time, because the state was going to come in and close them up.
The first time I had been up in that area I checked them out a little bit, as well as some of the settlement that we were just coming to when we got to McDonald Road. I think after that first house, there was only one more house left occupied.
One of the old houses in 2009
My first visit through there in the Summer of 2009 there were a lot of houses. On the left of McDonald Road, there were at least two of them along the way, but they were both abandoned. I had checked them out and they were still full of stuff, so they couldn’t have been left for too long.
There were also a couple of them right on the towpath, where the road overtook some of it.
I had been back probably in 2015, and then there was still one abandoned house before the last occupied one at the end of the road, but that too was torn down now.
No houses left...
We had checked out one other abandoned house down a long unpaved driveway on that last trip, and that one we could se was still standing back in the woods. We didn’t have the time to be wandering out to that this time though, and we had way too many people to be doing that.
We passed the one house, and then continued onto the towpath trail as it took on a much more common canal ambiance. There are fifty some odd foot bridges through this next section on the canal’s summit level, I suppose because it’s the closest to the water table it gets. This was all Basha Kill head waters.
Early 1900s view at Mamakating Mines
I watched to the right for connecting paths to get us over where the mines used to be. We had come down from that way before, and then used the O&W Railroad bed to make our loop last time. The path took us over the Port Jervis Branch, and to a fenced area.
The Mamakating mine site today
It was disappointing to see that the entire lower mine hole had been covered over with a blue gravel. There were signs everywhere warning that the water was contaminated with lead and not to drink it.
I managed to get a photo at the same angle as the historic photos. I tried to do that the last time, and got it at the wrong angle.
While checking this out, Russ and Ewa were able to catch up, and I showed Russ the then and now I had just done. It’s the best I can get, because it’s all evergreen trees, but the steps of the stone buildings are still hidden out there.
Along the canal; had to keep the dog from drinking the lead water...
We continued on from here along the towpath. It’s really a lovely section. There was only one old bridge site on the entire stretch, probably once associated with the mines.
A then and now...
It went on pretty quickly until we got to the former crossing of Rt 209, where we reconvened and got my group photo.
On the other side, the canal was still watered, but the towpath was not at all clear.
The canal
We had to turn right on 209 briefly, and then climb to the right of way of the old O&W Railroad where it used to pass over Rt 209. There were interpretive signs along the top of it there, which was just across form where the junction was with the branch to Port Jervis, and where the station used to stand.
We followed the right of way a bit, and could see down to where it used to cross the canal. There was a good history sign on the railroad and I set up another then and now photo from the point of the bridge.
O&W Canal crossing being filled
The original through truss bridge that carried the railroad over the canal was replaced with a concrete box culvert after the canal was abandoned.
The canal at Summitville Road after abandonment
We climbed down from the railroad bed, and I walked up into the little town of Summitville a little bit to get a then and now photo of the crossing of Summitville Road.
O&W Railroad crossing, Summitville
I told everyone to turn right and then back left onto he towpath, but people just kept following me again anyway.
The old Summitville auction building still stands abandoned along the road, as it had the last three times I had visited the town. We continued from there back to the towpath, which is now a nice trail, and followed it to the north.
Canal above Summitville
There were a lot of historic markers along this stretch. They actually kind of overdid it with some of them being pretty close together, and featured photos that were not actually on this section.
Summitvile is aptly named because it’s the exact summit of the canal at around five hundred feet above sea level. To the south of Summitville, all of the water flows to the Delaware, from the swamps we had just passed on the south side of 209. To the north of there, we were now following more swamps, which flow the opposite direction into the Homowack Kill.
Historic image of a D&H Canal dry dock
The summit level is seventeen miles long, and so we had not seen any locks since Lock #51 adjacent to the Neversink Aqueduct site.
At the end of this next section of nice trail on the towpath, we came to Lock #50, also known as P. O. Callahan’s Lock, which lifted boats twelve feet westward (the six locks we had previously explored were the only ones that lifted boats westward).
Likely Lock #50
The old stone lock was in pretty good shape, with a few buildings around. There was a little visitor’s center, but it didn’t appear to be open at this time. It was a former canal building.
Lock #50
Matt and I both noticed that this lock still had a little bit of wood at the former gate sites in place, something we don’t typically see on this canal.
In addition to the lock, there was also a dry dock adjacent to it. There were good viewing areas and foot bridges put in for interpretation at the site.
Rose's Basin likely looking to Lock 50
We moved on from this site further down the towpath to what I believe was known as Rose’s Basin, at the lower end of it. The trail then ended when we got to the edge of Rt 209.
Lock 50 today
We had to turn to the left along Rt 209, which much overtakes the former canal route. Minister’s Flats Road, the original road route, lines up from across 209 with it’s continuation, Firehouse Road, and this crossing was the former site of Lock #49.
Some stone work visible of Lock 49
Also known as Wm. E. Rose’s Lock, this lock also lifted boats twelve feet.
This one is mostly buried by the road, which probably crossed directly over the lock via a bridge. Some of the stone work could be seen on either side, but obscured by vegetation enough that most would not see it at all.
We continued along 209 ahead a bit more to the intersection of Phillipsport Road, where a little pocket park on the corner occupies a little bit of the old canal berm. Just ahead, the canal passes into back yards.
Lock #48 behind the house
There was a community center in an old building across the intersection of Red Hill Road and Phillipsport Road, and we turned to the right on Phillipsport.
This neat little town that time forgot appears to be much abandoned, or otherwise is just weird.
I watched the yards in the back, and there was one particularly large one that had boarded off windows, and yet a car in the driveway with one window in back not boarded. I couldn’t believe it, but the place was apparently lived in. Directly behind the house was Lock #48, also known as Will Halstead’s Lock, with another twelve foot lift.
Buried Lock #47
The lock site was visible behind the house as a bit of a lift in the ground. No remnants of lock stone is noted in the area, but this was where it was.
We continued along the road a bit more, past a few more houses. Some appear to be abandoned, with high weeds growing around them, others lived in.
The next lock site was on the right of the road, in a grassy yard and not built upon, but nothing can be seen except for a slight slope. This was also the site of a basin that once extended to the edge of Phillipsport Road.
The canal just above Lock 46
Lock #47 was also known as Will Donnell’s Lock, and had a lift of twelve feet.
We continued ahead just a little, and the canal became recognizable again just below the lock site, with some water in the prism. The towpath berm was still in good shape, but we didn’t go over to it yet. Just ahead of there, a pond overtakes the former canal site, and the towpath is obliterated where it should be. We just stayed on the road ahead.
View to Lock 46
The canal is filled in on land to the right of the road, and then resumes with some water behind a house. The end of the short watered section is the filled in Lock #46, also known as Huck Rogers’ Lock. This was another twelve foot lift. I was able to view the site best when we got to Doolittle Road just ahead, where the canal was in view back toward the filled in lock pretty good. I wasn’t sure at the time if this road was private or public.
There was a guy outside his house walking through his yard with artsy stuff in it, and someone asked if they should follow me as I turned. I said yeah, but no one came.
Lock 45
I continued ahead, and then someone started yelling for me. I kept yelling back “COME ON” and no one was coming. I really wanted to try to stay quiet.
This entire stretch of the canal is supposed to be county owned land as far as the next aqueduct site, but I still didn’t want to have any kind of problem. A lot of people don’t observe the fact that a land is supposed to be public.
The towpath was pretty good at first, and the canal was wider, with a well recognizable former waste weir off to the berm side. I then came upon Lock #45, also known as Enoch Rogers’ Lock, which had a lift of twelve feet.
Old and new lock wall sectons obvious
This was a particularly interesting lock because we could very obviously see the construction design differences from when the canal was first completed in 1828, and when it was enlarged in the 1840s. The original masonry was fine cut, while the later stuff rougher.
Lock #44
The original construction of the canal was much narrower, and so on the towpath side of the lock, we could still see the original recesses in the fine cut stones intended for the earlier gates, which were far smaller than the new gate pockets. This is a great study area.
The Homowack Kill flows up close to the towpath side wall, and has eroded it out pretty badly, which necessitated crossing over the upper end of the lock and climbing along the berm side ahead. Water flows through the canal here ahead.
We continued walking, and I just got down in the canal to walk there since it was easier in the water. The others stayed up on the berm side getting around some weeds ahead.
Lock #44
The canal drained off at another old weir site to the right, and passed a former bridge site with the stone box culvert ahead. I climbed back up to the towpath, and let everyone know we would be passing houses up ahead a bit, and that we should try not to cause a scene. As it turned out, this ended up being an official trail section.
We walked clear towpath trail ahead, and soon came to Lock #44, also known as Dan Hamon’s Lock. There were stone foundations below this lock site to the right, which was probably the site of the old lock house. Lift of this lock was ten feet.
Lock 43 old gate recess
The towpath remained clear, and it wasn’t very long before we reached Lock #43, also in quite excellent shape, the same as 44.
This lock was also known as Bill Robinson’s Lock, and it had the more typical lift of ten feet.
This was also another really good case where we could see the evidence of the modifications that came with the enlargement of the canal. The berm wall showed very obviously the old, smaller gate recess at the lower end of the lock, with the newer stone topped over it.
This and the previous lock both had a lot of weeds growing in them, but they were pretty obvious.
We continued down to the next level of the canal, and then soon after crossed over a driveway. This was a former bridge site from canal days as well, because remnants of abutments could be seen at either end.
It had started raining by the time we got to this point, and it was getting more steady. I tried to read up from my David Barber canal book as best I could before it get too wet, but I wouldn’t be able to refer to it as much as I’d have liked.
Lock 43
I had thought at first that the bridge site might have been another filled lock site, but it wasn’t.
We continued on another nice section of towpath, which had a reassuring sign that this was a greenway, and then made our way through woods to the site of the next lock, below which was a large body of water that at least in part used to serve as a canal basin. Lock #42 was also known as Bill Foster’s Lock, with a lift of ten feet. It had a well watered section below it, and there are a couple of houses at the bottom.
Lock 42
At least one of the old houses might have been a modified former lock house.
I warned everyone at this point that it might be point of no return.
My guide had said that the land was public as far as the Homowack Kill Aqueduct site, which was a short distance ahead, but not short enough that anyone would want to backtrack.
Anyone that continued on would have to be prepared to wade across the stream, because we could not count on the site being bridged. Even years ago when the book was written, there was only a single metal beam across it, which people would be less thrilled about than wading.
Everyone chose to continue with me at least from this point, to the end of the road.
Buried Lock 41
The end of this road, known as Thorton Road, is at a level grassy area, which is the buried former Lock #41, also known as Jack McCarthy’s Lock. Reportedly, the tops of the walls of this ten foot lock area at times visible through the grass, but I couldn’t say for sure what I was looking at.
At the end, there was a “no trespassing” sign, regardless of the fact that this is supposed to be public land. We headed into the woods, and then had to descend to cross over a small stream at the point where there was once a basin.
Old gate pocket at Lock 40
After crossing the stream, we climbed to the other side. The towpath was shot through here. It was intact I suppose further ahead a bit, but must have been completely overgrown. I couldn’t even get to it. It was at first a mess and I would have settled for any canal remnant. I eventually found berm side walls, and that’s what we followed.
We skirted some back yards down below and out of sight as best we could, but this section was kind of lousy. We just had to keep weaving along, until eventually we came through to Lock #40, which was also in pretty good shape. This was also known as Hank Woods’ Lock.
Lock #40
The lock was in pretty good shape, and quite interesting looking because it was obvious there were two types of construction again. Part of one of the earlier gate pockets was visible, and part built out. This was not only a great spot to find, but a great relief because it was where the really heavy weeds and briars ended for a bit.
Homowack Kill Aqueduct site
The berm side of the lock was knocked down a bit. Maybe removed. There was a bridge site just ahead of the lock with the box culvert style crossing again. It was in this area that there was a “Change Bridge”. To the east of here, the towpath remains on the north side of the canal, while to the west, it is on the south side.
We continued ahead a bit more and then reached the former site of the Homowack Kill Aqueduct. This was a single span wooden trunk aqueduct over the strongly flowing stream. There appeared to be no way to get across without getting wet. Russ, Ewa, and I’m not sure who else decided to head up to roads.
Homowack Kill Aqueduct site
They had parked a car somewhere up by Spring Glen anyway, and would be cutting out. Justin and James decided to stay on the west side of Homowack Kill and see if they could find a better way to cross over than where we were going.
...and they couldn't prevent Matt from being Happy...
I told everyone they could take the time to take their shoes off if they wanted to, and we would wait for them. I of course just walked right through. Most of us did that, because with all of the rain, we were soaking wet anyway.
I actually put my rain jacket on somewhere in this area. I had shown up in my red and white checked jacket with a powder blue tie, but that was getting soaked through too much to be comfortable. I also didn’t want to get my phone much wetter than it had already gotten. It was getting bad.
The spot we chose to wade across was just left of the aqueduct site, where it was shallow.
Homowack Kill Aqueduct
Despite all of the lousy rain, bushwhacking, and the fact that it made this like walking through a car wash, everyone seemed overall pretty happy. Sean would start playing a song, and we would sing alone for a bit. It was still a great time.
Have you ever seen the rain?
Once all of us were across the stream, there was a faint path that continued back up hill to the towpath. We then continued along that to the north toward Spring Glen.
It was good for a bit of time, but then started to get overgrown again. Things like Autumn Olive shrubs made it particularly bothersome. Still, we pushed through. I had to get down and crawl under them at some times, but we kept on pushing through until we came out to a back yard area with several junk cars.
I waited for the group here for a bit, because I didn’t know quite what to do. I tried bushwhacking to the left, along a pond, and to the right there was only a back yard.
Justin had crossed over a log, and James didn’t want to do it, so he went back and waded across the same place we had done.
From my hike through the area years ago
The google maps showed the yard we were coming out on as the Kashtan place, which was literally called “Kashtan Happy Land” when I had hiked through this area before with Jillane almost ten years ago.
When it seemed that everyone had caught up, I told them to just stick close and we would walk out together. I was thinking I was going to walk to the right out ot a driveway area, but then last second chose to stay close to the canal and head directly out to Nissenbaum Road.
Directly across, there were cabins and such built on the former canal site, so we went left.
Beyond the cottages was the site of Lock 39
The Homowack Inn was a resort that is now closed, directly across Phillipsport Road from the intersection with Nissenbaum, and we turned right to continue on Phillipsport to the north. I’d explored in some of those buildings my last time up.
The canal continued ahead, and we just had to parallel on the road. When we got to an area with cottages on the right, that was about where Lock #39 is filled in, on the slope beyond. The ten foot lock was also known as Joe McKane’s Lock.
We continued ahead, and Dan noted on his phone that it said there wa a mini mart or deli or something ahead and to the left. He decided his hunger was too strong and he would take a side trip to see if it was open. Many of us hung back at the intersection with Phillipsport Road and Old Route 209. I still wasn’t able really to even consider any kind of food.
I hear that train a' comin, it's rollin' round the bend'
Sean played some songs, we did some singing, and he passed the guitar on to Matt who strolled around playing some of Johnny Cash’s Fulson Prison Blues.
We realized sometime along the way that some of the group was not with us. They had gone back to help James get across at the aqueduct site, and they ended up walking along Rt 209.
We were waiting quite a long time, and no one was showing up. It turns out they were waiting for a call from me for when they were ready to go, but I had no phone service to do so.
Site of buried Lock 38
Once everyone was back together, we headed out Old 209 to where the highway crossed the Homowack Kill, and on the other side the remnants of the canal and towpath were visible.
Looking back in the direction we had come, Lock #38, also known as Louie Beardsley’s Lock, is buried beneath Rt 209 adjacent to the bridge. We turned to the left on the other side along Lewis Road, which sort of closely parallels the canal, but not right on it. We could see the route of it below, and ahead was a newer house on the left.
Site of Lock 37
Directly in front of this house, or at least close to it, is the site of Lock #37. This ten foot lock was also known as Mose Charles’ Lock. The berm side of the canal was apparently right up along the edge of the road. There was one piece of stone there. Apparently some stone can be seen in the grass, but I wasn’t about to go poking around this private yard.
The towpath resumed on the other side of the yard, and so I headed down to it and continued walking until another driveway came in on the right, after a couple of campers.
Penny's Lock site
We headed back up from the towpath to Lewis Road again and continued northeast with the Spring Glen Campgrounds on the left.
The site of Lock #36 is buried in this area across from bath houses where we tried to go in, bu they were locked. This was also known as Penny’s Lock and it had a lift of ten feet. We had to continue on the road a bit further from here, althrough there was some recognizable canal prism just beyond the former lock site. I also noted a remnant of a waste weir on the other side.
Boaters on the canal out of Spring Glen
The canal was pretty eroded all through this area, and even where it was not developed over, it was not very welcoming to walk. We remained on Lewis Road, where we could see some interesting stone work walls along the former O&W Railroad ledge to the right.
O&W Railroad walls
Just a little further, there was a path that cut off to the left, just after a tributary that passed under the O&W line to our right. With tha out of the way, the towpath seemed to continue much more easily.
We headed off of Lewis Road and over to the towpath, which was nice for a short but, but then we had to head back over to Lewis Road and follow it to the end. At that point, a wide and easy path resumed on the towpath heading to the north.
There was a private driveway at the end that leads to a house, which is probably an old lock house associated with Lock #35, also known as Callahan’s Lock.
Lock 35
We came to the well preserved lock just a short distance after turning onto the clear towpath at the end of Lewis Road.
Beyond the lock, the towpath remained pretty good for walking. Dan got way ahead of everyone, so clearly he must have liked it too.
The prism was wet at times, but never full of water. There was supposedly a dry dock associated with Lock 35, but I don’t remember seeing anything of it. We followed the canal upstream a but, and it wasn’t too long before we came to the also well preserved Lock #34.
The canal
Lock #34 was also known as Ostrander’s Lock, and had a lift of ten feet. Like usual, it was somewhat deteriorating, but overall in pretty good shape considering 120 years abandoned.
The route remained pretty nice, and Dan pointed out some sort of stone work, which had me befuddled briefly. It looked like some sort of bridge, but then I realized it was a waste weir that had been filled in to permit vehicles to cross over.
Lock 34
We had to get down into the prism at one point, as one waste weir ahead was washed out. It looked like it had been bridged with concrete at some point, now also deteriorated.
Lock #33 site
We continued on the towpath a while longer, and the trail seemed to go off of the route to the left. Someone had plowed much of the towpath away save for just the rocks directly on the edge of it. Everyone else was keeping to the left, but I chose to remain as best I could on the towpath, or to try to get into the prism. I noticed that rocks on the berm wall were getting more vertical, and I didn’t want to miss a lock site.
While the others were out in the area parallel, I soon came upon the former site of Lock #33, also known as Youppy’s Lock.
The only remnant of this lock save for a slightly narrower area of the canal site is the stone bypass flume. All other stonework has been removed and presumably recycled.
Lock 33 bypass flume
Why they decided to remove all traces of lock walls and leave only the bypass flume standing there is beyond me, but I’m glad they did, because the site might be unrecognizable otherwise.
There was a filled old bridge site just ahead, once known as Cudney’s Bridge, and the lock house would have been off to the right at a foundation. The towpath ahead got really bad.
Canal nearing Hang Glider Road
I decided to join the others in the field parallel, where some horse trails are mowed into the fields. We were able to follow the ege of the fields for a while, and then came to a tree line at the end of prominent fields where there was a deer path back up to the towpath.
From there, the towpath was still weedy for a bit, but much more manageable. We followed that ahead in a nicely watered little area.
The next road crossing was shown as Hang Glider Road. I figured it would be like a park and no problem, but then when we arrived it looked like a private house.
Hang Glider place
I waited for everyone to catch up. Some stayed in the fields, and ended up on the other side of a wide wet area I could see. The rest of us would have to figure out about walking by this house, which had a car in the driveway.
I thought to cut up hill to the O&W grade, which we probably should have done, but we didn’t.
We headed along the canal, and the entire thing became obliterated behind the house. We came to the end of Hang Glider Road, and then cut to the right on a foot bridge toward a hang glider lessors or rental place or something. We then turned to the left, which the canal kidn of did.
The canal crossed to fields here below Shawangunk Ridge
The canal used to continue through fields, and then goes onto the lands of the Nevele Resort, which is abandoned in that area. It passes through their old golf courses.
I had thought to try to go through, but we didn’t bother this time. It might have been the best time for it, because it was rainy and crummy, but oh well.
Ahead, in the golf course, Lock #32 used to exist. I’m hoping to visit the site with permission from the Honors Haven Resort that I’ll work on for next visit.
We headed out Hang Glider Road with some lovely views of the Shawangunk Ride, and made our way out to Rt 209. On the way, we crossed the lovely Sandburg Creek.
Nevele Schoolhouse
We continued along Rt 209, and watched the abandoned sections of resort to the right. At every access point, it looked tempting to enter one way or another.
We stayed on 209 until we got to the old highway route, now known as Nevele Road and turned right.
This road used to be the Old Laurenkill Road, and it was probably the route of the Old Mine Road. Just after turning on it, there was a handsome old school house to the right, which had a tarp secured to the roof at some point this year.
I don’t know when the school was built, but it’s clearly a piece of history. A lot of locals want to see it saved. They apparently put money into it in 2011, but little has happened since.
Nevele
The Nevele Resort is now abandoned, but was once a popular site with a well known 18 hole golf course until it closed in 2009. We could see the top of the ten story dodecaheronal Nevele Tower peering through the trees in the distance, which was added to the resort in the 1960s.
The property takes it’s name from the Nevele Falls, which is reportedly so named because it’s “eleven” spelled backwards, and eleven school teachers had been out on the property when they discovered the lovely Nevele Falls on the slopes.
Nevele Tower; John Margolies Library of Congress Archive
The golf course first opened in 1901, and Charles Slutsky opened up the first hotel in 1903. He first operated out of an old farm house on the property.
Mission Revival style architecture was added to the resort much in the style that was popular in the Catskills and Borscht Belt at the time, and more additions came through the 40s, 50s, and 60s.
Since the closure, the Fallsview section of what was originally the Nevele has re-opened as Honors Haven Resort and Spa, where I was trying to get permission to pass through to no avail. There were plans to turn some of the old resort area into a hotel casino, but that has fallen through apparently, and original plans to reopen the place by 2020 do not look at all realistic.
We continued walking the Nevele Road and passed the entrance to the Honors Haven section.
We continued up hill slightly from there, with golf courses on the right, and a nice old stone house and wall to the left. I chatted with Serious Sean about some upcoming hikes, and the Nevele Road took us down hill toward Rt 209 into Ellenville.
Old Ellenville Cemetery
We cut to the right through the Old Ellenville Cemetery, also known as the Laurenkill Cemetery. The earliest interments in this Cemetery date to 1807, although the property was not deeded directly to the Methodist Episcopal Church until 1838. Previously the property was part of the Eburn Haight farm.
There are a lot of old veterans graves that date back to the Civil War in there. We continued down hill a bit, and regrouped just beyond the cemetery.
At this point, we had to figure things out. I wanted to wait for the others behind to catch up. We waited around twenty minutes when I finally called Jen, and found out that the others had taken a shortcut across the golf course and ended up back at Justin’s car.
Old stone house on Nevele Road
I figured out as best I could what we could do with cars, as we only had two left at the end.
We had to split the group in two and have only drivers go back.
I went with the group to Justin’s car and said goodbye to the others.
Justin was parked over on a road called Roselyn.
Even then, only Matt, James, and I forget who else had their cars back at Wurtsboro, and the rest of us had to wait. That meant those of us remaining got to do bonus miles.
We headed along back streets to the middle of downtown Ellenville, and some had their hearts set on McDonalds. I didn’t want to really go that far, nor did I want McDonalds. Jen, Cory, Linda, and I settled on getting pizza at a little place called Aryanna’s.
Probably Phillipsport
I got two slices, which were enormous shore style ones, and I was more than good. It was the first food I’d eaten all day, and fortunately didn’t make me sick.
Here is a shad getting CPR
Matt eventually picked us up and we were on our way. Hopefully for the next one I’ll be able to get some permissions to get through that bit we missed at the resort. Despite the cold rain, it was really a fantastic group of people, and a whole lot of fun. I find it so rewarding finding and documenting these sites in such a way that has never been done to this extent before.
And it was also great to have such an awesome group of positive people. When you can take an entire day that so many would say was crap and not worth it, and still have fun, it’s definitely a big win.
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