First Trip
I had a day off after our annual gaming retreat and I wanted to get a hike in. We never had a decent chance of getting the Tongue Range before Winter ended. To be clear, nature decided that we should have more Winter after March 18, but the peaks would not have counted for the official challenge. I know it's a little silly to have that be a factor as to which hikes we do, but I'd already bagged all the other ones save Buck, and I have no intention of Sunny hiking the Tongue Range with Rattlesnakes, so I decided to save it for December.
Instead, I stayed home and worked on house projects all morning, then I drove to the Dwaaskill Nature Preserve for the afternoon. I'd been there once before with Quinn, but we'd been immediately innundated with ticks, so we'd turned back. This time, I liberally sprayed myself down for it.
I thought the trail would be part of the Saratoga Plan, but it isn't. Here's the description from the Dwaas Kill Nature Preserve website: "Welcome to the Dwaas Kill Nature Preserve owned by the Town of Clifton Park. Established in 2005, the preserve is 240 acres of mostly undisturbed natural habitat that plays an important role in the health of this area’s ecosystem and provides a home for many plants and animals. This land was acquired with assistance from the NYS Environmental Protection Fund. Enjoy your visit, and please tread lightly."
The trail signage is well-done, but it's outdated. The map above is the same one used on the trail signs and it's from 2015. Since then a blue trail has been added, which extends much deeper into the preserve. I decided to follow this trail to see where it took me.
The first part of the trail features a smooth, crushed stone surface. The Dwaaskill runs along the South to your left and the railroad runs a bit off to the North. The trails are well-marked with reflective, colored diamond markers.
There's a handy outdoor classroom seating to the right after you pass the signage.
The trail gives way to an earthen path after the second junction. This patch of brush seems to be a gateway into the greater Preserve area, where your stroll becomes a hike (albeit a little one).
After a few old junctions with unmarked trail areas where kids enjoy riding their bikes, the Blue Trail is marked with a plaque. This is about a half mile into the hike. Big ups to Ryan Haug and team. This is a really nice trail.
Sunny was having a lovely time sniffing around.
About a mile in, a junction directs you to the different spurs. We continued to the Far Outlook.
Shortly after the plaque, the trail starts to feature some lovely ups and downs as it hugs the ridge. At some points it rises nearly to the top. This helps keep the hike interesting, but I suspect the real reason for it is to protect the expansive swampy area to the South from tromping feet.
Sunny decided it would be fun to get hip-deep in mud. Oops.
This shot shows you the effort that Mr. Haug and team went to in order to cut this trail.
Sunny did very well on this hike with his pathing commands, and nearly always avoided getting hung up.
There's a little hollow with some old wooden beams sticking out of it at the terminus of the trail. There is no indication as to what structure once stood there. Since the hollow is on a hill, I suspect it used to be a cellar for a cabin of some kind or a burn pit for charcoal. I'm not sure. Now, there's a bench for bird watching and relaxing.
The plaque by the bench posted by Mr. Haug and William & Linda May Newman reads "This bench is dedicated to the memory of Jason Van Sleet to honor him and his three brothers who are all Eagle Scouts." We didn't tarry long since we wanted to get back to pick Quinn up from school.
The trail features boardwalks for the short span across the marsh at this end. From this angle, you can see the land rise to the little ridge we followed on the way in. There's a bit of a flatish section after that and a greater ridge beyond in the distance where the railroad runs.
On our way back on our first trip, Sunny and I turned right at the junction to have a look at the Near Outlook. We met some friends on the trail! He was beyond excited to play, so we walked and chatted with Joel and his dogs back to the trailhead.
I'm glad we just paid $100 to have you groomed, Sunny.
I was really pleased with this hike and its little ups and downs. What we hiked this day was about 3 miles. The next time we come, we'll do the entire loop and add it as a trail suggestion in AllTrails. That should be about 4 miles or so. Joel said it's really great for trail runners and I believe it.
Second Trip
Our family had a rough week and I decided to get a couple more hours in the preserve so we could explore the entire loop and log it in AllTrails.
Some of the swamp foliage was sprouting and trees were starting to bloom on our second trip into the preserve.
The near overlook has a bench as well, and the view to the marsh is clearer than the far overlook.
The near overlook is supposed to be the Terminus, as evidenced by these markers, however...
...but it continues as a loop which is well-built, but unmarked.
The maintainers are also busy on the unmarked part of the loop, keeping it clear of blowdowns.
Busy beavers.
The crossings are easy to navigate with boardwalks.
Welcome, Spring!
Sunny splashed around and cleaned off the mud in the Cooley Kill.
This time around, I was able to track the entire Blue trail and submit it to AllTrails as an official map. I really enjoyed the loop through the marsh. It was very pretty down in there and very well-maintained. Doing the loop also provides a full 3 miles (at least according to GPS).
With mud season upon us, We'll be trying to get a low peak or two in before April is over. In may, I plan on getting out to Ampersand before the first High Peaks of the year. Sunny and I will be training at home as well before then.
Dwaas Kill Nature Preserve Blue Trail.gpx (157.24 KB)