Hike the Woodchuck Hollow Trail |
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OVERVIEW |
| | Type of Trail: | 58% DEC Trails - 42% Public/DEC Roads - 0% Railroad (Owned by Ulster County) tracks |
| | Parking Area : | DEC land for approximately 10 cars in multiple places |
| | Lean-To: | Belleayre Lean-to located 2.78 miles from the parking area on Bonnie View Ave |
| | Winter Access: | Parking Area is Plowed. |
| | Winter Access: | When snow is present, just wear snowshoes (no "post-holing" with hiking boots in the snow |
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| | | Trail : | Woodchuck Hollow Trail - 3.28 miles (one-way) or 6.56 (round-trip) - BLUE Trail Markers |
| | Access Methods: | Foot and Snowshoe |
| | Best Time to Hike: | Any time of year |
| | Difficulty: | Easy |
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| | | USGS Map: | USGS Westkill Quad Maps |
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| | | USGS Map: | USGS Shandaken Quad Maps |
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| | | DEC Trail Map: | DEC Shandaken Wild Forest Map (free) |
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| | | Digital Mapper: |
Topo
Terrain
Satellite |
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| | | UTM Shandaken: | DEC Unit Management Plan for Shandaken Wild Forest |
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Maps |
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Notes About Hiking the Woodchuck Hollow TRAIL |
This hike has a significant portion (42%) of this hike dedicated to walking on roads and driveways. The other 62% is easy hiking on old logging roads that are easy to walk on.
After you hike a mile down Bonnie View Ave, Station Road, and Woodchuck Hollow Road, you will come to a driveway with a "Private Property" sign on it. On your right is another short road. You CANNOT park there. At the end of this short road, is a parking area. This small parking area is owned by the Pine Hill Fire Department. We do not believe that you can park there either. You will need to park at the end of Bonnie View Ave.
If you walk up to the "Private Property" sign and read it, you will see that you are only allowed to walk up the road to the Trail Head of Woodchuck Hollow Trail. Part of this land is privately owned and part of the land is owned by New York State. The land owner maintains the road past this sign, so please be respectful to them. Once you pass the "Private Property" sign, you will walk up another 4/10 of a mile until you see a sign pointing to the trail. Part of the trail is privately owned, so stay on the trail.
The Woodchuck Hollow Trail continues up past several other trails and one Lean-to. The trail ends at the Trail Junction to Balsam Mountain.
At the end of the Woodchuck Hollow Trai, you can head over to the Belleayre lean-to or Belleayre Ski Center (if you go right). Going left takes you to Balsam Mountain. Some people head towards Cathedral Glen Trail and make the hike a loop hike. Eventually, it will lead you back to your car. If you do that, make sure you have a good map or instructions from this site.
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| | DIRECTIONS TO TRAIL HEAD from Exit 19 (Kingston) |
| | Woodchuck Hollow Parking Area WGS84 (DEC): 42.1371 -74.492617 - Elevation is approximately 1,642 feet |
| | Woodchuck Hollow Parking Area Deg/Min/Sec: N42 08 13 W74 29 33 - Elevation is approximately 1,642 feet |
| | Woodchuck Hollow Parking Area GPS: N 42 08.226 W 74 29.557 - Elevation is approximately 1,642 feet |
| | Woodchuck Hollow Parking Area UTM: 18N 541930 4665123 - Elevation is approximately 1,642 feet |
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| | Take New York State Thruway to Exit 19 (Kingston). |
| | Take a RIGHT out of the NYS Thruway to Route 28 West. |
| | Go approximately 33.2 miles |
| | Take a left onto S Main Street (Look for large "Welcome to Pine Hill" Sign on left) |
| | Go approximately 0.4 miles |
| | Take a LEFT onto Bonnie View Ave |
| | Go approximately 0.4 miles |
| | First Parking Ara on LEFT for 4-5 cars |
| | If full continue across small bridge on 1-lane road to Pump House for more parking. Do NOT block the road or pump house! |
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MILEAGE CHART |
| | Mile Point | Altitude | Notes |
| | 0.00 | 1,642' | Parking Area #1 (by two wood sheds) |
| | 0.22 | 1,574' | Walk back down Bonnie View Ave to Station Road. Then take a RIGHT and walk up Station Road. |
| | 0.44 | 1,648 | At the end of Station Road, take a RIGHT onto Woodchuck Hollow Road. |
| | 0.99 | 2,007' | You will arrive at an intersection. Continue STRAIGHT past the "Private Property sign". |
| | 1.41 | 2,224' | As up come up the road, you will see a house in the distance. Look for a TRAIL sign on the RIGHT side of the road.
Take a RIGHT onto the trail. Do NOT bother the home owner!
After a short distance you will see a DEC Registration Box. Please Register in case you get lost or hurt. |
| | 2.44 | 2,782' | Trail Junction of Giggle Hollow Trail. Continue STRAIGHT. (Giggle Hollow Trail takes you about 1.5 miles away from your car) |
| | 2.55 | 2840' | Trail Jucntion to Lost Clove Trail. Continue STRAIGHT. (Lost Clove Trail takes you about 5 miles away from your car!) |
| | 2.78 | 3,006' | Hirschland Lean-to |
| | 3.28 | 3,378' | Trail Junction to Balsam Mountain, Belleayre Ski Center, and Cathedral Hollow Trail
Cathedral Hollow Trail uses the same Parking Area for this hike. Can be done as a loop. |
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Hike the Woodchuck Hollow Trails in the Shandaken Wild Forest |
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This is the first place you can park for this hike. Do NOT block the fire hydrant! You can also drive further in and park some place off the road. Do NOT block any of the roads. Do NOT park directly next to the pump house. All of this land is owned by the DEC. If you park here, hike up the DEC road you see in the next picture.
Walk back down Bonnie View Ave for 0.22 miles until you reach Station Street. Take a RIGHT onto Station Street and walk up the road for 0.22 miles until you reach the intersection of Mill Street and Woodchuck Hollow Road. Take a RIGHT on to Woodchuck Hollow Road and walk up the road.
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You will walk up Woodchuck Hollow Road for approximately 2/3 of a mile. As you are walking up the road you will probably notice the BLUE Trail markers on the trees (see picture above). Keep walking up the road until you reach a private driveway and snowplow turnaround.
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On your right you will see a small side street that the snow plows use to turn around. You cannot park here. On your left is a sign that says that this is a Private Driveway. You want to continue STRAIGHT up the private driveway. |
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This is what the sign says. You may ONLY walk up the road to access the Trail Head for Woodchuck Hollow Road.
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This is the side road that the snow plows use to turn around. You CANNOT park here.
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This is the parking area owned by the Pine Hill Fire Department. It is our understanding that you cannot park there either.
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As you walk up the Private Driveway you will come to a 90 degree turn in the driveway. There is a Blue Trail Marker on the tree. The way the Trail Marker is placed on the tree it makes you believe that you should continue straight or go over the creek. That is NOT correct. Continue around the 90 degree turn and continue walking up the driveway.
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At some point you will notice that you are walking up the driveway towards a house. In the distance you can see another Private Driveway sign. On the RIGHT of the picture, you can see a "TRAIL" sign along with other DEC signs. At this point you want to take a RIGHT off the driveway and onto the dirt trail. The trail is on Private Property, so you cannot NOT leave the trail until you see DEC property markers near the DEC Registration Box.
NOTE: This short trail from the private driveway to the DEC Registration Box is likely to change in 2023 or 2024.
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As you are standing on the private driveway looking up the trail, you can clearly see a well defined path. Please follow the path to the DEC Registration box.
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This is the DEC Registration Box. Please register there. You are now on New York State public land. This trail is rarely used, but is the nicest of the three trails.
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After approximately a mile, you will see a side trail. This side trail is Giggle Hollow Trail. In 2023, they will be making improvements to this trail, along with numerous new trails in the Giggle Hollow. So, it might look slightly different when you visit.
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Directly across from the Giggle Hollow Trail is the sign you see in the picture. On the first two lines point to the LEFT. But, the arrow pointer is not there. This has caused some hikers to go right and end up in Pine Hill.
The third line is actually correct.
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This is the section between Giggle Hollow Trail and Lost Clove Trail. Short, but very nice trail. After about 500' you will see the Lost Clove Trail on your left. Continue STRAIGHT.
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The Hirschland Lean-to is located 1.12 miles from the DEC Registration Box. I do not believe that there is a water source for this lean-to or the Belleayre lean-to.
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At 1.41 miles from the DEC Registration Box is the top of Belleayre Mountain. The side trail near the summit will take you to Balsam Mountain. If you continue straight, you will encounter the Cathedral Glen Trail, Belleayre Lean-to, and the chair lift for Belleayre Ski Center. This listing calls for you to return back to your car the way way you came. We do have a listing that allow you to continue to the Cathedral Glen Trail to make the hike a loop. When you return make sure you do NOT go down the Lost Clove Trail. That would leave you 5 miles away from your car. If you went down the Giggle Hollow Trail, that would leave you almost 2 miles away from your car.
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