Miles: 4.8
Time: 1 hour 57 minutes
Elevation gain: 852 feet
Year to date miles: 164
Parking: See directions. Room for 3-4 cars. There is an additional lot in a different location.
Restrooms: None
Map: Zofnass Preserve
Directions: Westchester Wilderness Walk
Hike description:
Nice hike. The hike is wooded with log lined trails. Some of the trails are nice soft dirt, some rocks, some roots. Sometimes you walk through "fields" of skunk cabbage. Some areas are swampy, but there are always rocks to walk. There are some hills. Local landowners donated parts of their property to create this preserve. How cool is that! It's a nice place to get a decent number of miles in for an after work hike. The trails are very zig-zaggy, probably to get in more miles in the area. There are lots of labeled rocks, trees, etc. It reminds me of Anne of Green Gables - I think I remember her naming lots of things...
We left the dogs at home - we were trying to get some fast hiking in, and I was thinking dogs aren't allowed (they are). We skipped the northern loop of the hike, because we weren't sure if we'd have time. Basically we did a counter clockwise loop, skipping the northern loop.
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| Sign at the parking area |
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| Hiking through skunk cabbage |
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| Intersections are well marked, some including "You are here" maps |
I live nearby yet never knew this existed until last week. I went yesterday and had a nice 6.6 mile walk (I included the North loop) through the beautiful forest. It IS very fairytale-esque, either that or it was designed by Olmsted. It feels wild until you come to a well crafted break in a stone wall and it makes you wonder if it had always been there. I often felt like I'd exit the woods onto Central Park West or come across a gift shop...but obviously never did. We need more people like Mr. Zofnass and his neighbors who spend their own money to create spaces like this for all to share.
ReplyDeleteHere's a NY Times article on the creation of the preserve.
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/21/nyregion/creating-a-preserve-a-piece-at-a-time.html