Beacon Hill and Lake Minnewaska Easy Loop

Date	Distance	Time	Elevation Gain	Average Moving Time	Year to Date Miles
10/17/2015	4.5 miles	2 hours	803'		643.6

Trail Map
Parking: See directions. $10 parking fee. Park closed at 6pm.

Hike directions: Beacon Hill and Lake Minnewaska Easy Loop

We were looking for a 2 hour easy hike in the gunks to do some leaf peeping. We arrived late in the day which is a crazy - because parking there is always crowded, and even more so this time of year. Luckily the lot was not full (well, it was pretty much full and they still let us in).

We modified the hike in the description a little bit. First we did a full clockwise loop around Lake Minnewaska on the red blazed trail. When we returned to our parking area, we then went down the road until we got to the Beacon Hill Carriageway. We took the Beacon Hill Carriageway to the Beacon Hill Trail and then ending up back on the red blazed Lake Minnewaska Carriageway.

The gunks are my favorite place to go leaf peeping. Based on the crowds there, it was millions of other people's favorite place as well. The carriageways were very crowded. The one place we didn't see people was on the Beacon Hill Trail (a real trail, not a carriageway). We took our older dog today as the carriageways are easier for her to go hiking on.