Agile Trekker: Table Rocks and Bonticou Crag, Shawangunks

Date	Distance	Time	Elevation Gain	Average Moving Time	Year to Date Miles
12/02/2017	6.7 miles

Map: NYNJTC Shawangunk Trails, Map 105. Map 106 is also helpful just for the very beginning and very end of the hike. I wish I had a more detailed map for the rest.

Parking: Spring Farm Entrance, Upper 27 Knolls Road. $15 fee per hiker.

Directions: Cross park road (Farm Road) at the end of the parking lot. Take blue blazed Table Rocks Trail, which follows just to the right of Farm Road. Following the trail is a little confusing at first - but it gets easier, the further away you get from the parking area. Keep following the blue blazed Table Rocks trail to the end at Table Rocks. Turn back and head the way you came. At the intersection with the red blazed Clearwater Road (name not listed on NYNJTC map), turn right. Cross a stream. Turn right on the blue blazed Northeast Trail. Turn left on the yellow blazed trail (name not listed on NYNJTC map). Arrive at Bonticou Crag overlook. We attempted to continue down the yellow blazed trail (a challenging rock scramble), but could not do it with Trek. We retraced our steps on the yellow trail. When we reached the blue blazed Northeast Trail, we turned left. We passed the yellow blaze trail up to Bonticou Crag (where we would have reached if we had hiked down). We continued straight on the Northeast Trail. We took a sharp right turn onto the red blazed trail. We followed the red blazed trail back to the Spring Farm parking area (see map for details as there are many trail crossings).

I haven't been in the mood to hike in the Catskills during deer hunting season. I don't find it peaceful listening to gunshots while hiking. Even though hunting is allowed in the gunks, I prefer it over the Catskills right now. We did hear gunshots today, but not close to the trail. We also saw hunters in the parking lot, and hunter trucks in other parking areas in the park.

We had no problems with finding a parking space at Spring Farm. I'm sure in the summer it is really difficult to park there. We had a plan to hike out to Table Rocks, and then just make up a route from there based on how much time we had left. Following the Table Rocks Trail was a little confusing - we weren't worried about getting lost, at times we were wondering if we were on the trail or on an unmarked side trail. The trail was very close to the gravel Farm Road. At some point we came to an intersection with a blown up map. I would like that more detailed map! The trails ARE on the NYNJTC map, they're just a little harder to distinguish, and the names aren't always listed. The blown up map showed the Ski Loop trail, which we decided not to take today. We continued on and came across another intersection with a map, showing the Clearwater Road trail. We continued on to Table Rocks. This trail is pretty easy. It's not a carriage road, but the terrain is pretty good and there are no steep hills.

Table Rocks is supposed to have ice caves. We did see caves, but nothing we wanted to climb into. The rocks themselves had scenic views of the Catskill mountains. Large slanted rock slabs, sometimes with deep gaps between them. We had to step over one of those gaps. Trek looked down one and got very nervous about jumping over the gap. Ack. We looked for a safer way.

We headed back and reached the intersection with the map. We decided to take the Clearwater Road. This again was an easy trail. We passed an unmarked trail on the right. A quick look at our map made us figure out this would head to the Ski Loop trail. We continued straight. We saw the remains of a stone building on the left, and shortly after that turned off Clearwater Road onto the blue blazed Northeast Trail.

The Northeast Trail was fabulous. Lots of pitch pine and views of the Catskills. This was a moderate trail, with some elevation gain. At the intersection with the yellow blazed trail, we turned left. This took us to Bonticou Crag, which has 360 degree views. These are the kinds of views I think of when I think of the gunks. There were a few people there, but there was room for people to spread out and enjoy the views. This would be a great place to sit and have lunch or take a nap.

It was chilly so we didn't stay for long. We started to head down the yellow trail. I told Glen that I had read a website that said you should leave your dogs at home and not take them in this area. I told Glen, maybe they don't have experienced hiking dogs. Trek can do almost anything. We arrived at a steep rock scramble down. Oh dear. I ate my words. First of all, I think I would be uncomfortable going down it, without a dog. If we added Trek, he would need assistance, and it would be challenging to both be safe and assist him down. There was no way! We decided to turn around. I think if we come back to do this section, we'd do it going uphill instead of downhill, and we would definitely have to leave Trek at home. It is a true rock scramble - and not just a short section. If you google Bonticou Crag images, you'll see the huge rock slabs you have to deal with.

So, we headed back to the Northeast trail. We passed by the base of the rock scramble up Bonticou Crag. It looked like it would be very, very challenging but fun. We continued on the Northeast Trail until we hit the red trail. At this point we needed to take the red trail, as the Northeast Trail enters Mohonk Mountain House grounds, where dogs aren't allowed. The red trail hits a number of intersections which get to be confusing - with multiple red trails. At the first one, we crossed Bonticou Road. Glen felt a little disoriented after we crossed the trail, so I took out my compass, oriented my map, and confirmed the trail we saw in front of us was heading the right direction. We started seeing signs to the Spring Farm parking area, which was re-assuring. We reached another intersection - this one was a little easier to figure out. We took the only path that was a trail (as opposed to a gravel road type trail). We crossed another two roads, one after another. we continued down a trail and again got a little confused at the end, as there were multiple mown paths in a field. We kept heading downhill and found ourselves right where we planned on ending up! Navigation success!

This was a really enjoyable hike. Our pace was not particularly fast despite some of the trails being straightforward. If you want an easier hike, just going to Table Rocks is pretty easy. The trail goes through open forest/old farmland. However, the highlight of the hike was really the moderate Northeast Trail. And if you want to do the Bonticou Crag rock scramble, do leave your dogs at home :)