4.7 miles | 925 ft gain | Difficulty: Medium (Hard w/ Scramble) | Rating ★★★★

As a kid, I visited Mohonk Mountain House at least once a year, just for a day trip. We’d wander around the grounds, paddle the lake and scramble up the Lemon Squeeze to Sky Top Tower. In fact, it’s after a scramble up the Labyrinth to the tower (I remember it being much easier as a small child!), that Sean proposed to me nearly 12 years ago.

Over the years, the property became more and more exclusive, with day passes expensive and hard to come by. Once, arriving too late to secure a day pass, we “snuck in” from the Mohonk Preserve, a neighboring connected private land. It was, of course, completely legal for us to enter that way. It added an extra 8 or so miles to our round trip, but also cut our entry fees in half.

I had seen Mohonk Preserve as an entry to the Mountain House grounds, but never took the time to explore its trails on their own. Seeing photos of Bonticou Crag, overlooking the Hudson Valley, it seemed like a must visit.

Starting from the Spring Farm Trailhead, we journeyed on a wide open path, with the “million dollar view” of the Catskills. It was very Sound of Music-esk. We continued along a wide carriage road for a bit before dropping down into the forest. And there the scramble stood before us.

I’ve done rock scrambles before, but they’re usually on an incline. Not so…up. In less than 1/10 of a mile, we were to climb nearly 200 feet. Not about to back down from a challenge, I strapped my poles to my pack and started up. I didn’t get far. We climbs about a third of the way then gave up. Covid has killed my strength this last year and I just didn’t have the confidence in the large steps I needed to push up, carefully stepping from boulder to boulder with gaps of nothing in between.

CAREFULLY returning back to the forest ground, we started on the half mile detour around and up to the crag. Atop the crag, the views were stunning. A side of Bonticou Crag, the Sunbowl, is a popular rock climbing spot, but was closed because the falcons are currently nesting. It’s not unusual to see falcons in the Hudson Valley, but I’ve never seen them sweep so close, at one point, landing on a cliff just a few yards away.

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After lunch we went back into the forest, then up along the cliffs for a bit, watching the falcons and overlooking the valley below. Down, down into the forest, the path opened up widely with some ruins along the way. There was a turnoff for Table Rocks, but knowing the structure of the stones (like Sam’s Point and Gertrude’s Nose), we decided to skip it and make our way back to the car. I have some strength training to do, but then I’ll be back for that scramble.

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