It seems impossible to believe but it's been nearly two years
since we hiked beautiful Sterling Forest. But with the release of the Fifth Edition of NYNJTC Trail Map #100 ("Sterling Forest Trails") last year, and the
release of the PDF iPhone map just this past week, it renewed my interest in this area, in particular of a trail named the Red Back located in the southeastern
corner of the forest. This area was merely a patchwork of unmaintained trails in earlier maps but it's a totally blazed trail on the new map.
The official park map, which is nowhere near as
good as the NYNJTC map, claims it's 7.2 miles in length.
We parked at parking area P16 just off South Gate Road and took the trail, which begins on the other side of the yellow gate, in a clockwise direction. This is the most wild and remote trail we've hiked in Sterling Forest. It's relatively new and yet very much overgrown in parts. And the maroon blazing is very tough to see in several places. At times you feel as if you're bushwhacking, even though you're on the trail. This is not necessarily a bad thing. You will feel as if you're in the middle of nowhere, with a solitude unbroken by car shounds or even airplane sounds. And chances are you won't meet anyone. This trail can't possibly be used much based on how unmaintained it is in places. Doing it in one shot is a bit strenuous, with climbing then descending, then climbing, then descending, repeatedly. With over 2,100 feet of climbing, it's a perfect trail for working on your aerobic capacity! And there are surprises along the way! Just north of Spruce Swamp there is the huge water-filled Red Back Mine. It is not indicated on the map but is down below the trail. We would have missed it had Laura not seen a small cave west of the trail. The cave turned out to be another part of the mine system looking down on the main mine just below the trail. A bit further south of this are the remains of a huge cast-iron roaster! That requires a bit of bushwhacking to get to, but it's worth it. Total distance was just under 8 miles in 4.5 hours, with lots of elevation gain!
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At P16 |
Trail begins beyond gate |
Heading west |
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No Hunting right here |
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But hunting OK right here |
Mushroom (aerial view) |
Partial views |
Climbing |
The maroon blaze |
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Quite overgrown |
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Trail, in places ... |
... is a nice woods road |
Leaf drop |
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Mushroom |
Dry creek |
Downed blazed tree |
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Climbing Bill White Mountain |
Boulder lichen |
[Photo by Laura] |
Southern Mckeag's Meadow |
Bright mushrooms |
Approaching the swamp |
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Beaver activity |
We got off the trail here |
Log balancing in swamp |
By mistake, off the trail |
Another dry creek |
Less dry over there |
More climbing |
Goldenrod |
Ferns |
Intersectin with Mckeags Meadow trail |
Two trail comingle |
Bee at work |
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Partil views over swamp |
Mckeags Meadow |
Another view |
Grassy path |
Spider web |
Interesting tree growth |
Lots of blowdown damage |
Gorgeous ferns |
Partial views |
Seasonal view |
Our lunch spot |
Hopping over blowdown |
Path parallels boulder field |
Path is nice woods road |
Laura atop Red Back Mine |
Inspecting cave opposite mine |
Posing by cave |
Water-filled Red Back Mine |
Photo from above |
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Rusted barbed wire |
Remains of ... |
... cast-iron roaster |
Peering through at Laura |
Inspecting the structure |
It's bigger than this photo shows |
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Dan on brick structure [photo by Laura] |
Foundation ruins |
Giant boulder |
Opposite side |
DPL 4 |
Wide woods road here |
Burst of green |
Looks almost like coral |
Extremely rocky path here |
Slate |
Photographs and content copyright © Dan Balogh Web design by Dan Balogh |