Red Back Trail



Red Back Trail, Sterling Forest (9/16/2012)

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!

(Click on the thumbnail to bring up a bigger image in a pop-up window)


At P16

Trail begins beyond gate

Heading west


No Hunting right here


But hunting OK right here

Mushroom (aerial view)

 

Partial views

Climbing

The maroon blaze

 



Quite overgrown


Trail, in places ...
 


... is a nice woods road

Leaf drop


Mushroom
 


Dry creek

Downed blazed tree


Climbing Bill White Mountain
 


Boulder lichen

[Photo by Laura]

Southern Mckeag's Meadow

Bright mushrooms
 


Approaching the swamp


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


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


Rusted barbed wire
 


Remains of ...

... cast-iron roaster

Peering through at Laura

Inspecting the structure
 


It's bigger than this photo shows


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
 

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