From the parking area, follow the Lake Tiorati Trail, which begins at a triple blue blaze just south of the first dumpster. The trail climbs to the crest of Fingerboard Mountain, paralleling Arden Valley Road. In 0.3 mile, the Lake Tiorati Trail ends at a junction with the white-blazed Appalachian Trail (AT) and the red-dot-on-white-blazed Ramapo-Dunderberg (R-D) Trail. Turn right here,...
Hike Description:
From the parking area, follow the Lake Tiorati Trail, which begins at a triple blue blaze just south of the first dumpster. The trail climbs to the crest of Fingerboard Mountain, paralleling Arden Valley Road. In 0.3 mile, the Lake Tiorati Trail ends at a junction with the white-blazed Appalachian Trail (AT) and the red-dot-on-white-blazed Ramapo-Dunderberg (R-D) Trail. Turn right here, following the co-aligned AT and R-D across Arden Valley Road. After a steady, rather steep descent, the trail crosses a small stream and climbs to a wide woods road. Here, the AT and R-D diverge.
To the left, the woods road will be your return route, but for now, you should turn right onto the road and head downhill, following the red-dot-on-white blazes of the R-D Trail. After crossing a wooden bridge over a stream, the trail turns right at a chain-link fence by the Youmans Flats maintenance area, then turns right again, joining the road leading into the maintenance area. It passes through a small pine grove and soon reaches Seven Lakes Drive.
Continue to follow the R-D Trail as it crosses the road and begins a steady climb. After the trail levels off, you’ll pass views of Lake Tiorati through the trees to the right. The trail then turns left and climbs a little. After a while, it turns right and begins to climb more steeply to the summit ridge of Goshen Mountain. As you head northeast along the ridgeline, you can see the Hudson River through the trees to your right. To the left, there are views through the trees of Stockbridge Mountain and the Arden House on Mount Aramah.
After reaching the 1,320-foot summit, the trail descends moderately on a grassy footpath. At the base of the descent, you’ll reach an intersection with the AT. The R-D Trail turns right here and joins the AT, but you should turn left, following the white-blazed AT (do not follow the joint R-D and AT).
The AT descends for about a mile along a woods road, then turns left onto another woods road. A short distance beyond, the AT crosses Seven Lakes Drive diagonally to the left and enters a rocky, wet area. After crossing three small streams on rocks and a wider stream on a wooden bridge, the AT begins to climb Stevens Mountain. At first the climb is rather steep, but the grade moderates soon after the trail turns left and begins to follow the ridgeline.
Near the top of the ridge, the AT levels off and crosses the outlet of a wetland to the right. A short distance beyond, you’ll come to a rock outcrop, with views through the trees of Lake Tiorati and Fingerboard Mountain.
The AT now bears right and descends on a footpath that soon widens to a woods road. After crossing a stream, the trail climbs a little on a footpath, and reaches a grassy woods road. You were at this spot earlier in the hike. This time, you should turn right, following the grassy woods road (which is not blazed) uphill. In 0.3 mile, at the crest of the rise, the aqua-blazed Long Path joins from the right. Continue following the woods road as it descends gently to paved Arden Valley Road. Turn left on the road (leaving the Long Path) and walk along it 0.2 mile to the top of the hill, where the white-blazed AT and red-dot-on-white-blazed R-D Trail cross. Turn right onto the AT/R-D and, in 200 feet, turn left onto the blue-blazed Lake Tiorati Trail. Follow this trail downhill for 0.3 mile to the parking lot where the hike began.
Publication: Submitted by Daniel Chazin on 04/05/2012This loop hike climbs Goshen and Stevens Mountains.