Soak in view after view from the ridge of Bearfort Mountain before arriving at Terrace Pond.
This is one of those hikes where there are so many excellent vistas that they almost get old.
Almost.
And that’s before arriving at Terrace Pond, one of the prettiest hike destinations in the state.
Miles: 6.3
For a detailed hike guide visit our main Terrace Pond North page.
We first did this route on a whim about 5 years ago (“Terrace Pond North Trail“) when we had planned on hiking Bearfort Ridge to Surprise Lake but decided to bail when a bear wouldn’t leave the start of the trail.
This is the other end of Terrace Pond North, near the parking for the Bearfort Ridge trail and not the end that starts from the popular P7 lot on Clinton Road (Terrace Pond Loop etc).
We had the entire trail to ourselves to and from the pond area. The trail starts through a rhododendron tunnel and then heads uphill to arrive at the first viewpoint in just over a half mile.
The trail continues along the ridge for view… after view… after view.
As you continue on, Greenwood Lake can be seen in one direction and the NYC skyline in the other…
…though those absurdly tall new power line towers are screamingly obvious.
The trail runs along a gas pipeline clearing for a bit.
While this is never our favorite thing, the trail is well marked with blazes and cairns, seedlings had been planted after some pipeline work.
And it was full of small wildflowers – but also a single purple iris next to the trail.
Terrace Pond North trail meets up with the WHITE blazed Terrace Pond Circular trail.
We opted to turn right to do the wet crossing first, just in case it was too difficult to pass.
The last time we’d done so, the logs were on the verge of floating out from under us and it’s a deep pool of muddy muck that you don’t want to walk through.
Note the shoe in the pic below – it was one of several in the area.
The scrambles are downhill and so slightly harder in this direction but we also got to the other viewpoints (pic at the top of the page) before most of the crowds arrived.
Terrace Pond Circular moves away from the water for a bit and goes through more rhododendron tunnels before returning to overviews of the pond on the other side.
By the time we had circled around, many more people had arrived at this popular spot.
We headed back on Terrace Pond North, again having the whole trail to ourselves, and soaked in all those views for a second time.
Wildlife spotted: A black rat snake slithered off the logs we needed to cross as we approached the super soggy crossing.
Gypsy Moth caterpillars everywhere… suggestion: do not steady yourself by grabbing a tree trunk without checking your hand position first…*Squish*
Uuuuuuuuuuuugh.