Westchester Wilderness Walk - Pound Ridge, New York

Westchester Wilderness Walk

Layer Cake Rock Photo: Jane Daniels Layer Cake Rock Photo: Jane Daniels

This loop hike follows winding paths past interesting natural features through a 150-acre preserve in Pound Ridge, in the heart of Westchester County.

41.175785, -73.599344

The Westchester Wilderness Walk might not fit the dictionary definition of “wilderness.” The area is criss-crossed with stone walls, remnants of the early settlements in the area, and houses may occasionally be seen from the trails. But remarkably, for nearly the entire hike, one is entirely removed from the surrounding civilization of Westchester County. The trails have been routed – often,...

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Trip Reports

rate experience
June 04, 2015
0
I live in Mt.Kisco and have
<p>I live in Mt.Kisco and have been to Westmoreland, Butler and Mianus River Gorge many times, yet never knew this existed until yesterday. There's something almost magical about this preserve, it has a very Fairy Tale Forest feel. I thought maybe I'd come across a cabin made of candy or&nbsp;a house with 7 dwarves living in it. Either that or it was all laid out by Olmsted. It'seasy to lose your bearings the way all the trails turn on a dime.</p> <p>I love the story about how Paul Zofnass created the preserve. It's nice to see people doing goodthings with their money. The NY Times had an article explaining how it was done.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p>
jk666
May 10, 2015
0
Nice little park
<p>Nice little preserve with enough trails to do a reasonably long hike. We found this hike very peaceful - very little car noise (only near the trailhead) for such a suburban area. Small parking area - fits around 3, maybe 4 cars.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>We found an online map here: <a href="http://westchesterlandtrust.org/?page_id=1418">http://westchesterlandtrust.org/?page_id=1418</a></p> <p>All of the trails use the same green blazes, even though the map shows colored loops. The trail intersections are well marked though (e.g. "Central Roundabout Clockwise", and some intersections even have "you are here" maps.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>Some photos:</p> <p><a href="http://agiletrekker.blogspot.com/2015/05/westchester-wilderness-walk-zofnass.html">http://agiletrekker.blogspot.com/2015/05/westchester-wilderness-walk-zofnass.html</a></p>
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