Wonder Lake State Park
Directions
Map address: 380 Ludingtonville Road, Holmes, NY 12531
GPS Coordinates: 41.49487 -73.66284
The park is located along Ludingtonville Road, which parallels I-84 between exits 17 and 18 in Putnam County. The signed parking area is on the east side of Ludingtonville Road.
- Exit 17 -- turn east off I-84 onto Ludingtonville Road (also called County Route 43). Continue east as Loudingtonville Road curves around Stump Lake followed by other twists and turns leading, in approximately 1.5 miles, to the parking lot for Wonder Lake Park on the left.
- Exit 18 -- turn east off I-84 onto Route 311. In roughly 1,000 feet turn left onto Ludingtonville Road, head northwest to the parking area on the right.
Park Overview
A recently developed, beautiful, rugged and rustic park with a lake and pond
Trail Overview
There are four newly blazed trails in the park plus the Highlands Trail (teal blaze) making several loop hikes possible, including those to Wonder Lake and Laurel Pond. The lake is surrounded by mountain laurel and eastern hemlock. The lake area is also home to otter, barred owls, and coyote.
Click the Web Map link on this site for a trail map (versions in b/w and color).
Click for detailed descriptions of hikes in the park.
Park Description
The park has wooded portions to the northwest and southeast, rugged topography and scattered ravines. Most of the site is covered with mixed hardwood, ledges, seasonal streams, and rivulets. Located in the southeastern portion of the property is a series of meadows surrounded by stone walls.
Acquired by New York State in 1998, this park remained almost unknown, or at least unused, because its location was landlocked by private property. The expansion in 2006 to 973 acres (from the original 794, and now even larger) provided critical public access to the property. The main parking area and entrance is on Ludingtonville Road with additional limited on-street parking on Mooney Hill Rd, near Manor Road, and near where the Highlands Trail enters the park. Click for additional information about the park's history and acquisition.
The site has a colorful history. The home of Sybil Ludington was in the vicinity. In 1777, at the age of 16, she rode a nighttime 40-mile loop to muster her father’s troops during the Revolutionary War. More recently, the land was a country estate and the summer home of actress Elizabeth Montgomery.
The park is administered by the Taconic Region office of the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation, and Historic Preservation. Trail building is being conducted by the New York-New Jersey Trail Conference. Please check the East Hudson Trail Crew schedule for volunteer trail building opportunities.