This weekend, my mom and I wanted to do a hike together before I headed off for a vacation in Maine (stay tuned for some hikes from Acadia National Park!)
We decided on Goodnow Mountain in Newcomb, NY which all trails rated a 4.5 mile moderate level hike - which was spot on.
The trail starts out with a slight incline following red trail markers, labeled ESF trail. Interestingly enough, the park is either owned or maintained by the SUNY ESF campus! Which is why I can confirm, the trail is in very very good shape and well groomed.
Not only well groomed, but also really well marked. There is only one trail on this hike, so you must take the red trail to the summit and back. But regardless of their being only one trail, they had marked and easily visible for hikers - well done ESF.
The hike steadily inclines the entire way to the summit, mainly meandering through the woods with some scramble sections towards the top. The nice part about this mountain is that every time you climb a steep section, it levels out nicely to catch your breath and to slow down the intensity for a minute.
Regardless of the intensity, the grooming and marking of the trail - my favorite part about this hike was how peaceful it was. One of my all time favorite hiking moments is when you're on a trail without any other people and all you hear is silence and life just goes still for a moment- not only tranquil but in these moments the mountain allows all the troubles and noise of life just slip away.. anybody else cherish and crave these moments?
Another neat feature of the hike was some of the vegetation and views along the way - for example a tree which grew roots around and on top of a rock. Nature is pretty remarkable isn't it?
We reached the summit and right away you see the base of the fire tower. The ONLY unfortunate part of this hike - which was very unclear to me is that you don't have any views unless you climb the tower. Which is fine, the views on the tower were definitely worth it and I enjoyed the climb so I wasn't dissapointed but I feel like this wasn't made clear when reading the reviews on all trails.
Also, keep in mind if you are hiking this mountain in the near future that the top of the tower is closed for construction.
All in all this was a great hike and I'm so glad we chose this. Beautiful, challenging sections but overall very steady, well kept and a nice length. A good hike for hikers of any age and dogs!
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