I've got a few hikes that I've done in the last few months that I never wrote up trip reports for. This hike is one of them. Better a late trip report than never. These ponds are located in the Hudson Gorge Primitive area. The trailhead is on Route 28, just a couple miles east of the Town of Indian Lake. The parking lot is about .1 miles east of the trailhead.
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| Trailhead sign |
We took a talk here on an early fall day just to sample some of the early color in the woods. These trails are relatively level. The only hill is just south of Ross Pond when the trail climbs a couple hundred feet to go over a small pass located east of Bell Mountain.
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| Not much holding this broken sign to a sapling |
The ponds are nice. Ross Pond is quite shallow and has a small island on it. There is a nice camping spot along the shoreline. There were several rowboats there also when we were there.
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| A new sign, but not a secure attachment |
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| Camping spot on Ross Pond |
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| Ross Pond |
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| Not sure who made some of the signage in this area |
Whortleberry Pond is quite a bit deeper. There was also a rowboat on the shore there.
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| Whortleberry Pond |
I'm guessing that the majority of people who use these trails are out to fish at one or more of the ponds.
We also saw a rowboat at Big Bad Luck Pond, but it was in pretty bad shape (must have had bad luck!). The trail ends at the east shore of Big Bad Luck Pond and you can't see much of the lake without a boat, or a bushwhack.
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| Big Bad Luck Pond |
Our walk took us 10.2 miles in 6 hours with a vertical gain of 1370'. We did see some early signs of fall but it will be a few more weeks to see some real color,
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| Our route on the National Geographic map |
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