Stissing Mountain

After reading the Jay H had recently climbed Stissing Mountain, I decided that some of you might be interested in all my accumulated trivia about the mountain since I grew up in Pine Plains.

There used to be a cabin until the late 1970's when some kids skipping school burned it down. I remember standing outside on the lawn of the school where you could see the smoke coming from the mountain. There was a fire observer at least until the late 1960's and maybe into the early 1970's.

There used to be a display on the mountain at the Museum of Natural History in NYC. I'm not sure if it's still there because I haven't been there in years. The mountain itself is unique because it's like a mountain without a range. It's not a big mountain, but it dominates the landscape since it's the only mountain.

I wonder if there are other mountains without ranges?

There is a small log cabin with a totem pole up there on private property not too far from the tower.

There was a trail from Stissing Mountain Road off 82 between Pine Plains and Stanfordville, but I think there were issues with parking since it started on private land. I hiked up that way once and it's a nice walk along the ridge. The mountain kind of always reminded me of an indian lying on his back and the ridge walk takes you from the legs to the head.

There is another trail from state land on Hicks Hill Road but I tried to follow that once from the summit and kept loosing the trail. I think it was red paint blazes on the trees and it was fall and the leaves were on the ground.

Thompson Pond is really worth the walk and Stissing Mountain is such a short hike that if you drive all the way out there you can easily do both in a day. It's just a loop around the pond, but you get some nice views of the mountain and the pond. There are always a lot of birds. You come out in a little meadow and there are some boardwalks through a swampy area and you pass a farm and then turn and head back along the far side of the pond. It's a great hike with kids since you come close to the water and there might be frogs or turtles. It's a very short road walk to the car along the pond the whole way.

Stissing Lake has a little beach and a boat launch just past the beach. We took our canoe a few summers ago and saw a beaver swim by. Mud Pond has two little islands, one with a summer house and a smaller island that is just like a little hill.

There used to be a summer camp for children on the lake. I was always puzzled as a child by the concept of a summer camp, but growing up in the country your whole summer is like a camp but you just don't realize it.

I think the trail from Hicks Hill road goes through private property and the owners recently made the trail off limit. At least according to a NYNJTC website I found when I was searching for hiking options...

I'm told that the firetower is not on the summit of Stissing Mtn but at 80-90' tall (depending on who you believe!), it doesn't matter. I think we might of come across where a cabin might of been on our way back. With the snow it's hard to identify old foundations.. How far from the tower was the cabin and was the area around the firetower cleared at some point or was it always grown in?

You could see the tower from anywhere within downtown Pine Plains.. I came from Rt 22 via Amcramdale and Rt 82 and could see the tower as I got to the red light...

Thanks for the local history, I love researching the local history. The Nature Conservancy website mentions the glacial history of the three lakes there, Tompson Pond, Stissing Lake and Twin Island Lake...

jay

I wish the NYNJTC would add this little gem to the South Taconic mapset... There are a number of trails up it, some on private land. The Nature Conservancy I think still maintains the land, but they were not receptive to an actual map or blazes.

There was a small local group that did a lot of work on the trails and access issues, I am not sure they meet anymore.

nietzschescat said:

There used to be a display on the mountain at the Museum of Natural History in NYC. I'm not sure if it's still there because I haven't been there in years. The mountain itself is unique because it's like a mountain without a range. It's not a big mountain, but it dominates the landscape since it's the only mountain.

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As of about 3-4 years ago, it's still there. The exhibit itself is about the uniqueness of the mountain sans range, as you mentioned.

stissing mt

The trail from Stissing Mt Road is on private property and was only open for a few years around the time that they renovated the tower. I think there were concerns with vandalism. Hicks Hill Road has one of those state multiple use areas and there is supposed to be a trail to the mountain there, but I don't know if it ends up crossing private land at some point or not. That might make an interesting hike with a topographical map. I wouldn't trust finding that trail.

The cabin was pretty close to the tower. I think the foundation was there last time I was up there....not sure when that was though. There was maybe a small clearing, but not open like the towers in the Catskills are. It's a pretty small space. There is a rock ledge with some views too.

The trail never had signs and there was nothing near the road to indicate that the trail was there except the trail. You had to drive slow and look for it or just know it was there. My high school cross country coach used to run up the mountain back before people did crazy stuff like that for fun.

I'm happy to know that the display is still in the museum. I missed that mountain and those lakes for quite awhile after I moved away.

You can see Stissing Mt from Overlook or at least I saw it from the quarry on Overlook, but you probably have to be able to recognize the profile. You can't see the tower.

The southern access trail from Mountain Road has been closed and posted for about 8-9 years.

The last I heard the long Hicks Road access trail is still open. It does cross private land, with no trespassing signs posted flush along the sides of trail in some areas for the adjoining lands. However, the trail itself had an easement. There was considerable beaver pond flooding on this trail the last time I hiked it in 2003, and it can be very difficult to negotiate and follow.

http://www.nynjtc.org/park/stissing-mountain-multiple-use-area

Guess the report on the bottom is unconfirmed... but that kept me away from that access...

Jay

The Nature Conservancy would have you head to the tower from Lake Road, 0.4 miles past the entrance to the Pond preserve.
http://www.nature.org/wherewework/northamerica/states/newyork/preserves/art12217.html

MichaelJ said:

The Nature Conservancy would have you head to the tower from Lake Road, 0.4 miles past the entrance to the Pond preserve.
http://www.nature.org/wherewework/northamerica/states/newyork/preserves/art12217.html

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Yes, Lake road is the trailhead we took, the shorter route that loops around the tower. There is a loop that you can do that goes around Thompson Pond that looks nice as well. Both are signed with TNC signs but parking is bigger at the direct approach to the firetower. It looked like the trailhead to the pond is simply along the street parking which is not an issue.

Jay

Jay H said:

http://www.nynjtc.org/park/stissing-mountain-multiple-use-area

Guess the report on the bottom is unconfirmed... but that kept me away from that access...

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Actually I would say that the report is a very accurate assessment. The trail from Mountain Road has indeed been closed by the property owners at the trailhead on Mountain Road. That is a shame because that was an attractive, and easy to negotiate trail.

The much longer trail from Hicks Hill Road was an adventure both of the times that I hiked it. There are in fact two different trailheads; the southern one had parking right on the side of Hicks Hill Road a short distance north of Cold Spring Road, CR-53. The more northern trailhead was at the end of a dead-end side road off of Hicks Hill Road. The two trails joined about a half mile in from the trailheads. Further along the trail there was a bridge over a stream that had been an Eagle Scout project of a local area boy. But it was in rather poor condition due to a beaver dam which flooded the bridge and a good portion of the trail. I will need need to go back sometime later this year to reassess how difficult the trail is to follow.

In 2003 I had sent an email to the NY/NJ trail conference to inform them that the trailhead on Mountain Road was closed. However, several subsequent updates to the NY Walk Book continued describe the Mountain Road and Hicks Hill Road trailheads as if all were open. In retrospect I should have also posted a message on the trail conference website, as Ms Weir did in 2010.

Anyone wishing to reach the Stissing Mountain fire tower would be well advised to hike the short trail up from Lake Road as Jay and nietzschescat did.

I took a longer trail approach from Stissing Mountain Rd (?) several times when I lived in Clinton-- it was outlined in a very old copy of Hikes in the Hudson Valley. It was a very beautiful walk, starting on a rural road next to a house, passing through hardwoods, marshes, past old farmy areas -- about a five mile approach to Stissing Mnt and hard to follow in many places. At the time, there was also some sort of shooting range near the trailhead -- not sure if its still there? My hikes there were circa 1998-2001.

This approach joined a long, old Jeep Rd -- and turned sharply onto it for some time -- does anyone know where the Jeep Road starts?

A really nice view *of* Stissing Mountain can be had from Brace Mountain and the nearby S Taconic Range.

Its a great area! Thanks for the memories and helping me piece together a cherished old hike!

To further confuse things, there are actually several roads with almost the same name. What I've been calling Stissing Mt Road is actually Mountain Road which is accessed from Rt 82 via Stissing Lane heading towards Stanfordville. There is also a Stissing Road that runs into this Mountain Road also.

The Stissing Mountain Road that unadogger is referring to is off of 199 heading West out of Pine Plains just past Lake Road. We always called this the back way up the mountain and I think it's all private land. I've never climbed the mountain that way before. Stissing Mountain Road also has a Stissing Mountain Lane and a Stissing Mountain Drive. (I've been having fun with googlemaps)

I was an adult before I realized that people actually owned land because there was so much of it and no one was really concerned about people walking around in the woods. It was like there was an implied area of privacy around peoples living spaces, but the open land was available to everyone. There was a lot of public use of the lake and ponds and mountain with access from places that were privately owned.

And I totally agree with Mark, the easy way to climb the mountain and tower is from Lake Road. The Nature Conservancy owns the property now as well as the Thompson Pond property that they owned for years and there is a nice parking area and it's not hard to find.

Finally checked a map, I took the Cold Spring Rd exit off the Taconic Northbound to Hicks Hill Rd to access the trail -- at the time the land wasn't private, it had a DEC sign at the trailhead and a few parking spaces, was sporadically blazed and lightly used. I'm certain its the one Mark is referring to. I suspect the jeep comes from Rt 199 or thereabouts, and may be what you are describing as the "back way".

nietzschescat said:

T

The Stissing Mountain Road that unadogger is referring to is off of 199 heading West out of Pine Plains just past Lake Road. We always called this the back way up the mountain and I think it's all private land. I've never climbed the mountain that way before. Stissing Mountain Road also has a Stissing Mountain Lane and a Stissing Mountain Drive. (I've been having fun with googlemaps)



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una_dogger said:

Finally checked a map, I took the Cold Spring Rd exit off the Taconic Northbound to Hicks Hill Rd to access the trail -- at the time the land wasn't private, it had a DEC sign at the trailhead and a few parking spaces, was sporadically blazed and lightly used. I'm certain its the one Mark is referring to. I suspect the jeep comes from Rt 199 or thereabouts, and may be what you are describing as the "back way".

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I agree we describing the same trail.

The area along Hicks Hill Road is state owned and part of the Stissing Mountain Multiple Use Area. The primary trailhead parking area is on the side of Hicks Hill Road, a short distance north of Cold Spring Road. The "jeep road" you encountered and which the trail turned right onto is also a DEC trail. It starts from a dead end road which begins near a curve on Hicks Hill Road, at the center cross hair on this topo map. There is a parking area about 0.2 miles from Hick Hill Road where the drivable road ends. The trail follows this old road. I believe the trails in the Stissing Mountain Multiple Use Area are written up in the book: Weekend Walks in Dutchess & Putnam Counties: A Guide to History & Nature in the Eastern Hudson Valley by Peggy Turco. I don't have this edition, but I have the first edition which had a slightly different title: "Walks and Rambles in Dutchess and Putnam Counties", published 1990. The description appears to indicate the content is basically the same . My edition does not describe the extension of the trail to Stissing Mountain (as it had not yet been constructed).

An extended portion of the trail from Hicks Hill Road climbs up to Stissing Mountain. It is that extension which enters onto private land. Although I believe the entire extension is still covered by an easement. This extended trail is described in the New York Walk Book. This trail joins an old blue blazed trail from Mountain Road (for which the southern trailhead is now closed). I recall in 2007 or 2008 meeting a pair of women at the fire tower who had successfully hiked in from Hicks Hill Road. They did report that the trail was badly flooded, which was also the condition when I last hiked the Hicks Hill Road trail in 2003.

"Walks and Rambles in Dutchess and Putnam Counties" -- that's the book! The longer route was described in my edition, c 1990, on p 97 -- the description is of a loop in the Stissing Mntn MUA -- and doesn't include the climb of Stissing Mountain, just a loop trail around the MUA. IIRC there was homegrown blazing in the form of yellow tin can covers with arrows drawn on them leading the way to the Stissing Mountain Trail. Of course, this was 13 years ago.....

Also, looking at your topo -- I'm nearly certain that the road Mountain Road, from 199, that peters out and appears to eventually end, actually went straight through in the form of an old jeep road/atv road at the time, because if memory serves, I picked up that road coming in from the West, and walked it up a descent grade as it travelled east. This was the connector between the MUA and Stissing Mountain.

Good stuff!