Hike to Mount Taurus (Bull Hill) from
Little Stony Point (Route 9D) parking lot

Distance:
4.3 Miles - About 3 Hours
Rating - Moderate
(With Bull Hill Summit: 5.7 miles - About 4 hours)

Summary:

Mile 0.00 – (Elev. 40ft) Stony Point Parking Area
Mile 0.65 – (Elev. 500ft) View Over Nelsonville and Cold Spring
Mile 1.20 – (Elev. 1080ft) Junction with Yellow Trail

(Mt Taurus side trip)
Mile 0.00 - (Elev. 1080ft) Start
Mile 0.52 - (Elev. 1420ft) Summit
Mile 0.57 - (Elev. 1420ft) View of Fishkill Ridge
Mile 1.40 -- (Elev 1080) End

Mile 1.62 – (Elev. 900ft) View North towards Breakneck Ridge
Mile 2.40 – (Elev. 760ft) Meet Giant Oak, Turn downhill
Mile 2.80 – (Elev. 580ft) Junction with Red Trail
Mile 3.40 – (Elev. 220ft) Estate ruins
Mile 4.30 – (Elev. 40ft) Stony Point Parking Area

Directions:

Mile 0
Elevation 40 ft.

Cross Route 9D to the trailhead across the road and to the left. About 50 feet after leaving the trailhead there is a fork. Take the right (White) uphill; we'll be coming back on the blue trail later on.

After a 20-minute moderate climb you enter into the old quarry about 300 feet above the river.

In the quarry there is a trail that goes around the base and to some old campsites and it's fun to whistle or shout and hear your echo from the quarry walls.

About 2 minutes up the trail you'll come to your first wide view of the Hudson Valley and West Point with Storm King in front of you. The footing on this section can be a bit tricky so caution is necessary.

As you continue you'll see some of the leftover equipment from when the quarry was in operation. The walk keeps bringing you to open rock views down the river.

The trail then moves away from the edge of the mountain and begins a zigzag up the mountain, keeping a moderate grade.

Mile .65 Elevation 500 ft

About 30 minutes into the walk the trail reaches its first Grand View, a rock ledge that literally hangs above the valley. Cold Spring and Nelsonville, Dick's Castle, Constitution Marsh, West Point, everything! You could stop here and say you've come up for the view but you'd forever be a wimp - push on upwards.

The trail moderates into a red oak/chestnut oak forest with underbrush of blueberries, typical of the Highlands. Coming here in July would make this a tasty hike.

Do your legs hurt yet? I'll be they do! Just take some breaks, catch your breath, and enjoy the sweat knowing you're purging toxins from your body and that's always a good thing. The motto here for this climb is "slow but steady and you'll get there". As you're walking, try to get a slow but steady pace going where your breathing is regular, in through your nose, filling your chest and stomach, making your entire chest cavity expand, then exhale through your mouth. It will take some practice getting a good rhythm going but the hike is not steep - just take your time and enjoy the woods.

45 minutes into the hike we come onto another rock ledge, this one looking straight across the Hudson river with Storm King Mountain directly in front of you, the route 202 road cut, and Schunemunk Mountain directly behind. Take a 5-minute break - you deserve it!

This next part of the hike also follows along exposed ridges so the views keep getting better and better as you gradually climb higher and higher.

Mile 1.2
Elevation 1080 ft

A few minutes later you reach a shoulder of Mount Taurus at about 1000' and a trail junction with the yellow trail that we continue on for this hike. If you'd like to climb Mount Taurus (about a 400ft climb) turn right and continue on the White trail. Otherwise, continue forward onto the Yellow Trail.

Mount Taurus Climb
1.2 miles total
(about one hour)

Mile 0
Elevation 1080

Climb up the ridge on the white trail towards the top of Mount Taurus, another 20 minutes and 400 feet higher, the tallest mountain in Putnam County.

The trail descends a bit into a small valley in which lies a pool that will have water in it if there's been significant rain. You'll need to step across the outflow, then climb steeply up the other side to where there will be one of man rock outcrops from which you can get views off this mountain. Save them for the way back down - climb!

Keep climbing: ignore the views - keep climbing! Don't look! No peeking!

The trail levels out for a bit making you think you've finally reached the top but there are several ledges still to climb. One of these is a large rock with blazes painted directly on it. If the weather is wet this will be slippery and caution is advised. The easiest way up is to walk to the tree with the trail discs on it and step up, then turn to the left. Coming back down it'll be fun to slide on your butt and perfectly acceptable to do so!

The trail jogs sharply left here then climbs a bit more and....

Mile 0.52
Elevation 1420

Mazel Tov! You've made it! (1.5 hours from your car). The trail levels and widens and becomes a grassy, easy walk. But don't stop just yet. Follow on until you see the trail, now almost a road, make a turn to the left with a small herd path that goes to a clearing to your right - take the herd path for some wonderful view south over the lower valley and almost all of Putnam County and deep into Westchester.

You've climbed almost 200 feet HIGHER than the top of the antenna on the Empire State Building! Once reaching this view you are encouraged to thrust your fists into the air and do the "Rocky" thing for you deserve to celebrate after climbing 1400 vertical feet, a climb that rivals any in the Catskills, to Putnam County's highest peak! Take a bow!

Directly in front of you and down in the valley you'll see a large single house, a modernist thing, sitting amid a recent clear cut marring this otherwise great view. Whatever planning board allowed this to happen deserves to be run out of town on a rail, their homes burnt and their lands salted. This scar rivals those at the base of this mountain, marring forever the views of those looking up the river. The wealthy elite should not have the right to destroy viewsheds.

Mile 0.57
Elevation 1420

After enjoying this view head back to the main trail and follow it for another 200 feet until it opens to a wide - truly spectacular view - that extends from the Hudson River at the Gap all the way down the full length of the Fishkill Ridge (see picture) to the failed Dutchess Mall and the Thalle mine scar in the background. This is the best view of the hike and the place we'll stop for a break/lunch. In front of you stretches Breakneck Ridge. If you're here on a weekend day you're almost guaranteed to see people climbing and hiking this ridge.

If the weather is clear you'll be able to see the Catskills and the 'gunks, the airport at Newburgh and in a small cleft in the ridge, the Newburgh-Beacon bridge. Following north and east along the ridge there is the antenna farm over Beacon and the fire tower that is currently under renovation [www.beaconfiretower.org] Looking down into the valley at your feet, this is where we will be walking after leaving the mountain.

From this point you're going to want to sit down and eat all your food and drink all your water - don't! We still have a ways to go. By the way, if you've walked all this far and think you've actually done some good work, you have, but not enough yet to work off that bagel with creamed cheese you had this morning nor that Whopper you're going to have tomorrow at lunch.

So, have a banana, an apple a handful of nuts or other high-energy food, some water or clear juice and enjoy the view!

Retrace your steps back down the white trail with extra caution. Gravity sucks, and since it does it is much easier to slip and fall descending a mountain than ascending it. Take your time climbing over and down the ledges and stop to enjoy the views from the open ledges along the way.

Mile 1.2
Elevation 1080

After another 20 minutes of descending Mount Taurus you'll rach the shoulder of the mountain and the junction with the Yellow Trail.

Turn right onto this trail for the continuation of our hike. If you need to bail out in a relative hurry, turn left and take the White Trail back to where we started.

About 200 feet into the Yellow Trail you're thrust back to the mountains edge with views through the trees and out over rock outcroppings. In a short while the yellow trail will reach a "corner" of the mountain and a rock outcrop that looks north and directly into the Gap of the river made by Storm King Mountain and Breakneck Ridge. This is one of the best views of the hike.

Mile 1.62
Elevation 900 ft

If you're acrophobic stand back (!) for this view leaves you suspended above the valley we'll be hiking into in a short while. Below you are the tunnels that the Metro North tracks and Route 9D use to go through a shoulder of Breakneck ridge that then plunges into the Hudson River. Wave at the hikers across the valley on Breakneck Ridge.

Leaving this view the trail now descends into the woods and to a creek crossing, one of many on this side of the mountain. The trail then climbs gradually up the ridge gaining about 100 feet before turning sharp left and descending the ridge via a zig-zagging trail followed by a set of well made stone steps that make the descent a bit easier. The sound of flowing water now permeates the forest.

The trail becomes rocky and the footing difficult while it gradually descends the mountain and crosses old rock falls. You'll also notice the forest is gradually changing from the xeric forests of the ridge tops. There is now more birch and mountain laurel begins to predominate the understory. Just now you'll notice that the trail is a built up road and the footing becomes much easier. Who built all this?

The trail crosses an old bridge abutment on a flattened log - take care!

Mile 2.4
Elevation 760 ft

The forest continues to change and become thicker, the trees become larger with maples and beeches now entering and at a huge red Oak the trail turns left and begins a moderate descent of the mountain's slope.

There is a significant stream off to your right behind an old, crumbling stonewall. Continue forward and the trail will cross this creek then come out on an old woods road with a RED blazed trail.

Mile 2.8
Elevation 580 ft

Turn left here and DO NOT cross the bridge on the yellow trail. Follow the red trail down the road with the stream on your right. After just a few hundred yards the trail splits again and you bear to the LEFT on the BLUE trail that we will take to the end.

Note the old pump house and dam just before this intersection.

In about one hundred yards the trail passes through the clear cut made for the aqueduct that carries water from the Catskills to the West Branch Reservoir in Kent. Just beyond this cut the road bends to the left and you'll notice mountains of 'tailings' (small rocks) left over from drilling the tunnels for the aqueduct.

Signs of human habitation are now quite common. Fences, stonewalls and a little further on the remains of a water tank that was used by the estate we'll see further down the mountain.

The road makes a long, sweeping, "S" down the mountain and then becomes paved. You'll see an old greenhouse and the ruins of a manor house all worth spending time to explore. Note the enormous size of the tulip poplar trees on either side of the trail.

Mile 3.4
Elevation 220 ft

The Cornish Estate

After exploring the glories of days gone by, the tile work that remains on bits of walls, the remaining fireplaces and clerestory windows, doorways and other remnants of a once grand home, continue back down the road which easily and gradually swings down the mountain and hangs above Route 9D. The sound of cars and passing trains now becomes predominant.

There is an interesting piece of ledge along the way on your right that literally "points" to the Hudson River. This must have been a grand view before the forests grew up here.

Along the left side of the road the bulk of Mount Taurus rises almost vertically above you in sheer cliffs and rock ledges that would require technical skills to climb. The road eventually comes down to Route 9D at a gate but turn LEFT here and continue along the Blue Trail that allows you to stay out of traffic.

Mile 4.3
Elevation 40 ft

Another 5 minutes of walking brings you back to the beginning of our hike and the junction with the White Trail.

[If you've taken the Mount Taurus side trail you've walked about 5.5 miles in about 4 hours time.]