The Mission:

I'd been hearing for months that Vernoy Kill was THE place to do some serious technical single-track in the Catskills. I enlisted the aid of GUMBA member Jim Gephard, who had actually ridden there half a dozen years ago. On a quiet Wednesday morning in May we set out on a patrol to investigate the area.

Parking:

Here's a google map to help you find the parking area: Vernoy Kills Parking

Basically you take Route 209 to Samsonville Road. Head north on Samsonville a few miles till you get to Upper Cherryville Rd. It's a little confusing because there is both a Cherrytown Road and a Upper Cherrytown Road that turn left off of Samsonville Road. Once you take the left off Samsonville, look for Wright Road, on your right. Just past Wright, Upper Cherrytown turns to the right. If you miss the turn you wind up on Cherrytown Road. If you find yourself back on Samsonville Road, you missed a turn someplace.

There is a mailbox numbered 576 Upper Cherrytown Road that is right across the street from the parking area. You can use your favorite web based travel directions site to look for the above address in Kerhonkson, NY.

Conditions:

If you like steep climbs over wet slick river rocks do this after a heavy rain. Otherwise I'd recommend this for a drier day.

When Jim and I rode this it seemed a bit wet to try the single track loop. We started at southernmost part of the loop (see map below), rode to the falls (about a 600 foot elevation gain), turned right onto the Vernoy Falls Trail, turned right onto Trails End Road, and turned right to get back onto Upper Cherrytown Road. We did follow Trails End Road a bit to the northwest (it's marked as a jeep trail on the map) before turning around and riding downhill to Upper Cherrytown. It seemed like a well maintained gravel road, so watch for auto traffic.

There was a fire in the area this last spring. If you look, you'll see several hundred fire fighters signed into the log book at the beginning of May. Since we never did the full loop, I'm not sure if you'll encounter evidence of the fire or not. It looked to us like most of the fire was south and west of the falls. We did see a few recently cut roads that look like they may have been cut as firebreaks.

Pictures:

The Parking Area

Vernoy Kill Falls

Jim Checking Out the Log Book

Maps:

Here's a link to a topo map of the area: map

The above map is pieced together from 4 USGS topo maps (quadrangles named: Peekamoose Mountain, West Ashokan, Kerhonkson, and Roundout Reservoir, all found in Ulster county). If you root around a bit you can find those maps here. Please remember that the map is not the territory. These USGS maps were drawn over 40 years ago, so they are probably not completely accurate. You may encounter roads and trails not shown on the map, which might make finding your way difficult.

The route traced in a solid line is the ride Jim and I did.

The route traced in a dashed line is the regular ride around the area. Since I've never done it, I have no idea if the map is accurate. The road you encounter riding from the falls to the west is named Yagerville Road. The jeep trail you turn off of Yagerville on may be marked as Spencer Road. It becomes Trails End Road at the other end.