Mohonk Preserve: Duck Pond

Ulster County, New York

Geology:

The Kleine Kill flows southward through a valley that deepens as the Kill flows on to Duck Pond and then to the Hudson River.  Duck Pond lies southeast of Lake Mohonk.  The area lies between the eastern cliffs of Sky Top Ridge on the west and the Catskill Aqueduct on the east.

The rock type is Ordovician shale.    

Duck Pond is at 600 feet elevation.

History: 

1882  --  Forest Drive (the northwest edge of the Duck Pond area) built after Albert Smiley added new properties to Mohonk.  The southwest edge is provided by Old Stage Road.  The southeast edge is the Catskill Aqueduct.  The northeast edge is provided by Lenape Lane. 

1908  --  Duck Pond formed by damming the Kleine Kill. 

Trails:

Need a permit from Mohonk Mountain House.

1) Start from the intersection of Oakwood Drive, Kleine Kill Carriage Road and Duck Pond Carriage Road, take the Duck Pond Carriage Road southwest (with two horse-shoe bends) to Duck Pond.     OR:

2) Start at the unofficial parking area at the end of Pine Road (extending north from Butterville Road).  Follow a dirt road that parallels the Aqueduct just uphill from the road.  The dirt road crosses Lenape Lane; cuts across the Catskill Aqueduct; start of the blue-blazed Glory Hill Trail; the trail heads uphill and eventually crosses the outlet of Duck Pond; Duck Pond is to the north of the trail; from Duck Pond the path up to and past the open fields of Glory Hill.  The trail ends when it reaches Oakwood Drive.  OR:

3) Start from the intersection of Forest Drive and the red-blazed Duck Pond Trail.  The trail, starting from a gazebo, heads downhill following a tributary of the Kleine Kill.  The Trail crosses Oakwood Drive; the trail continues to descend for another 3/4s of a mile to reach Duck Pond Road; it continues downhill to Duck Pond.

Source: Jack Fagan. 1999. Second Edition. Scenes and walks in the northern Shawangunks.  New York, NY: New York-New Jersey Trail Conference.  Pp. 78-82.