[Journal entry for January 30, 2016; Dooddletown Road, Bear Mountain State Park, NY] Doodletown was a small village just south of Bear Mountain that was depopulated when the state acquired the land in the 1960’s. Only foundations are left now.

I parked in the main lot by Bear Mountain Inn in the early afternoon of a sunny day. Snow still lay on the ground but the air was in the high-forties, Fahrenheit. The light of the afternoon sun was bright and vividly lit up the terrain. I wore microspikes on my boots for traction. The area of the parking lot was crowded with people; the ice skating rink was open and people were also walking around Hessian Lake. I took the 1777E Trail (blazed in red) southward, through a tunnel beneath Seven Lakes Drive and then along the southeastern flank of Bear Mountain. The trail follows a woods road and is wide, with a good view (though through trees) of Iona Marsh. I passed a marker for the June Family Burial Ground; they were one of the families that founded Doodletown in the 1700’s. I accidentally diverted to the Ski Trail (the one that parallels Seven Lakes Drive) at a fork, and unintentionally walked it eastward before discovering my mistake. I bushwhacked southward through the woods, encountering many deer tracks in the snow, and crossed Doodletown Brook by stepping from stone to stone. I joined Doodletown Road (or Ski-Bridle Path) near a landfill of large boulders. I am not sure whether this was mine dump or just a place where the road was built up with stones; I will investigate it further on my next trip there. The road is one of two wide woods roads in the Doodletown area; it ruins east-west and intersects the north-south Pleasant Valley Road in Doodletown.

I took Pleasant Valley Road southward, passing several fields with stone foundations and ancient ornamental trees. The road narrows after it crosses Timp Brook and enters the woodlands at the foot of Bald Mountain. There are no foundations in this section of trees and rock ledges, but near the Timp Pass Road intersection there is a small stone hut and a fire ring that is used by hikers. I walked up to the hut but was disappointed to find that part of its roof had fallen in. I prowled around the grounds for a few minutes and then headed back.

I turned east onto Doodletown Road and crossed the bridge over the brook by Doodletown Reservoir. The surface of this tiny impoundment was frozen. A recently beaver-felled Red Cedar tree lay on its shore, a sign that these animals have colonized the area. I took Doodletown Road to its terminus at Route 9W, near the point where Doodletown Brook flows into Iona Marsh. The late afternoon sun was lighting up the marsh and Iona Island wonderfully. This island is a rounded but steep sided loaf of a rock that juts out of the marsh. Beyond it I could see Anthony’s Nose and Manitou Mountain, tall hills on the east side of the Hudson River (though I could see little of the river, itself).

I walked Route 9W and the South Entrance Road back to the Bear Mountain parking lot. I purchased a soda from a vending machine before heading back. About two hours.