[Journal entry for October 26, 2014, Turkey Hill Lake, Harriman State Park, New York]. Turkey Hill Lake is an anthropogenic impoundment that was created by damming a stream that is part of the Popolopen watershed. It is surrounded by three prominent hills, Turkey Hill to the north, Summer Hill to the south and Long Mountain to the west. Bear Mountain, which is a mile or so to the east, can also be seen from the lake. Though none are especially high, the sides of these hills are all rather steep. They give the impression that the lake is in the bottom of a valley deeper perhaps than it really is and provide some really superb scenery.

The afternoon is clear and brisk, in the high fifties, Fahrenheit. I park at the Long Path trailhead, off of Route 6 just west of Long Mountain Circle. I take the Long Path (LP, blazed in blue) a little north to the Popolopen Gorge Trail (PG, blazed in red) and take it east, towards the lake. The trail descends steeply down a prominent gulley towards the lake. Lake many topographic features in the Hudson Highlands, this gulley is a bit of a mystery, for no stream flows at its bottom and its large size seems out of proportion to its tiny watershed. I suspect that it is a relic from the end of the Ice Age, twenty thousand years ago, when the glaciers that covered the Highlands were melting and supplying abundant water.

Turkey Hill Lake is “L” shaped; the trail reaches first the bend in the “L”. This part of the lake shore, marked by a huge glacial boulder, is flat – a good picnic spot that offers a great view down both arms of the lake. The view of Turkey Hill, directly north across the Lake, and of Bear Mountain, in the distance to the east, is superb. The fall foliage is wonderful, with bright red, orange and yellow trees on the hills, lit up by the sun and with a line of dark red Blueberry bushes along the lakeshore.

I head east along PG, following the lakeshore, through woods and over rock ledges. I can see the dam at the lake’s eastern end. Looking west, I can see the bald summit of Long Mountain and east, in the distance, the observation tower on Bear Mountain.

I pass signs of beaver, in the form of chewed-down trees and bushes, however, all this browsing looks years old. In a few minutes I reach the dam. It is an earth-fill design, perhaps forty feet high. Its spillway is concrete, but the rest is built mostly of rocks, with stonework facing on the lake side. I cross the spillway, which is dry. The water level is low. The only water that is flowing is through a siphon pipe laid across the spillway. I see a very large boulder with a small overhang or cave beneath me, but I do not investigate. I connect with a woods road and take it west along the lakeshore.

I walked along this woods road for a half mile, enjoying the views of the lake and the several islands in it. One island has a spit of coarse gravel that extends prominently out to the east. I suppose that the stream that flowed in the valley before the lake was impounded deposited it; it probably ran between what is now the island and the north shore. The road fades away as it approaches the wetland by the intlet stream at the north end of the lake. I tread cautiously among grassy hummocks and stones until I reach the intlet stream, proper, and cross it stepping from stone to stone. This area has a beaver pond, raised about a foot above the lake level by a long, arcuate dam.

I then walked the west shore of the lake back towards my starting point. The first half is tough going, owing to the lack of any discernible trail and by all the deadfall. The last half has a trail and is much easier. The trail passes by the shore opposite the islands and affords a good view of them.

Eventually, I rejoin the PG trail and climb back up the gulley to the LP and my car. About two and a half hours.