Saxon Woods
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This is two distinct but connected trails. One is on the western side of the Hutch north of Mamaroneck Road. The other is on the eastern side of the Hutch. I have added a map showing access points. These are also covered in Eric Turkewitz’s Green Loop, or Colonial Greenway Trail Loop. They continue to North Street (the Hutch exit north of Mamaroneck Avenue) but I’ve never made it that far and I don’t know how to get across Mam’k Ave.
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Saxon Woods Park: West
Of the two options here, the smoothest part is to the west of the Hutch. Google.Map. The rough measurement from and to with a loop is 2.45 miles. But it’s pretty easy to do multiple loops. The map is very rough. For example you can move towards the top of the map pretty easily. Subject to the following note about a bunch of internal trails, this is a pretty straight-forward trail, which is also a bridle path, so be aware of horses. You get to the trail itself by following the path between the Hutch and the golf club. While the trail seems complicated on the map, I’ve yet to get lost there. Parking is available at the golf course.
There are within this area many, many smaller trails. You get a sense of all these trails from the Audubon Society Trail Map (note that were the trail appears to end just to the left of “Course” is actually the parking lot). Eric and Guillermo are in the process of updating and re-mapping (using GPS-technology) all these variants. Currently, there are signs on trees directing you to “SWT,” or Saxon Woods Trail. But this is a fairly closed universe so even if you get lost, you should be able to be found. One useful landmark is the Hutch; when you hear it, you know you are near the eastern side of the trail. At other times, the golf course provides orientation.
Also, there are a couple of small entrances off of Saxon Woods Road (one near Saxon Woods Park Drive and another near Boulder Brook Road) so if you’re coming from White Plains, you might want to turn right (from Mam’k Ave.) at the light at Rosedale and right on Saxon Woods Road and park on a street off of Saxon Woods Road.
Saxon Woods Park: East
| GoogleMap There is a small parking lot, for the Weinberg Center, on the north side of Mamaroneck Road. There is also a parking lot for the golf-course and Saxon Woods west across from Stratton Road. |
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| This a bridge shortly after the entrance at Weinberg Center. The Hutch is behind the fence. This is one of the few places where a wodden bridge is built over swamp-like stretches. |
This is a very technical, rocky trail, with little climbs over rocks. It is a work-out, no matter how easily you plan on taking it. The entrance to the east trails is actually in the Weinberg Center. There is a small parking lot. Basically just head in. You hit an open area with a small building and picnic tables and basically head to the right. Keeping right gives you a nice loop. The trick is figuring out how to get back to parking when you get back to the open area. Otherwise, the trail is pretty easy to follow.
Total distance for one lap to and from parking is 3.75 miles, but you can do multiple loops, although the surface limits the number of times you can go around because it will wear you out. I have a rough measurement of 2.75 miles for the loop alone.
There is a connection between the two trails on the side closest to Mamaroneck Avenue, although some construction has made it impassable at times.
Mamaroneck Road to Mill Road
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Both of the above trails hook down to the Twin Lakes/Nature Study Woods Trail via a trail on the east side of the Hutch. This is not an independent trail in that there’s no convenient place to start it. You don’t need a map, but here’s one. Note the big elevation drop to Pinebrook. The trail has some treacherous footing stretches, although not like those at Saxon Woods East, so care is required. You have 3 major street-crossings (after Mamaroneck Road), Weaver Street (there’s a traffic light), Pinebrook Blvd. (where the trail drops dramatically on both sides), and Wilmot Road (where you must cross and go to your left to pick up the trail). Also, the trail has a bad spot, being worked on, of standing water just north of Mill Road. The pictures are looking north and south from Mohegan Place in New Rockelle, on Jan. 16, 2006.
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From the City
You can get to this trail system via MetroNorth. The best way is from the Mamaroneck Station. It’s .5 miles and while it sounds complicated, it’s not; here’s a map. Here are Metro-North Map (New Haven line in Red) and Metro-North Schedule (28 minutes from 125th Street and 38 from Grand Central Terminal). It’s a bit over 0.5 miles and slightly uphill. Here’s a map.
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From the back of the train (northbound), head south and go under the bridge by which the tracks cross Mamaroneck Avenue. Get to the left side of Mamaroneck Avenue. From the back of the train (northbound), head south and go under the bridge by which the tracks cross Mamaroneck Avenue. Keep going straight; Mamaroneck Avenue goes to the right, but stay straight on Old White Plains Road. You pass a number of stores and cross over I-95 and the road goes up. The Leatherstocking Trail heading south begins shortly after you cross I-95; it’s on the left of the picture on the left (across from the deer sign).
To get to Saxon Woods, follow the instructions above; this entrance will be much easier when the Greenway is completed. Here’s a map.
You can make it a day-trip from the City, having, say, a picnic on the park on Long Island sound. I should also note that Mamaroneck is one of the few communities in which there is a town close to the trail, so you could do the same thing by driving and parking in the town. (There is parking at the marina, but I don’t know what the parking rules are there.)
Last edited on ... July 3, 2006
