I have marked this trail from Chester Heights around the lake; the mileage is to the lake and once around, not including the return leg. This is the loop of the lake itself. Much of the marking is my guess since it is hard to see from the satellite exactly where the trail is.
Part of the Colonial Greenway, the heart of this trail runs from miles 11 to 9 on the map to the right (courtesy of Guillermo Gutierrez, of SSRMC, who ran the Colonial Greenway with a GPS monitor). I happened to run into Guillermo on Oct. 30; that’s him to the left, crossing the bridge at the south-end of the Lake over the dam, with the Hutch behind him. Click on his map to open it, and then click again to enlarge it.
Update: Sept. 29: Heading away from the lake on Nature Study, a faux trail appears right after you go down the short, rocky hill. (You’ll know it when you see it.) It goes nowhere; you take the trail to the left. I’ve posted a picture.
These are the trails with which I am most familiar, having run on them when I ran for Iona Prep in the early 1970s. I rediscovered them some years ago, and have worked to expand my knowledge. The trail is frequented by Iona College runners, among the top cross-country schools in the country. These are bridle paths, so some words of caution and rules of the road.
I’ve begun to do some marathon training, which means long runs. The natural place for long trail runs is the Rockefeller. But I did a nice 18.5 miler at Twin Lakes/Nature Study. Each loop is about 4.62 miles. I park in the stable parking lot (you can also park on Webster Avenue). The course sets up so that you can stop at your car for water and gel after each loop. Beware, however, that as the run extends, you might find your feet not lifting as much as they did earlier (this happened to me), so the footing in Nature Study becomes trickier than it normally is. Sure, it’s boring, but also convenient. You also don’t find yourself too far away if you blow up.
I have never had any problems with horses on these trails, although I’ve run into them with some frequency. But because of the horse-issue, I would avoid these trails at peak riding times, like summer Sunday mornings.
The first rule: HORSES HAVE THE RIGHT OF WAY. Make sure not to startle the horse, or rider. Let the rider know you’re coming and wait until you know how the rider, and horse, want you to proceed. If I pass a horse going in my direction, I gradually pick up the pace after I pass.
Major parts of this network were used by the New York, Westchester & Boston Railway from 1912-1937 and there are remants of the venture here and there. The County has been undertaking projects with respect to the trees and plants in Nature Study.
There are numerous ways to enter these trails, but I will mention 3.
It is a little tricky to find. New Rochelle Road leaves Chester Heights en route to Pelham. It goes under the Hutchinson River Parkway as it crosses into New Rochelle. You must be on foot at this point because you go under the bridge and keep to the left, into an apartment building’s parking-lot, parallelling the Hutch. As the lot/driveway turns right around the building, keep going straight across the grass – a slight hump – and, violà, you’re on the trail. Just follow it. This is the part where Ben Bright et al. has done a great job of taking care of what had been a dangerous problem for decades.
The south east end of the trail is on Webster Avenue near New Rochelle High School. That’s the “P” on the map. The entrance is well marked. The broader trail goes to your right right after you enter. If you go straight, you run down that very small hill described in the prior description. (The “Change of Seasons” photos on the homepage are taken here, showing what it looks like if you go straight.) Just go right and follow the trail until you get to a bridge. There is only one place you might get lost: You come to an intersection maybe 1/2 a mile in. Going straight is a dead-end, so you want to go left. (This is confusing on the map because that makes it appear that you go straight and then right at the “T” but going straight requires you to climb down a rock.)
(A second confusing point occurs on the way back, but I mention it here. The picture to the left is from a short, rocky stretch (you’ll know it when you get to it; it’s by a viaduct from the railway). The trail appears to go straight, with a side trail to the left. The straight one (maybe it’s a bit to the right) goes nowhere. Turn to the left.)
You go under the Hutch (photo left) just before hitting the lake. It is dark and often wet, so care is required; I try to keep to the wall-side. After that, there is a switchback bridge (photo left) to get you up to the Lake. The photo on the right is the upper part of the switchback, looking down. It gives a good sense of the surface. (Here’s a photo looking to the right at the top.) For perspective, this is right where the Hutch splits with the Cross-County going to the left.
After you cross the bridge, you will see a “bridge” to your right, which crosses a drop from the lake to the Hutchinson River. (The runner above without the hat, Guillermo, is running across that bridge.) I make it sound much more confusing than it is. You can go either way, and the full loop (Google.Map) is about 1.5 miles. I describe going counter-clockwise because there are fewer ways to get lost that way. (There is only one trail to the east side of the Lake but a number of smaller, parallel ones on the west.)
It’s just follow the trail at this point. It has some slight ups and downs and mud-stretches. When you cross a wooden-bridge, you can either go right or straight. If you go straight up the hill, do the following for a loop. At the intersection, take the trail ahead but slightly to the left then keep to the right on a side trail and then take the first right, which brings you onto the trail as it parallels California Road. Once there, just continue on across the driveway to the stables and around the lake, which brings you to where you crossed the bridge at the loop’s start. You can, of course, do multiple loops.
You can make the loop a bit longer by going to the right after you cross the wooden bridge. But if you go right, it also takes you to the northern stretch of this trail, which allows you to pick up the bridle path to the north, ultimately to White Plains. I describe that stretch in the Saxon Woods description.
The third entrance is on California Road. It’s the “P” on the Map. This is a small parking lot for the stables and for trail-users. In the foregoing description, the entrance is the “driveway to the stables” and you simply pick up the trail there.
You can do loops of the lake, which is about 1.5 miles. This is a good place to start running up towards Saxon Woods. If you are going to do that, head north from the driveway and keep to your left, which will bring you out in the open by the entrance for Exit 18 of the Hutch. There’s a cross-walk there, but be careful. You cross the entrance and exit roads, and then you go under Mill Road and across a bridge and you’re in business.
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Both of the above trails hook up to the Saxon 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.
While I’ve ridden my mountain bike on this trail, I now understand that bikes are not allowed on it.
I don’t do it, but it looks like fun. Here’s an article from the Journal News.
