"HIKING AT MOHONK MOUNTAIN HOUSE" Top 5 Page for this destination New Paltz Things to Do Tip by moiraistyx

Mohonk Mountain House is more than a lavish hotel. It's also a great place to hike, rock scramble and sit and relax. Richie and I spent one day of our vacation exploring the various trails and sites of The Mohonk Mountain House. We decided first to go to the Skytop Tower. There are three options to get there. The first is the easiest, it's a footpath that runs from the main house to the tower. It isn't all that easy to hike since it's 100% uphill. The second option is to take the Labyrinth rock scramble to the Skytop trail and then finish the hike up. The third option is to take the Labyrinth rock scramble and continue along the Crevice path to a series of ladders that lead straight up to the tower. We started with the third path and made it to the ladders, but Richie's fear of height kicked in so we back tracked to the stairs and finish to the tower. There are some fantastic view from each path. Be sure to bring your camera and take lots of pictures.

After we made it to the Skytop Tower, we decided to climbed the stairs and enjoy the view from the top of the tower. It was really great to see things from the tower since we usually see the tower form the various roads we are driving along.

From the tower we went to the Lily Pond. It was really pretty with the pink and white flowers floating on top of the water with the deep green lily pads. We didn't see any frogs or toads but we sure could hear them. Make sure you bring along bug spray since there are lots of mosquitoes and horse flies around the Lily Pond.

It usually costs $16 per person to hike the trails here if you are not a hotel guest. Richie and I are preserve members so it cost us $5 per person. There is a shuttle from the day visitor parking lot up to the picnic lodge or you can hike it. It's your choice.