outdoors — Blog

In addition to being a beautiful tract of undisturbed forest with numerous trails varying in length and difficulty, Sterling Forest Park was at one time owned and operated by Sterling Iron Works which mined and shipped iron ore on the land. The last of the mines closed in the 1920s, but there are quite a few old structures and ruins left behind on the property which are great for exploring and photographing, so even in December when the trees are bare and wildlife is scarce, there's plenty to see.

Trails within the park are really well marked and maintained so it was very easy to follow the map and chart our route. We chose the firetower as our midpoint goal, and it took us about 2 hours to get there from the visitor's center (granted, I was stopping a lot, to take a million photos.)

Local Adventure #2: Mohonk Mountain

We're still driving.

It's been a good bit longer than the hour-and-a-half my friend Matt said it would take to get to the Labyrinth rock scramble, so much longer that my mind is beginning to wander and I feel almost entertained by the fantastic notion that he's tricked me and we are actually embarking into the film Labyrinth, where at any moment he will morph into a glam-hair-having, makeup-wearing, spandex-sporting Bowie-esque character, and I of course will be the weeping male infant in a striped onesie with whom he absconds into the Goblin Kingdom's castle, built beyond an unsolvable maze.