Date visited: 1/2/2023

We actually planned to go to Rockefeller State Park in Pleasantville, but the parking lot was closed because it was full when we arrived. So I found this place about 20 miles away. I don't think it's quite as nice, but I don't know for sure as I never got to the Rockefeller Park. Evidently, this park is on the site of the former Mohansic State Hospital, a hospital for the "mildly insane". One of the patients killed an attendant while he slept by crushing his skull with a blunt object, because he swore at work. After the hospital closed down it became Mohansic State Park and later Franklin D. Roosevelt State Park. The trail on the All-Trails app I tried to use here was just a loop around the park using sidewalks and the park road, but a portion of it was closed for construction. We found another trail, but that was closed as well. I wound up just wandering around aimlessly for four miles. The main attraction in the winter seems to be the disc golf course. There's a lake with a boat launch, that was also closed. There's a pool that must be popular in the summer but that was of course closed as well. There are plenty of picnic areas that were open, and even a fireplace with a fire going near the building with the bathrooms, which were suprisingly open! There is some sort of Harry Potter Experience thing with lights happening at the park after dark, but we weren't staying that late. This was by no means a bad park. It's actually quite nice. It just wasn't the park I was planning on visiting, and probably not worth the 2 hour drive.

Date visited: 2/24/2024

See Also: New Castle, Yorktown, Somers

We walked the section from the parking area on Saw Mill River Road (Route 118), south to the New Castle town line, before continuing on the trail through the Milwood section of New Castle. Along the way, the trail utilizes an old rail road bridge over the Croton Reservoir and passes under Route 134 via a tunnel. There's not much more to say. Other than the bridge and tunnel, this is a pretty un-remarkable section of bike trail, especially in the winter.

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