Leet Hollow > Dodd’s Cone Bushwhack
Distance: 5.5 – 6 miles
Difficulty: Moderate / strenuous
Hike Leader: Bob Hatton
Pre-register by 5:30 pm the day before by emailing admin@rurallands.org or call the office (413)458-2494; group size is limited.
Beginning at Taconic Trail State Park pullout (halfway up Route 2 headed to Petersburg Pass): We start our adventure on the Sara Tenney Trail (south) down to Treadwell Hollow. From there, continue on Sara Tenney west past the Turnpike Trail and soon leave Treadwell Hollow with a 90 degree turn southwest (left) into Leete Hollow.
Follow this historic road past the Sara Tenney junction, and past two old roads off to the left before turning sharply to the right, north on a cleared old road for a couple hundred feet. At this point, the hike becomes more of a bushwhack with a 90 degree turn to the west following pink flagging. Pass a small spring before arriving at a better grassy road leading (after a switchback) to the Taconic Crest Trail (TCT).
The TCT takes us south for less than 0.5 mi., where we’ll look for a grown-over field on the east just before the TCT drops steeply to Berlin Pass.
From here, we bushwhack east to the top of Dodd’s Cone and follow a ridge east, steeply down past a N.Y. state boundary marker and onto a ridge plateau of hemlock trees. Look to the south off the ridge for an old logging road scabbing the hillside to the southeast. At a Y junction, turn left (east) uphill back to the ridge and junction with another logging road heading east down the ridge. Just before this ridge, the logging road turns south off the ridge toward the houses on Berlin Road. An obscure logging road with flagging goes north to the junction with the Turnpike Trail at the boundary of BNRC land and DCR land. Enter DCR land northwest back to Treadwell Hollow.
Wear sturdy shoes or boots. Bring your own water, snack, and tick repellent. Bring a mask in case we are unable to maintain social distance.