The Appalachian Trail

The Appalachian Trail Collection

Pawling is a trail town, maybe a slightly reluctant trail town but one nevertheless. The AT winds around the northern edge of the town taking in sights such as Nuclear Lake, Cat Rock, The Great Swamp and Pawling Nature Preserve. I’ve come to know many of these locations very well and return to them often.

Nuclear Lake is said to the be the prettiest Lake on the entire 2000+ miles of the Appalachian Trail, I can’t comment on that but it certainly is a beautiful and photogenic location. Heading north from the lake the trail becomes a typical woodland path for this part of the world, passing vernal pools, overgrown former roads and long abandoned stone walls until eventually it opens out onto the Cat Rock viewpoint, which is a spot that I've come to love in all seasons. This is an eastward facing rocky outcrop on the slopes of West Mountain located to the north of the Village. There’s a wide open view looking towards the low rounded hills of Western Connecticut as well as one North up the Harlem Valley and one South, past the Village of Pawling and on into drumlins of Putnam County.

Click an image to see an enlarged view.