Ashokan Quarry Trail: Quarry Top

Not far after this panorama you come to the top of the main quarry, where there’s another great view of Ashokan High Point.

The Ashokan Quarry Trail winds around the top of the cliff, before heading downhill to the right. The blazing here is not always perfectly clear. When you get to the flat trail at the bottom of this section, just turn right and follow it past some dramatic rock bands.

My GPS track shows the exploring I did around here. I went off-trail to follow the old flat rail bed as far as I could (to Samsonville Road) before turning around. Luckily, I decided to take a slightly different route back to the blue trail and discovered the ruins you’ll read about below.

That is, you can ignore the way my GPS track deviates here and just stick to the blue-blazed trail.

Ashokan Quarry Trail: Quarry Bottom

Back on the blue trail, right after the exposed/quarried rock band, you’ll come to the main quarry. It’s just off-trail, on the right.

From here, the trail leads straight back to the first intersection and, from there, back to the parking lot.

However, if you want to explore a little more before you go…

Old Railway Ruins

At the quarry shown above, turn around and look directly across the trail. If you head in a straight line into the woods, about 300’ downhill, you’ll come to this fantastic set of old railway yard ruins.

I’d love to know how these old buildings and mechanisms were used…

A little farther down, two long, imposing stone walls stand facing each other — between them, I imagine, railroad cars were once parked and loaded with quarried stone from above…

Head back up to the blue trail, and turn left to return to your car.

There are no tricky or steep sections on this hike — tough, obviously, care should be taken near any cliff faces. Very young children should be reigned in near the top of the quarry. Otherwise, this is a super fun and very family-friendly hike.