Hike Sky Top via Duck Pond Trail and The Labyrinth Mohonk Preserve, NY

Jul 04, 2023 — A chunk of my 20s was spent bouldering in the Shawangunks, a point in my outdoorsy development when I only considered the Gunks exclusively for its large rocks to dick around on. So at the time when I heard the name Sky Top I pictured a severe lack of large rocks and my thoughts regarding it ended there. With an even more unhealthy attraction to peaks now than I did to large rocks back then, I could treat Sky Top as an actual place and a real hiking destination. However, Sky Top is notoriously crowded and can be easily accessed via a short stroll from the Mohonk Mountain House, an ostentatious display of wealth hovering over Mohonk Lake. Sure it's a gorgeous structure, but you can't expect any solitude nearby, and it's the kind of place that hosts a golf course and uniformed staff, so it was hard for me to reserve judgment. 

I had no interest in driving to the over-developed perimeter of Mohonk Lake, and was further deterred by their whopping $35 hiking fee. Instead, I determined I'd extend the hike significantly by using the Mohonk Preserve's trail system to the south, taking the Duck Pond Trail for the majority of my ascent. Aside from enjoying the summit view, my real excitement for hiking to Sky Top was to check out its wildly contrived "Labyrinth" as well as a unique feature called the "Lemon Squeeze". These scramble attractions are popular and promoted heavily, but at least I'd get some solitude by approaching from this other direction.

I parked at the Pine Road parking lot and started along the Lower Duck Pond Carriage Road, where a sign informed me I needed to carry money to pay the steep $15 Mohonk Preserve hiking fee at a junction ahead. By the way, the Mohonk Preserve seems to be very proud of their carriage roads, a historic sign along the trail explaining as much. I'm sure lots of money/effort is pumped into maintaining these "trails", but this means the singletrack system of the area is severely lacking, so I've come to pretty much expect hikes tantamount to road walks when I'm here.

The carriage road crossed over Kleine Kill, a pleasant creek, before ascending north to Duck Pond. The pond served as a nice foreground for the phallic statue dominating Sky Top in the distance. This memorial is called The Albert K. Smiley Memorial Tower, built in 1923 to honor the guy/family who built the Mohonk Mountain House. I can't imagine building yet another massive structure like this tower is the best way to honor a natural area, but what do I know? Anyway, I continued along the carriage road until a marker pointed me left to hop on the Duck Pond Trail. This was more like it, a nice singletrack complete with the bugs and mud we all love about summers in the northeast.

The Duck Pond Trail climbed gradually for a while, then introduced some light talus-hopping, passed over a carriage road, and then ascended more steeply to a road labeled Forest Drive. I'd be using Forest Drive later on my way back from Mohonk Lake. Once at Forest Drive, I continued north along Staircliff Path, another signgletrack trail that led me to the base of the gorgeous cliffs surrounding Sky Top. If you're interested in the scrambling delights of the Shawangunks, which is what I assume if you've read this far, I recommend this trail. Alternatively, you could take Forest Road to the start of The Labyrinth (which I marked in purple on my attached map). you could also of course just walk on carriage roads all the way to Sky Top's summit if that's more your style.

Staircliff Path has a bunch of fun shenanigans: a ladder, plenty of boulder-hopping, rock crawl-throughs, the works. It's fun, but totally ridiculous. It's clearly a route that was created with the intent to entertain and derive enjoyment, not to get anywhere efficiently. Following the base of the cliff, the trail led to a junction with The Labyrinth where the famous Lemon Squeeze is found. Note that I have photos of The Labyrinth at the end of my trip report photos below since I did it for the fun at the end of my hike, not as part of the main route. At this junction, I just headed up the Lemon Squeeze, saving The Labyrinth for later.

The Lemon Squeeze is a very cool crevice separating two massive sheets of cliff to form a deep, wet, cold slot. This would not be easier than Class 5 if not for well-constructed series of ladders leading up. I enjoyed the novelty of the manufactured trail/scramble, especially since it brought me out of the heat and into a naturally air-conditioned and neat little space. A final 20 feet or so required some fun Class 3 scrambling on wet rock that I'm surprised didn't have a ladder, and I topped out on a flat slab above. A small bridge crossed over the Lemon Squeeze, where I could hear excited hikers echoing below. Another short Class 3 section led over a small cliff and a small sign was posted that access to the Labyrinth is closed if going from the top down, so I noted I wouldn't be returning that way. I took a set of stairs and navigated to Sky Top, where I enjoyed the views before rushing down past the hoards of people in dress clothes, and down to Mohonk Lake where I could see the stunningly large, private Mohonk Mountain House resort that steals the skyline.

I should note there are a bunch of really cool bridges constructed along the way from Sky Top to Mohonk Lake that serve as little detours from the main trail. These bridges cross over large monolith blocks that compose The Labyrinth below. It's a fun little set of walkable enjoyment.

If you want, you can just head along the Lake Shore Path to reach Forest Drive and take this back to the Duck Pond Trail, but I wanted to first check out The Labyrinth. I located its start and headed along the well-marked scramble. Like I mentioned, the Labyrinth is an extremely contrived little route, really just an obstacle course to play on. For the first half of it I could see the Lake Shore Path a few feet to the right, so really at any time I could just bail. Despite the silliness, it felt good to be moving my body a bit after all my poor choices from a 4th of July party the night before. The Labyrinth is gorgeous, including moss-covered walls and growing ferns punctuating the the rock faces. There were lots of constructed bridges, ladders, stairs, etc. leading around boulders and through cracks and tunnels. I had a nice time and soon reached the junction with the Lemon Squeeze. I was happy I spent the time checking out this somewhat famous trail.