When going hiking, the last thing you ever want to be is unprepared. You always wanted to know where you’re going, what to expect on the trail, and how long the hike should take.

Which is why when my close friend Dan and I set out for a trek in January of 2016 to enjoy one of our last days home for our winter breaks, we had prepared to spend it at Croton Gorge Park. I did the research, I checked out the trail, everything was good to go.

Until we got to the park to find out it was closed for maintenance for the day. Not to be deterred in our goal for the day of climbing a dam, we made our way over to Kensico Reservoir to get our fix:

Now, while Kensico lends itself to a nice backdrop for photos, especially on a winter day when absolutely nobody else is going outside in the cold, Dan and I didn’t feel our hiking needs quite met. I wouldn’t consider climbing the dam a hike, as its more akin to a leisurely walk from your car in the parking lot and then bam you’re at your destination. That’s not to say that Kensico isn’t worthy of a visit, because it absolutely is, but not if you’re looking for a few hours out in the wilderness.

With two strikes under our belts, no hike accomplished, and daylight running short, I made one more attempt to salvage the day’s mission by using the limited internet connection to try and find a nearby trail. My search resulted in discovering Cranberry Lake Preserve right down the road. With nothing further to possibly lose, we set out to our latest unknown destination.

Coincidentally enough, we wouldn’t have had a second destination for the day if it weren’t for our soon-to-be-third. Much of the stone that was used to build Kensico Dam was mined from the quarry over at Cranberry Lake Preserve. The quarry itself makes for arguably the key point of interest in the hike, but there’s quite a few other sights throughout, starting with the titular Cranberry Lake.

The lake looks even better in the summer when all the plant life is alive and vibrant:

Throughout the preserve are observation towers that, depending on the time of year, can give you some good vantage points of the local wildlife and vegetation. There’s also a very welcoming stone chamber creatively named Stone Chamber, completely furnished with log fixtures and a leafy carpet.

As the trail map indicates, there’s numerous looping and intersecting paths throughout the park that can lengthen your stay as long as you’d like. But for Dan and I battling the limited sunlight we still had, we made a beeline towards the quarry after deciding the Stone Chamber, while quaint, wasn’t up to either of our living standards.

Upon reaching the quarry site, we were greeted by a frozen pond with a backdrop of a rocky cliff face:

Venturing further along the pond on the trail brought us to the cliffs themselves, which then become part of the path. As the sun began to start dipping behind the treeline, we made our way up the cliffside to enjoy the unique perspective that could only be found on a winter day.

We made our way down the cliffs to check out our final locale of the hike, a location labeled “Abandoned Tennis Courts” on the trail map. I think “abandoned” is putting the state of the tennis courts lightly, but the rampant overgrown vegetation served as an eerily dystopian contrast of man-made structures versus Mother Nature.

While I have since been back to Cranberry Lake in warmer weather with the trees and plants alive adding more vibrancy to the trek, there was something about that original spur-of-the-moment hike that couldn’t be replicated. The unknown of what laid ahead further down the trail, the race against sunset, the quality bonding time with a best friend all combined to make a great trip that simply couldn’t be planned.

So while you should always be prepared before setting out into the woods, the mountains or the trails, the best laid plans of mice and hikers often go awry. And sometimes, that results in the better.

Cranberry Lake Preserve is located at 1609 Old Orchard Street, West Harrison, New York. For more information about the park, visit the Cranberry Lake page on Westchester Parks, the New York-New Jersey Trail Conference page, or this trail guide written by fellow blogger Scenes From the Trail.

Cranberry Lake Preserve Trail Map