Sugarloaf Hill (Putnam County, New York)

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
This article is about the hill near Garrison. For the mountain near Breakneck Ridge, see Sugarloaf Mountain (Dutchess County, New York).
Sugarloaf Hill
Looking north towards Sugarloaf Hill
from the Bear Mountain Bridge
Highest point
Elevation785[1] ft (239 m)
Coordinates41°21′39″N 73°56′47″W / 41.36083°N 73.94639°W / 41.36083; -73.94639
Geography
LocationPhilipstown, New York, U.S.
Parent rangeHudson Highlands
Topo mapUSGS Peekskill
Climbing
Easiest routehiking trail

Sugarloaf Hill is a 785 ft (239 m) peak along the

Dutch for its resemblance in outline to a sugarloaf when sailing up the river towards it.[2]

Topography

Sugarloaf Hill is part of a ridge running northeast and southwest close to the east shore of the Hudson. The peak of Castle Rock lies off the northeast end of the ridge, while NY 9D runs along the west side. A small stream runs along the southeast side and flows into the Hudson, while to the northwest, the ground declines gently to the Hudson.

The hill is 785 feet (239 m) high at its summit, towards the middle of the ridge. A red-blazed trail climbs its western side, and then runs along the ridge, across the summit, to end at a viewpoint over the Hudson of about 700 feet (210 m) elevation.[3]

Flora

Opuntia humifusa (Eastern prickly pear cactus) in bloom atop Sugarloaf Hill

Somewhat unusually, Opuntia humifusa, Eastern prickly-pear cactus, can be found growing on ledges atop Sugarloaf Hill. The oceanic warmth brought upstream by the estuarine Hudson and the sunny, exposed rock allows this cactus to grow on the hill, and elsewhere in the Hudson Highlands.[4]

History

Col. Beverley Robinson's house, occupied by Benedict Arnold as his headquarters

Beverley, the house of Col.

West Point in 1780. It was at Beverley that Arnold learned of the capture of John André and the failure of his treason, and fled thence to HMS Vulture.[5]

Beverley later passed into the hands of Hamilton Fish, and was destroyed by a fire in 1892.[6] The hill was donated by the Osborn family to the Taconic State Park Commission in 1974,[7] and now forms part of the Osborn Preserve of Hudson Highlands State Park.[3]

References

  1. ^ Dictionary of Altitudes in the United States, Fourth Edition, Henry Gannett, Washington Government Printing Office (1908), p. 742
  2. ^ Lossing, Benson J. "Chapter XIV". From the Wilderness to the Sea. New York: Virtue & Yorston. Retrieved 2007-04-21.
  3. ^ a b New York–New Jersey Trail Conference Trail Map 101, East Hudson Trails: Hudson Highlands State Park 7th ed., 2006
  4. ^ "Great Hikes in Highlands, New York". Retrieved 2007-04-21.
  5. ISBN 9780486263045
    . Retrieved 2007-04-21.
  6. ^ Williams, Sherman (1906). Stories from Early New York History. C. Scribner's sons. pp. 238. Retrieved 2007-04-21.
  7. ^ "Sugar Loaf Mountain". Retrieved 2007-04-21.
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