The Long Path-Cheesecote Mountain-Letchworth Village Cemetery

For this trek, consult the New York-New Jersey Trail Conference Map #118 Southern.

So, my section hiking of the Long Path continues. I wasn't feeling well today, but with the weather reports telling me the temperature was going to climb to the seventies, I couldn't resist heading out into the woods. I parked my car in the commuter parking lot on Route 45/Route 202 in Mt. Ivy and hiked along Route 202 until I reached the Mt. Ivy Diner. Head north, crossing Route 202 and hike along the Palisades Parkway entrance ramp. Look to your left and you will notice the Aqua blazes leading down into a grassy knoll. The Long Path runs parallel along the Palisades Parkway for about one mile. Unfortunately, the hike becomes very noisy from the cars zooming along the parkway next to you. After about a mile, you begin to walk along the pleasant Minisceongo Creek and the trail veers away from the Parkway and ascends slowly up Cheesecote Mountain. Along the way, I noticed two abandoned cars. I believe one was a 1957 Chevy. I also saw four white-tailed deer along the way. At approximately 2:25 miles reach the top of Cheesecote Mountain and begin to descend on a pleasant woods road. At the bottom, you will see Cheesecote Pond, this is a good place to take a break. Continue on and soon you will descend into Letchworth Village Cemetery. Letchworth Village was an institution for mentally disabled individuals. The conditions were outright terrible in the early years; patients being severely mistreated, shock therapy, and patients being chained to beds. The Cemetery is a chilling site: most of the many graves are only marked by numbers. The patients of Letchworth Village did not find dignity in death. I didn't' linger too much in the Cemetery and headed past it and onto Call Hollow Road. I decided to turn around here and double back to my vehicle. This is a pretty boring stretch of the Long Path, but all in all, it wasn't so bad.