Mt. Oneida NCT Loop

Dogs Unknown

Features Commonly Backpacked · Fall Colors · River/Creek

An excellent intermediate level, light backpacking trip; perfect for a weekend getaway or a first time packing overnight! The trail is well marked and the terrain is best described as "rolling." While the hike does not offer much in the way of epic view-scapes, the trail does bring you through several different micro-biomes due to light and water variation.

Start off with a moderate incline up Mt. Oneida on North Country Trail: Allegany State Park, which plateaus out and offers a ridgeline hike along a small creek before descending into the creek bed. A reasonably well-maintained lean-to is offered a short while after the descent bottoms out.

The trail then climbs the ridge again after the lean-to and runs the ridge to the park road. Making a left on the park road, you follow the road for short distance before following signs to Trail #15. After exiting the road, you descend quickly back into the creek bed and hike along the remnants of a logging road in the creek bed until you reach the park road again. Making a left again, the parking area will be a short hike from the trail's exit point.

Picturesque birch and maple forest on the descent from Mt. Oneida.