D & H Canal Park — Attraction in Town of Deerpark

You can easily split this review in two parts so I will.

The park itself is large and spacious built around the remnants of the old D&H canal. It has the typical basic 'park' amenities such as a playground, picnic tables, benches and a large parking lot. In addition, it also has a picnic shelter, visitors center/museum and fishing by the stream. A few porta potties were spotted though I would imagine indoor bathrooms exist if the center is open. Everything appears to be well maintained here by the staff. The place however doesn't offer much more in regards to any ball fields, soccer fields, tennis or the like.

The old canal path however can be summed up with the old phrase, "Okay folks there isn't much to see here so move it along". Finding the entrance on Hoag Rd can be a little challenging as it's on the other side of the road of the park, a hundred yards down and across from a private house. It really isn't well marked though it isn't terribly hard to find if you look. I've included a picture to help point out the entrance.

The first part of the walk from here is along a dirt/gravel path with what looks like the remnants of a dock and stone moorings used by the canal boats from the previous century. There's also a large, tired looking gazebo. Following the path until reaching the first street crossing doesn't provide much to see as most of the river bed is now dried out and at times you're back into civilization walking past the back of a Dollar General. If you continue on by crossing Oakland Valley Road, the path converts to an old worn out asphalt that's rather beat up and overgrown with weeds. During this small section of the trail, there is nothing to see and you quickly come across the next road to cross (rte 209). Not feeling the love anymore, I made a U-turn and headed back. I'm sure you can insert some chicken-crossing-the-road joke somewhere in here.

I'm guesstimating the walk to this point and back was in the 45-50 minute range. Definitely not worth going out of your way for but if you're like me and will check out anything you can walk and explore, then feel free to kick it's tires. Just keep your expectations on the lower end of...

What a great little trail that we didn’t know about until recently. We parked by the museum area and explored what was there first. Sadly the museum was closed but we still peeked in through the windows and enjoyed the old buildings that stood in front of us. Then we walked up the road past the abandoned building where the trail starts. Right away you can imagine yourself waiting for the boat to come as they built a little covered waiting area. The trail is wide and open and in some sections there was still water. The trail is short but you have to cross the street as it continues. There is some street walking but not a lot of traffic so it’s doable. Then it jumps back into the trail where you’re in another forest. We finished our hike at the end of the street after the power lines and headed back since it was dark and we started late. We will be going back and do more of the D&H...

Stopped over here on 3/12/24 and enjoyed the beauty of the rushing Neversink River. We took photographs, picked up trash and walked our dog along the path to the park in the way back. Loved the area reserved for bees. There were many interesting things to look and it was so peaceful. As a bonus, we got to see some young kids playing during recess at the school nearby. Will definitely be back with a picnic in the...