Bluestone Wild Forest — Attraction in Town of Kingston

Camping by Onteora Lake is excellent. This is real Catskill camping. 4 official "natural" campsites, posted, with fire ring. Camping in the forest follows NY camping rules: No camping within 150 feet of another campsite, a trail or road, or a water feature. Easy parking, 2 lots; parking lot by lake is closed in the winter. During the summer, portapotty available in parking lot. Lake allows boating, kayaking and fishing. Handicapped fishing platform available. Nice trails. They allow mountain bikes here too! Problems: Copperhead snakes along the edges of the lake; and, lots of poison ivy by campsites 1, 2, and 3. (Campsite 4 is free of poison ivy. It's the farthest from the parking lot, down the access road that turns...

If you're looking for an easy hike with lots of possibilities, these woods are the place to go. I mean I wouldn't drive from Kentucky to go hike in them, but if you want to get some moderate exercise and you happen to be in the Kingston/ Woodstock area, definitely do.

There are a number of different trails that form loops so you could potentially visit it 3, 4, 5 times or more and not repeat the same path, but bear in mind that this is a popular destination, so while the trails aren't packed, they aren't entirely secluded...

The 2017 Fishing season was a blast at the lake! I had 9 visits for 5-8 hours of multi-species angling each visit! I caught Bluegil, Black Croppie and Largemouth Bass. The bluegil and croppie can be fun for the kids right at the picnic bench areas. Walk about 5 minutes down trail and fish the pads on the end of the lake for the bass. Lots of people bring their dogs out and hike the trail. So if you're looking for peaceful fishing, honestly stick near the benches because everyone just walked...