Overlook Mountain House ruins — Attraction in Town of Woodstock

To get this out of the way, GOOGLE MAPS PROBABLY WILL TAKE YOU TO THE WRONG PLACE.

It took us near it, but the road had multiple signs "private entrance / no trespassing" please search " Overlook Mountain Trailhead" - it's across the road from a Buddhist Monastery.

The hike up was honestly difficult. It's steep for a novice hiker, there's a power line that runs up the hill. I just walked to each post, rested for about a minute, walked to the next one and repeat. Took me and a friend about two hours to make it to the top, I'd advise to bring a small cooler with some water and some snacks.

Once you think you're never going to make it, and your legs start to hurt from the incline, you'll look up and voilah! You'll get so excited and run up the stairs and see this beautiful place!

Please come early and on a weekday. We got there shortly after 9 am on a Tuesday with only a few cars in the lot, but when we got to the car it was full. So full even that another person asked if we were leaving to take the spot, I didn't mind.

Come here, you won't...

This is a very cool place. The ruins are really interesting to explore. It is much larger than I expected it to be. There are actually two buildings. The first larger building is easily accessible. One inside, you'll find old fireplaces, staircases that lead to nowhere, and various smaller rooms. You can descend into the lower portion via a set of concrete stairs. The second smaller building isn't easily accessible. There is no floor, so you'd need to either climb down into what was once the basement, or jump from one of the doorways onto the stairs. Neither is advisable. Watch out for rattlesnakes. I didn't see any at the ruins, but I did at the fire tower. The hike up is long, boring, and unrelentingly uphill. It's not a difficult hike, but there are basically no flats so it's not the most fun hike ever. It's well worth the hike though assuming you're in good enough...

Pretty steep, read reviews if you're genuinely worried about your health and safety & for those who feel good about it I'll name that there were lots of kids, doggies, and people of all ages and sizes the evening I went. My friends and I really Hauled our butts up to make sunset and down to beat the dark. We completed the whole trip with a little time to sit for a short beer at the top in 2.5 hours.

The fall foliage at the ruins was spectacular and spooky. The way the stone absorbed sound was eerie and lovely on a cool afternoon. Would love to see in the spring and take a sketchbook. Don't skip heading to the very top of overlook. The view is stunning.

The trail was very well maintained, but with a lot of traffic of humans there's always more trash than the forest needs. Take a bag and a sanitizer with you to help do your part to keep...