By:
Submission
This town-owned park consists of 190 acres of wooded, rocky
mountainside. Trails here are relatively easy on the flat but significantly more difficult on the hillside. The ground can be very wet after
rains.
Onion Mountain Park is accessed on the west side of West Mountain Rd. just south of Shingle Mill Rd. Visitors will find a good size
parking lot.
I took the orange trail up to the top and then to the south along the ridgeline. There is a point that the trail forks, and the orange path continues to the right. At this point the trail devolves in bramble and ledge, and you almost have to navigate by intuition to find the orange markers. I essentially cut my way through and the trail lead me to a swamp, on the other side is the next marker. Tightwalking across logs, I get a bit muddy but manage.
On the other side the trail got lost, and picked up only for a few markers in a lush pine forest. At this point I head east, hoping to meet the returning trail (checking the map after I see it is a single trail there). I came toward the edge of some properties and then took back toward the north. I have to tightwalk my way across another swamp and trudge into the birch forest. From here I continued North a while and then find a dry streambed. That becomes wet again soon, then I head northwest up the ledge. Not too long after I found the yellow trail, then make it back to my car.
It was a fun hike, but a bit hairy for just wearing sandals.
Fantastic trail with different options and degrees of difficulty. My only recommendation is that you bring poles so that you have better balance. Especially during the fall when it is covered in leaves. Worth going when the fall colors change :)
Hiked there 10/28/23 following the red and orange trails. The blazing on the trees is either faded or non-existent in many areas. That made it VERY hard to follow the trail when leaves are down and there is no clear path to follow. We actually got lost several times and had to back track, then hunt for where the trail might really be. At point, the blazing actually went in two directions.
Of course, the way we chose just ends and we were left searching for blazing that most likely did not exist. Frustrating. It all worked out in the end, but I was glad I had a trail map with me.
