This nearly 15 mile stretch of trail may be one of the most popular sections of the North Country National Scenic Trail within central New York, as well as all of New York and possibly along the whole 4600 miles of the trail.  The trail enters the state forest along seasonal dirt Morgan Hill Road.

The NCT coincides with the Onondaga Trail in Morgan Hill State Forest.  The Onondaga Trail is one of six branch trails of the Finger Lakes Trail System.  This trail system has over 900 miles of trails in New York.  This fifteen mile difficult section of trail has numerous ups and downs as well as some steep sections. 

There are numerous camping opportunities along the trail in the state forest including the Hemlock Lean-To.  There are many scenic sections of the trail including Hemlock Glen, Tinker Falls, the view from the hang glider spot on Jones Hill, Spruce Pond and Shackham Pond.  A new staircase was built in 2010 to eliminate some steep sections near the top of Tinker Falls, as well as new switchbacks.  There is a footbridge that was built in 2007 over Shackham Brook.  The trail travels by an old family cemetery near Shackham Pond.

The trail leaves the state forest soon after crossing Fabius Brook and enters private land then soon there are views of the small hamlet of Fabius.   It is because of the generosity of the landowners that the trail is able to pass through this great area.  Please be sure to stay on the trail and respect the landowners rights.  There is also a section of trail near the Jones Hill vista that travels on private property.  The area around Tinker Falls and Jones Hill is in Labrador Hollow Unique Area.

This section of trail is maintained by the Onondaga Chapter of the Adirondack Mountain Club.  If your interesting in more information about this hiking club, join or volunteer, see their website at ADK-Onondaga Chapter.

Check below for a topo map, satellite map, pictures, video and detailed description of this section of the trail.  We will be updating the map below to include a couple of camping spots (besides the lean to) in Morgan Hill State Forest along the trail. 

NOTE: A new three mile section of the North Country Trail/Onondaga Trail has been built between NY 13/West Keeney Rd to Chickadee Hollow Road  officially opened at the end of July 2011. We will be hiking this new section soon and update the map/description of the trail.  We'll also have pictures and video of this new section of trail.

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Pictures from along the North Country Trail

Power Line View near Chickadee Hollow Road	2009 Timber Harvest near Chickadee Hollow Rd	Cows near Fabius	Fabius View	Bridge over Shackham Creek
Waterfall in Hemlock Glen	Hemlock Glen	Hemlock Glen near the Lean To	Hemlock Lean To	Trail crossing Rowley Hill Road
Shackham Pond	Spruce Pond	View near West Keeney Road	Hemlock Lean To	View of Morgan Hill west of Shackham Road.
Top of Tinker Falls	Jones Hill view	Jones Hill view	Spruce Pond	Tree near Jones Hill.
Scrappy posing in front of snag tree	Labrador Pond from Jones Hill	Top of Tinker Falls	Jones Hill View	Trail near Fabius, NY

Points along the North Country Trail in the Morgan Hill State Forest Area:

From Morgan Hill Rd to West Keeney Rd (West to East)

Fabius View from along the North Country Trail

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