Today, I took a little fall foliage trip up to Delaware County. This complimented a previous, shorter trip to Calicoon and Narrowsburg and yesterday’s trip out to the Neversink Reservoir.
The trip took me down to Route 55, then to Route 17B, and on to Route 97 straight into Hancock. From Hancock, we took Route 268 to Route 10, to Route 206, to Downsville NY, then Route 206 back to Route 17(Future I-86)..but instead of getting back on, we took the scenic route around Swan Lake back to where we started.
Route 55 actually starts at Route 97 in Barryville, NY. The goal was to hug the water as much as possible, but taking 55 to its terminus with 97 would have taken me too far south. So, Route 55 to White Lake, NY where I turned onto Route 17B.
Route 17B runs from Monticello to Callicoon. At Callicoon, we joined Route 97, which runs mostly along the Delaware from Port Jervis to Hancock. So, a lot of this route included picking up or taking roads to their end. Route 97, which was designated as the Upper Delaware Scenic Byway by FDR, is where we pick up the Delaware River, and parallel it and the railroad tracks through Long Eddy before moving from Sullivan County into Delaware County.
Heading into Downtown Hancock, we stopped for a scenic overlook, then turned onto Route 268, which starts in Hancock and runs along and then over the Cannonsville Reservoir. The Cannonsville Reservoir is the westernmost and the newest of New York City’s reservoirs, placed into service in 1964. Cannonsville itself ceased to exist as a result.
Route 268 ends at Route 10, which starts 20 miles away in Deposit, which was a potential part of this route and may be the location of a future trip.
NY Route 10 continues from the reservoir to Walton NY, once again on the banks of the Delaware where it meets up with Route 206, which we took to its terminus in Roscoe, NY with Route 17(Future I-86).
Route 206 after Walton crosses the West Branch of the Delaware River and heads toward Downsville. We stopped at the Downsville Covered Bridge, built 1854, for a photo op, then returned to Route 206 past the Pepacton Reservoir which was completed in 1955.
Both Cannonsville and Pepacton empty into the Rondout Reservoir, as does the Neversink Reservoir I visited yesterday. The three reservoirs I visited collect here before headed to New York City via the Delaware Aqueduct, the newest of the three aqueducts that from the NYC water system and provide 50% of NYC’s water supply.
After the reservoir, we continued on Route 206 across the Beaver Kill en route back, passing through Roscoe…Trouttown USA….a mecca for fly fisherman, including Donald Trump Jr(who I have not seen there, nor am I interested in seeing).
All in all, the trip took 3 hours of driving.
