Info, questions, comments, experiences (good or bad) regarding - Pochuck Mountain Shelter

Past/Present hikers - what can future hikers expect here? Have any good stories or memories from here?

Future hikers - any questions?

Before getting to this shelter there is a steap climb and part way up is a new water source from a house that the A.T.C. just purchased off to your left mak sure you get your water before going allllllll the way up.The shelter is fairly new and in pretty good shape. To the left of the shelter is another bear box for storing your food for the night and a few spots for tenting out.This shelter has an out door privy it's just a box with a toilet seat on it down to your left on a side trail.Not a bad spot to spend the night.;)

Spent the night there this past Saturday night. It is settled in about half way up Pochuck Mtn overlooking the old sod farms that now make up the Wallkill Wildlife Refuge. The views are breathtaking in the winter, but a bit blocked by foliage during the spring and summer. It was 13 degrees on Saturday night and the wind really rips though the valley and up to that shelter. Luckily we had a tarp large enough to block the shelter opening making it comfortable inside. The once "open air" privy has been enclosed obscuring the nice view of Pochuck valley but affording a bit of privacy to users. Nobos will find water about a quarter mile south at the blue house on the left. There is a sign posted leading you through a hedgerow to the back of the house and a spigot. Surprisingly, the water was turned on :cool: Water for sobos still remains a problem I think. I thought that Heaven Hill farm had put a water stash just south of the shelter but I did not see it this weekend. Maybe they just maintain it during thru hiker season???

Before getting to this shelter there is a steap climb and part way up is a new water source from a house that the A.T.C. just purchased off to your left make sure you get your water before going allllllll the way up.

I lived about 15 minutes from there for 14 years. I wanted to buy the house you're talking about, but my wife refused to move out of the Warwick, NY school district. The house is in the Vernon, NJ school district. I wanted to open a B&B for hikers & birders. Glad to see the ATC owns it now.

By the way, the Wallkill Refuge is the ONLY place on the entire AT where you can reliably see Short Eared Owls, Northern Harriers (aka marsh Hawks), and Rough Legged Hawks. All three species overwinter here. The owls can be seen at dusk like clockwork - flying low over the fields like giant moths.

I was way too mosquito-ridden to stop at this shelter.

The only climb that I remember in NJ was the one out of Vernon. The rest are nothing.

Actually the NJ Park Service ownes the house and property. Wawayanda park administers this area.

I did a dayhike from Ferguson Rd./12 miles south yesterday and stopped fpr lunch at the Pochuck Shelter. Nice, clean shelter with near-by tent sites and a privy. As ez-does-it said, be sure to get your water at the bottom of the hill. Overall, it's definitely worthy of a night's sleep. The view of the wildlife refuge is awesome.

I was way too mosquito-ridden to stop at this shelter.

The only climb that I remember in NJ was the one out of Vernon. The rest are nothing.
i did the climb up at midnight,yes i agree the climb up from vernon nj a little work,my mosquito net saved me from the mosquitos that night:cool: neo

The only thing I can add about Pochuck is that NJSP service has done a great job maintaining it. Last time I did an overnight there, it was dank and not very clean. After a 14 miler in from High Point on a hot August day, my butt was kicked and in no mood to complain. We tented it because of the condition of the place.

I've been back twice since...once wile on a Sobo section from Waywayonda SP to Culvers Gap in 03 and again on Labor Day 04...just passin' by, but it's a lot better now. Enjoy it...they even cleared some of the brush away so you have a view of the valley HP tower and opposing ridge.

Spent the night here alone 10/2/05. Even though I'm a "tenter", I splept in the shelter since I didn't see any decent tent space, except for a spot down next to the privy. Bear box was in working order and there's a nice level picnic table.
I swept some of the cobwebs out of the privy. Did not notice any mice or droppings in the shelter. Shelter had lots of hooks for hanging pack or clothes.

Heading SOBO, I got some water at a Trail Angel box about a 100 ft off the trail about a mile north of the shelter. Looks like a permanent box, but i don't know if it's maintained during the winter.

Awoken by a rooster crowing at 5:30, but it didn't get light until 6:30. The Walkill Refuge in the valley was in a thick fog that morning.

april 2006

I stayed here on a hike from Culvers gap to Wawayanda. I had planned to go from High point to wawayanda day 2 and sleep in for a 12 pm pick up at wawayanda but the nonstop rain turned into freezing rain and snow and I wanted to get out of it.

The freezing rain finally stopped and I slept in my bivy outside the shelter. There was a nice sunset visible through the trees

The water wasn't turned on yet from what I read in a Tail log, but I didn't need any and wasn't willing to stop in the freezing rain.

It was clean, no complaints