Wish Upon a Star Letterbox

Location: Schenectady County Nature and Historic Preserve, Glenville, New York

Placed: 12/27/01 by Ann T.

Difficulty: Easy (less than an hour hike)

Directions: Go North on Route 50 to Glenridge Road. Turn right on Glenridge and go 1.3 miles to traffic signal at Maple Avenue. Turn left, go 0.4 miles to parking lot on left at junction of Maple Avenue and Hetcheltown Road. Trail starts on the right side of the parking lot.

From the signboard at the trailhead, follow a trail through a young forest and down a slope to the valley of the Indian Kill. Cross the stream on a bridge built on an old dam. Bear right onto the red-marked trail (the Claire K. Schmitt Trail) that hugs the stream, following this trail up to a bluff. The trail makes a sharp (135 degree) turn right at the bluff. (An unmarked trail continues straight down the bluff to the stream below.) Find a heavily-carved beech tree at the vee of the trail. From here a bearing of 100 degrees points to a huge, triple-trunked silver maple. The letterbox is hidden between the trunks of the maple tree, about waist-high. Be careful, there’s a steep slope to get to the tree and it’s a long way down to the stream below. After stamping in be sure to conceal the box carefully. This looks like a place that might attract critters as well as adventurous kids. Continue your hike on the red trail. It will soon intersect with a yellow trail. Take the yellow trail south (left) back to the bridge over the old dam that you crossed before, and go back to your car the way you came in. (A map at the trailhead shows ways to lengthen your hike if you wish.)