2022-08-18: Sandy Plains Road

Cairo NY Roads: 96/112 mi

After a broken toe had laid me up for much of the month, I was itching to get back out walking and hiking again before my impending return to college. For my first excursion following my recovery, I opted to do some roadwalking in Cairo, since I was almost done with the town and not quite sure how my toe would hold up under intense activity following a long atrophy. My planned seven-mile route was a bit contrived, covering a number of major and minor roads in the hamlet of South Cairo, near the town's southeastern border with Catskill.

Roads Walked: NY-23, CR-23B, CR-67/Sandy Plains Road, Scotch Rock Road, Silver Spur Road

I began my walk at a parking area along Route 23, a little inside the Catskill border on the side of the highway. My last major walk along the high-traffic, high-speed highway, I hurried towards the intersection with Silver Spur Road some mile and a half to the north. My foot was a little sore at first, but I soon determined this was due not to my broken bone, but rather atrophy after not using my left leg for the past month. Still keeping my injury in mind, and reminding myself that I could turn back if it got bad, I circumvented a pulled-over semi in the shoulder and headed towards the backroads.

A house in South Cairo visible from the highway through a gap in the trees.

The intersection of Route 23 and Ross Ruland Road, just across from the local state police barracks.

I turned down Silver Spur and onto Route 23B, a 'major backroad' that runs from downtown Cairo (where it forms Main Street) all the way to Route 9W in Catskill. This mostly residential part of the street runs through the hamlet of South Cairo, much of which I had walked during an unposted campaign to visit population centers back in 2019. The road runs parallel to the Catskill Creek for its entire length, allowing me to see the visible effects of an extreme summer-long drought.

Looking down Route 23B as it twists towards the center of South Cairo under a dead maple.

Boarded windows and broken doorframes characterize an abandoned motel outside the hamlet.

The Catskill Creek, usually a wide, shallow river, had here been reduced to pools and trickles by months of drought.

In the center of South Cairo, I turned north onto Route 67, and from there onto Sandy Plains Road, walking some distance north of the Catskill Creek. In addition to some nice views of the mountains to the southwest, which I hadn't seen on a roadwalk for some time, this also took me through some quiet residential areas on dead-end roads adjacent to the main road.

Looking north down Route 67 north of the Catskill.

Part of Round Top (L) occludes the much higher - and more distant - Catskill Escarpment over a fence-straddled field.

Acra Point (L) and Windham High Peak (R) preside over a pleasant house in the midst of a newly-mown hayfield.

An eastern gray squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis) in someone's lawn along Route 27. I've never photographed a squirrel before, mostly because they're very 'common' animals, but also very skittish and hard to capture standing still.

On the way back I noted some glimpses of a clearing to the east along the wide, flat plains on the north side of the creek. This open area along Route 67 is home to the Catskill Valley Airpark, a now-private airfield surrounded by farms that take advantage of the small fertile floodplain. I backtracked southwards again to South Cairo to continue my walk parallel to the creek.

Looking out over the private Catskill Airpark from a break in the trees along a blind corner. Potic Mountain is the hill in the background.

South Mountain (L) and Round Top (R) seen from the shade of some fenced-off maple trees.

Looking downstream along the Catskill from the bridge on Route 67. While water may seem abundant here, note the total dryness of the river farther ahead.

After passing through the east side of South Cairo, I arrived at the riskiest part of my walk: Scotch Rock Road. A one-lane loop road on the border between Cairo and Catskill, I couldn't quite tell from satellite and ground-based photos or from local knowledge if this thru road was public and inviting (i.e. I wouldn't get shot walking it). When I reached the far end of the road, however, I decided to take a risk and go for it, and I turned off the main road down the rural one-lane street.

Signage marking the Catskill town line just outside of South Cairo.

The eastern outlet of Scotch Rock Road is marked by a large sign for the long-defunct Greystone Motel, now a private residence.

An abundance of scotch pines (Pinus sylvestris) may have given this small loop road its name.

Locus trees line the quiet little lane in this plain near the creek.

While Scotch Rock Road is certainly a small, quiet, and little-travelled road, I had no problems with locals walking down it with my camera (maybe everyone was at work). It's home to a few houses and runs along plains on the south bank of the Catskill Creek. One house in particular was surrounded by pieces of homemade folk art, and another was being used as a workshop for old cars. It was actually a very pleasant walk, and I was glad to have done it, and not just to truly say I've walked all the town's thru roads.

A sculpture made of bottles and copper, one of many odd art pieces along the road.

Looking across the Catskill to houses on Sandy Plains Road from a nice (private) swimming area, mostly dry at this point.

This old truck is one of several vehicles under restoration and/or modification here.

Scotch Rock Road looped around and spit me back out on Route 23B just as storm clouds began to roll in. By the time I made it back to Route 23, a full-blown thunderstorm had broken out, and I was in a full-blown spring, trying in vain to shield my camera from the water as rain poured down from above and speeding cars on the highway kicked even more water at me. Finally I made it back to the car and headed home, my camera thankfully unharmed, my toe a bit irritated but otherwise undamaged, and my mind put at ease by getting out of the house for the first time in too long.

Cars speed down Route 23 during a brief pause in the downpour.