Sept, 2007-- -- The view looking north-west from the rest area on NY Route 6 (Long Mountain Parkway), altitude 940 ft.

The ridge on the horizon running from the left of the image is Shunnemunk Mountain, about five miles distant and roughly 1500 - 1600 ft in altitude. Near the left edge, on the top of the first ridge, 3 miles distant, you can see the silo at Ace Farms just above and left of some houses. Interstate 87 (Thruway) is in the center. Above the Interstate, slightly to the right, is the town of Highland Mills.

It would be nice if everybody appreciated the vista, but as is so often typical of rest areas like this one, if you want to enjoy it you have to wallow ankle deep in garbage like this, which shows the exact spot from which I took the photo above.

Just to the left of this shot somebody has seen fit to do an engine oil change. Note that there are no garbage collection bins, and Orange County obviously hasn't spent a dime on maintenance for a couple of decades. The sidewalk is virtually unuseable because of garbage and weeds.

You'd like to bring visitors to a spot like this to show off the natural beauty of the landscape, but their over-riding impression is always the garbage they have to wade through.




































There's nothing down here! Might as well go home.