Hiking the Road to Ruins: Day Trips and Camping Adventures to Iron Mines, Old Military Sites, and Things Abandoned in the New York City Area ... and Beyond [Paperback]

Mr. David Steinberg (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 29, 2007

In this user-friendly, beautifully illustrated, and occasionally eccentric guidebook, David A. Steinberg blazes the trail to more than twenty unusual landmarks and hard-to-find destinations-all within a two-hour drive of New York City. Geared for the experienced hiker or camping adventurer, the book includes hikes to a variety of urban ruins, including a World War II-era air force base, a vacant dairy farm, pine plantations, abandoned quarries, tunnels, cemeteries, and iron mines.

Each chapter contains detailed directions, a hand-drawn map, suggestions for the optimal time and season to visit, and GPS coordinates to specific sites. Bringing fifteen years of experience as a leader of hikes, Steinberg leaves no part of the trip unplanned. He even suggests ideal conditions for the outing. An overcast day, for instance, sets up the haunted atmosphere appropriate for visiting a water tower in Mountainside, New Jersey, that has links to a murder-suicide in the 1970s.

For less experienced hikers, the guide also includes a chapter on equipment and safety, detailed instructions on how to program a hand-held Global Positioning System receiver, and a glossary of terms.

Both a practical guide and a creative chronicle, this book is bound to please hikers and history buffs alike.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

David Steinberg is a life-long resident of the New York City area and has been a paid leader of hikes for fifteen years. From 1985 to 1996, he was a staff photographer and photo-feature writer for The Queens Courier, a weekly newspaper.

Product Details

• Paperback: 200 pages
• Publisher: Rivergate Books (March 29, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0813540356
• ISBN-13: 978-0813540351
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.6 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #814,480 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Twenty Years of Knowledge, September 12, 2007

By 

Carol (Oak Ridge, NJ, United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Hiking the Road to Ruins: Day Trips and Camping Adventures to Iron Mines, Old Military Sites, and Things Abandoned in the New York City Area ... and Beyond (Paperback)

In this book, Steinberg has collected twenty years of hiking, exploration and historical knowledge with the end goal of giving other people a good time. The small handwritten maps, by their very nature, are bound to be fanciful (you can't fit reality into a 3 x 4 inch space) so you need to buy your own map. This book can take you places that you would never find on your own, so go for it.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Response to comments about maps and difficulty ratings, September 12, 2007

By 

David A. Steinberg (Westchester, NY) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Hiking the Road to Ruins: Day Trips and Camping Adventures to Iron Mines, Old Military Sites, and Things Abandoned in the New York City Area ... and Beyond (Paperback)

I'd like to address some of the issues people have brought up in their reviews.

The back cover states that the book is "geared for the experienced hiker or camping adventurer", which is not to say casual explorers are not welcome; indeed, I'm glad they're coming aboard, but they need to plan carefully. Maybe they should start out with the easier hikes and build up experience for the more challenging ones.

Sorry some folks are having problems with my maps, but the drawn maps are not for trail navigation, and I make a point to mention that in the text. I tell people, and I'm telling you now, to pick up the "official" maps (such as NY/NJ Trail Conference maps) that I clearly endorse at the beginning of the chapters. May I quote myself from the "Preparation" chapter: "The personally rendered hand-drawn maps presented herein are for general location purposes only. I would not rely on them for navigation. Pick up the maps listed in the chapter introductions."

Regarding Doodletown, if you picked up the blue trail 25 yards south of the trail then you didn't read the text carefully: "pick up the blue-blazed trail near the sign for the merry-go-round (at the Bear Mountain Inn) to the right of the brook." The trail you used was to the left of the brook.
Much more interesting? First, I submit that's in the eye of the beholder, and second there are no features on that trail (unless you count the Cornell mine sites way up on Dunderburg Mountain) that would be included in the book.

The Pergola hike is rated as "moderate, with some steep ascents and descents" and I later mention the "arduous ascent to the top of the cliffs" and trudging up 500 feet to the top. Is this not accurate?

The FRONT cover promises "...adventures in the NYC area...and beyond" and the text further qualifies "within a two hour drive of NYC in most cases". Did someone really think that Boston, the Adirondacks or DC was two hours from NYC? That's the "beyond" part, and before you go on any trip anywhere you ought to do some homework. The lions share of the hikes are distanced as promised. The rest are added because I think they are unique, interesting, and worth the trip.

Regarding Island Pond, the parking area is actually just west of the trail instead of just east, but as drawn it's on the correct side of the road. Sometimes there are multiple parking areas near a trail.

I welcome feedback, comments, and indications of errors at www.TheRoadToRuins.com.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Tristate Indiana Jones, October 5, 2007

By 

Robert Mykytka (N.J.) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Hiking the Road to Ruins: Day Trips and Camping Adventures to Iron Mines, Old Military Sites, and Things Abandoned in the New York City Area ... and Beyond (Paperback)

For the armchair adventurer or for the weekend woodsman, this book is a must. It is full of historically interesting sites that probably most people don't know exist in the tristate area. This book contains a nice assortment, from iron mines from the 1800's to abandoned missle sites from the cold war era. Good Stuff!