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| A rough map of the area added to Moreau Lake State Park. The light blue outline shows the approximate boundary of the addition. Lake Bonita lies entirely inside the newly added parcel as does the Grant Cottage historic site. The red line represents the previous Park boundary and the colored lines inside that boundary show existing trails. Wilton Road passes through the addition and the prominent forest cut that intersects with Lake Bonita (from the top of the map) is an abandoned power line right of way. The even more prominent straight cut (gap in the forest) is a current power line ROW. The buildings and infrastructure of the former correctional facility were not added to the park pending possible redevelopment. Note that the new parcel outline shown in this map was drawn by hand and is only approximate. The map is from Google Earth. |
The minimum security Mount McGregor facility was closed in 2014 by New York State in a cost cutting move. Given that the 1100 acre Corrections property is mostly forested --and that it shared a 1.5 mile long boundary with Moreau Lake State Park-- the possibility that some portion might be added to the park received immediate local interest and support. Best of all, the corrections property included all of Lake Bonita. Lake Bonita is a 50 acre reservoir backed up by 150 foot long earth and rock fill dam across the headwaters of Beaver Brook (information on the dam). The lake is quite attractive and during a short visit on May 10th (2015) we saw a variety of water loving birds and what appeared to be Rock Bass spawning near the shore.
But the lake's most appealing characteristic is that it is undeveloped. A well maintained gravel road reaches the dam from Wilton Road and a second road reaches the east end of the lake from the former McGregor facility. The lake was the water supply for the prison and a pump house at that point is the only building visible on the entire lake shoreline.
The press release announcing the land transfer from Corrections to the State Park system noted that access is currently limited by a lack of parking and the absence of trails. We took that to mean that it's OK to visit if you can get there. Which is not to difficult if you are willing to hike and do a little bushwhacking. Probably the easiest way to visit right now is to hike the existing trail from Spier Falls Road to Lake Anne. Lake Anne sits right on the old property line between the Park and the Corrections department lands. From Lake Anne it is about 3/4 of a mile cross country to Lake Bonita. The only challenging part was getting around the extensive marsh found at the southeast end of Lake Anne. You could walk for a ways and then turn towards the lake, but it's been so dry that we went straight through it. We managed to keep our feet dry but we picked up a few hitchhikers while beating through the underbrush. Tick precautions are required if you go off trail anywhere in Moreau State Park.
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| Looking down the lake from near the east end. The dam is out of sight around the corner to the right. |
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| Lake Bonita from near the dam. The lake is approximately half a mile long and 300 yards across at the widest point. |
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| The dam on the northwest end of Lake Bonita. |
History of Mount McGregor Part 2
