The days of social distancing have given me the opportunity to seek more local and out of the way trails & destinations. Leonard Pond (S. Colton) has been on my “to hike” list for a while. Looking over maps of the area, I noticed a small access road that starts on the west side of RT 56, across from the Jamestown Falls water access site.

The trail is an old fire road that “could be” driven on- but it might be a bit rough on your car. The trail winds through a great evergreen forest and is well hiking. There are two primitive campsites on this stretch, the first is one a few hundred yards from the highway. The second is about 0.6-miles in. At 0.9-miles the trail crosses Blueberry Lane, which is the main vehicle access to Leonard Pond and beyond. Continue across and the pond is another 0.2-miles ahead. There is a campsite on the SW corner of the pond.

After you return to the highway, you should take the time to walk (or drive) down to the Raquette River access site. There are some nice views of the Jamestown waterfalls and a picnic site. Round trip to Leonard Pond is only about 2.3-miles, and with some exploring around the pond and a trek to the river, I added another mile.