Erebus and Fishbrook Pond Loop

This is an 8.8-mile loop from Dacy Clearing, with a short approach shared in both directions. The route climbs to the Sleeping Beauty overlook, crosses the Bumps Pond area and the marked Erebus trail, reaches Fishbrook Pond, then returns to Dacy. Allow about five hours for the repeated climbs, uneven forest tread and several junctions. The mapped distance leaves out the unmarked bushwhack to Erebus’s true summit; other published totals vary with route choices.

The route starts on a broad, rocky path and then climbs more steadily. A spur reaches the rocky Sleeping Beauty overlook, where the trees open across Lake George and the surrounding ridges. It’s the clearest wide view on this circuit; the wooded Erebus high point has no comparable outlook. If you want a photo, frame the lake from the rock edge with some of the forest in the foreground.

From Dacy Clearing, Bumps Pond is 1.6 miles uphill with about 850 feet of gain. The climb begins gradually, then gets steeper after the first junction. A stone wall has been reported along this stretch. The trail reaches the pond’s edge, where old records place the remains of a hunting lodge; don’t count on a signed or interpreted historic stop.

From the Bumps Pond junction, the loop takes the narrower connecting trail toward Shelving Rock Road, then follows the marked Erebus corridor toward Fishbrook. This side of the circuit is less obvious than the broad start, so pay attention at junctions and follow the marked tread. The route uses the high point of the marked trail, not Erebus’s true summit: that higher point has no official trail and requires a steep off-route bushwhack.

Fishbrook Pond is the last pondside pause before the loop bends back toward Dacy. There is no confirmed potable-water source on the route, so plan to carry what you need for a five-hour hike. The route is free and the forest is listed for year-round recreation. Dogs are allowed; keep them under control, and leash them at trailheads and campsites and during hunting and trapping seasons.

Dacy Clearing preserves traces of an older rural landscape. Historic records identify farm foundations in the clearing and a former hunting lodge at Bumps Pond, though their present visibility is not confirmed. The route is a long forest walk with these small reminders of how the area was used before it became part of the forest preserve.