Emily the Intern Takes A Hike: Vroman’s Nose

On Friday afternoon, I ventured over to Schoharie County to hike one of the most prominent mountains in the area, Vroman’s Nose.

Before I get into the hike itself, I’ll give you a bit of background on the mountain

Vroman’s Nose is located just off State Route 30 outside of the village of Middleburgh in the heart of the Schoharie River Valley.

The steep face of the feature is 600 feet above the Schoharie floodplain at an elevation of 1200 feet above sea level. The mountain is composed of sedimentary bedrock. The uppermost and youngest level is made up of Hamilton sandstone from the Devonian Era. The mountain was formed by glacial action about 50,000 years ago. This was when a lobe of the great continental glacier moved across New York State can carved out the slopes of the Schoharie Valley.

The first humans to claim the geological feature as their own were the Native American Iroquois. The Iroquois had settled the rich farmlands that surround the mount. The natives that lived there named the mountain “Onisagawa”.

In 1713, Adam Vroman from the settlement of Schenectady to the north established the first farm in the area. Vroman purchased the mountain from the Iroquois living there soon after.

The mountain earned the name nose for it’s similar appearance to a human nose.

There is also some legend that surrounds Vroman's Nose from the Revolutionary War period. It is rumored that Battle of Saratoga war hero, Thomas Murphy spend time near the mountain and actually lived nearby. Legend has it that Murphy once fell down the summit with two pitchers of milk in his hands but he did not spill a drop.

There are four trail options; the easiest route is the green trail, which is .6 miles, the medium steep trail is the blue trail, which is .4 miles, the steepest, shortest route is the red trail, which is .2 miles and the fourth trail connects the blue and green trails for .2 miles.

I had hiked this mountain once before when I was about six or seven with my aunt, mother and sister, but didn’t really remember all there was to see. I decided to take the easiest but longest trail. This is a relatively easy hike with the hardest parts being the incline at the start and on the descent. The whole hike took about 45 minutes and is very family friendly.

The views from the top are fantastic. We could see all of the produce fields that lie below in the valley and the creek that flows throughout. We could even see the rain moving towards us from the southwest. As we moved across the face of the mountain we could see all the rock formations and the plant life that have grown out of the rock.

This is a great hike especially for families, but I would recommend bringing some bug spray, I sadly forgot mine and have been paying the price ever since.