Yesterday I returned to the Catskill Mountains to ride the 4 hour loop from Mine Kill Park south to Pepacton Reservoir.
Route 30 borders this enormous man-made lake, twisting, sweeping turns one after another, a number of them resembling the Carousel Turns of the Road America, Mid-Ohio and Watkins Glen race circuits.
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Mountains surround the reservoir.
The Pepacton, built in 1954, was part of the Delaware system first approved in 1931 that included the Rondout, Neversink, and Cannonsville reservoirs. They augmented the earlier Ashokan and Schoharie reservoirs in the Catskills. These new reservoirs were to meet New York City’s water needs at least until 1990.
The story of the Pepacton Reservoir is revealed only in a small installation of several photo boards under a shelter at its northeastern corner. These modest boards provided the basics of the story and some excellent historic photos of the four hamlets that were inundated: Pepacton, Shavertown, Arena, and Union Grove. In all, 974 people were displaced, along with 36 businesses, 8 churches, 5 schools, 4 post offices, and 13 cemeteries, and a number of outlying farms.
View of valley before inundation by Pepacton Reservoir.
From NYS interpretive exhibit ,
Margaretville, NY.
As part of the New York City water supply system, security is tight around the Pepacton Reservoir. There are no pull outs, no visitor centers. Fishing is allowed in the reservoir, but only by permit. There are only a few places to launch a boat.
I rode down route 1 from the north (Andes), and at the Shavertown Bridge I spotted a tent where food seemed to be for sale.
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Yup, it was a full catered barbeque
I got the pulled pork w/pineapple, watermelon, 6 bean bake, and coleslaw, and ate at the water's edge.
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Then a superb ride around the perimeter of the watershed on Rt 30, stopping at the dam.
The dam is 2,400 feet long, 200 feet high, and 1,800 feet thick at its base. The upstream side is concrete; the downstream side is a long, gently sloping earth embankment. The Reservoir is some 18 miles long, has a shore line of 50 miles, and a surface area of 6,400 acres. It drains a watershed of 370 square miles and holds 150 billion gallons of fresh water. A 26-mile long tunnel transports water eastward from the Pepacton Reservoir to the Rondout Reservoir, then through the Delaware Aqueduct towards New York City.
It needed repairs recently.
You feel on top of the world standing on the edge of the dam.
I typically stay only 10 minutes or so; any longer, and police will arrive and ask you what you're up to.
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