Charles Lathrop Demonstration Pack Forest

The Charles Lathrop Demonstration Pack Forest is a popular destination with hiking trails, education stations, and plenty of wildlife. Charles Lathrop, a wealthy lumberman, donated this land to the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry. The college allows the Department of Environmental Conservation to manage the land and use it to conduct educational programs.

The Department of Environmental Conservation added the Pack Forest to its facilities in 1998 and named it after the late Charles Lathrop. The camp is located five miles north of Warrensburg on 2,500 acres of forest. There are a myriad of trails and an 85-acre lake. The Pack Forest also has educational workshops for teens that teach forestry, biology, and field ecology. These week-long workshops run in July and August.

Visitors can access a variety of trails at the registration station, one of which takes hikers to the Grandmother Tree, a pine that is over 315 years old and measures more than 175 feet high.

The Charles Lathrop Demonstration Pack Forest is about 75 minutes north of Albany. The managed trails are popular among hikers and backpackers arriving from the city for a little peace and quiet or R and R.