The Jessup River Wild Forest (JRWF) area consists of 47,350 acres of State Forest Preserve lands in the towns of Arietta, Indian Lake, Lake Pleasant, and Wells in Hamilton County. The unit is bounded by Route 28 to the north and Route 30 in the southeast, as well as three wilderness areas: West Canada Lakes Wilderness to the west; Siamese Ponds Wilderness to the east, and Silver Lake Wilderness to the south. The state lands in this unit border, or are in close proximity to, the communities of Indian Lake, Piseco, Speculator and Wells. Route 30 bisects the unit and serves as the main access corridor. Many people enjoy hiking to the fire towers on Pillsbury and Snowy mountains, snowmobiling between Piseco Lake and Indian Lake, canoeing on Fall Stream, or camping on Mason Lake. Hunting, fishing, and trapping are also popular activities throughout the unit but particularly in and around Perkins Clearing, the Jessup River and the Miami River.
Just north of Hubbells Corners, the Catskill Scenic Trail winds right through the Mountainside Farms Dairy processing plant. You can smell the milk and the steam as you walk through the yard where the rail trail goes right between the buildings.
A lot of the trail, especially through the notch south of Grand Gorge reminds me of the Old Erie Canal, although it never was a canal -- it's just the East Branch Delaware River is channeled between the old rail grade and state highway.