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Recreation

Directions & Visitor Information

Directions to Pine Lake Campus

Hartwick College’s Pine Lake Environmental Campus is within the Charlotte Creek drainage system of the Susquehanna River Watershed. Water flows from Pine Lake to the Chesapeake Bay.

GPS Address: (Do not use “Pine Lake”)
1894 Charlotte Creek Road
Oneonta, NY 13820

From the Hartwick College Campus:

  1. Turn right onto West Street as you leave campus.
  2. Turn left at The Wall onto Center Street.
  3. Go three traffic lights to Maple Street, turn right onto Maple.
  4. Cross Main Street to Interstate 88.
  5. Turn left onto I-88 toward Albany.
  6. Go one exit to Exit 16 and turn right onto Otsego County Route 47 – which will become Delaware County Route 11 at the county line.
  7. In the village of West Davenport, turn left onto Charlotte Creek Road. (If you reach State Route 23, at a traffic light, you’ve gone too far.)
  8. Pine Lake will be on the right in about 2 miles – look for the big blue sign at our main entrance.
  9. When you reach the Lake, please sign in at Robertson Lodge, the big white building on the right as you drive into the parking lot. Information on trails, facilities and programs is also available at the Lodge.

From the North and Northeast

  1. Take your best route to Interstate 88, exit 25A on the NYS Thruway.
  2. Take I-88 to exit 16, turn left onto Otsego County Route 47 – which becomes Delaware County Route 11 at the county line.
  3. Follow directions from #7, above ‘From the Hartwick College Campus’.

From the South and Southwest

  1. Take your best route to Interstate 88 in Binghamton NY.
  2. Take I-88 to exit 16,
  3. Follow directions from #6, above ‘From the Hartwick College Campus’.

From NYC and Southeast

  1. Take the NYS Thruway to the Kingston exit.
  2. From the tollbooth, turn right off the circle onto NYS Route 28 West.
  3. Take 28 West to Shandaken.
  4. Turn right onto NYS route 42, toward Lexington
  5. In Lexington, turn left.
  6. At the “T” with NYS route 23A, turn left.
  7. Stay on 23A until it joins NYS 23 just before Prattsville where 23A ends.
  8. Continue west on NYS 23 (there is no turn, just go straight.)
  9. Stay on NYS 23 West through Davenport Center to the traffic light in Pindars Corners.
  10. Turn right in Pindars Corners onto Delaware County Route 11.
  11. In the village of West Davenport, turn right onto Charlotte Creek Road.
  12. Follow the directions from #8, above ‘From the Hartwick College Campus’.

By River

From the South: Start in Chesapeake Bay, head upstream on the Susquehanna River on the incoming tide. Follow the main current north, beginning at Havre de Grace, Delaware, past the confluence with the Juniata River, through Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

Continue on through Sunbury where you’ll pass the confluence of the West Branch of the Susquehanna River on your left. Shortly after this city the river will bend east (right) and head towards Wilkes-Barre. Stay in the main current, passing numerous tributaries, and bending around to the west again through Towanda.

Pass the confluence of the Chemung River on the left. The river again curves east and heads to Binghamton New York. In Binghamton look for the Chenango River on the left, and get ready for a series of sharp curves in the river.

Pass the Unadilla River and Otego Creeks on the left. Go through Oneonta where you can see Hartwick on the hillside on your left.

The first creek on the right after the Southside dam (the last of many you’ll have to portage around) is Charlotte Creek. Make a right onto Charlotte Creek. Take Charlotte Creek about 3 miles. Go under County Route 11.

In another mile or so you will see a beaver dam on the left with water impounded behind it. Take the main channel through the swamp, go under (or carry over) the railroad bed, and through the open water to Pine Lake. The main campus is on your left, the swimming area directly ahead. If you reach railroad trestle for the former Ulster and Delaware Railroad on Charlotte Creek, you have gone too far, but just walk across the field to the lake.

From the North: Take your best overland route to Otsego Lake, head south to the dam in Cooperstown, New York. Carry around the dam and follow the current south through Milford and Portlandville, and past many small tributaries. Portage around the Goodyear Lake hydro-electric dam on the left. Continue downstream. Charlotte Creek will be on the left in about an hour after a couple of interstate over passes and a railroad bridge. Look for Fortin Park on the left a little past the NYS fishing access at Emmons. Follow the Charlotte as above.

 

Visitor Information

Check out the following sites for information on local attractions:

Oneonta, N.Y.
Cooperstown, N.Y.
Great Western Catskills