Verkeerder Kill
The Verkeerder Kill, sometimes Verkeerderkill and locally shortened to Kaidy Kill is an stream in Ulster County, New York, United States. It rises on the Shawangunk Ridge, in the town of Wawarsing, and flows southwards through the town of Shawangunk, toward the Shawangunk Kill, itself a major tributary of the Wallkill River. Ultimately it is a part of the Hudson River's watershed. It is best known for Verkeerder Kill Falls, a waterfall located on its headwaters just below its source, on the border between the two towns. The falls are a popular hiking destination along the Long Path, a long-distance hiking trail from New York City to the Capital District that traverses the area. Course The Verkeerder rises as two small streams a short distance apart in the dwarf pine barrens of Sam's Point Preserve atop the Shawangunk Ridge near the southern boundary of the town of Wawarsing. The higher of the two, on the east, has its source at . After flowing roughly south from their respective sources, they converge into the stream's main stem. After another 500 feet, with the stream flowing on a bed of white stone, the Verkeerder Kill Falls Trail, part of the Long Path, fords the stream. Shortly afterwards, it reaches the distinctive cliffs of the Shawangunks and tumbles over Verkeerder Kill Falls, dropping and entering the town of Shawangunk. Below the falls it continues to descend steeply down a wooded gorge, passing some remote houses as it continues to the south. Almost a mile (1.6 km) below the falls, it receives from the northwest its first tributary, the Lake Maratanza outlet brook. After descending another 100 feet (30 m) in its next quarter-mile (), it reaches more gently sloping ground, having dropped in elevation during its first . A half-mile (800 m) further to the south and 150 feet (50 m) below the foot of the ridge, still surrounded by woods, it flows under Indian Springs Road for its first road crossing. From here it veers to the southeast, crossing under two long dead-end roads in its next mile of woodlands with some cleared areas near the stream. The surrounding terrain levels out. For its next mile, the Verkeerder Kill returns to its southerly heading through unbroken forest. Shortly before reaching a wetland just under in elevation, it turns to the southwest. Half a mile downstream it turns southeast just before receiving its next tributary, the Murrays Pond outlet stream, from the west as well. Shortly afterwards, it begins flowing closely along Sinsabaugh Road, paralleling it as it bends back to the southwest and then southeast again over the next mile. Here the woods begin to be broken by farmland. When the stream reaches the town's Verkeerderkill Park on its west a half-mile below the Murrays Pond tributary confluence, a thin wooded buffer stands between it and open fields on either side. At the southeast corner of the park the stream crosses under New York State Route 52, having descended to . It