The Ridge Trail Behind a Saylorsburg Winery's Fence, and Why October Is Its Month

The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service gives a lot of driving directions. Few of them end the way the ones for the Cherry Valley Ridge Trail do:

"Those choosing to navigate by address may use that of the adjacent Sorrenti Winery, which is 130 Lower Cherry Valley Road, Saylorsburg, PA."

A federal wildlife refuge uses a winery as its street address because the refuge started on the winery family's land. That history explains why one short piece of Lower Cherry Valley Road holds a 3.2-mile ridge trail, a tasting room, a brick-oven pizzeria, a corn maze and a haunted house. October, which starts tomorrow, is the best month to use all of it.

A 2010 Sale That Became a Refuge's First Parcel

In 2010, Mary and Dominic Sorrenti sold 187 acres to the Cherry Valley National Wildlife Refuge. According to the winery, that tract was the refuge's first parcel. The land is home to the endangered bog turtle, and the refuge entrance sits alongside the winery, behind the fence. When the Pocono Record announced a group walk there in 2014, it described the meeting spot as trailhead parking next to Cherry Valley Vineyard on the refuge's "newly acquired Sorrenti Tract."

The trail that came out of the sale is unlike the refuge's better-known paths. The Front Nine and Back Nine trails at 2138 Croasdale Road in Stroudsburg are paved former golf-cart paths, 1.7 miles each, and work for strollers and wheelchairs. The Cherry Valley Ridge Trail is dirt and loose gravel with several moderately steep inclines. It runs 3.2 miles through upland oak and pine forest and open fields along the Kittatinny Ridge. A kiosk at the trailhead explains the white and blue blazes, and an observation and photography blind sits along the route. The trail is open year-round.

The Croasdale Road side is built for an easy loop. The Saylorsburg side is the ridge walk, and its trailhead is next door to a pizza oven.

Getting to the Right Gate

Because the trail and the winery share an address, it's easy to pull into the wrong lot. Sorrenti says the trailhead is about 150 meters from the winery's parking lot. The refuge has its own lot, though, and the FWS directions lead to it:

1. From Route 80, take exit 304 to US-209 South and continue onto US-33 South.
2. Take the Saylorsburg exit and turn left onto State Route 3017.
3. Make the first left onto Lower Cherry Valley Road.
4. Turn right into the lot immediately after the US-33 underpass, then follow the gravel road through the gate to the refuge parking lot.

The gate is open only during visiting hours, sunrise to sunset. That matters more in October, when the light runs out sooner every week. Hikers who plan to stop at the winery afterward can walk the short distance between the two. No source we found says trail users can park in Sorrenti's lot, so park in the refuge lot.

Why the Ridge Earns Its Keep in October

The Kittatinny Ridge is a migration corridor. The Fish & Wildlife Service describes it as a fall flyway that funnels up to 20,000 migrating raptors and more than 140 bird species past the refuge each fall. On timing, the Kittatinny Ridge project's hawkwatching guidance puts the broad-winged hawk peak in September. It calls October the best month overall and the peak month for species diversity. That makes the blind along the ridge trail most worth a stop in October.

Leaf color arrives a little later on the south end of the county. The Pocono Mountains Visitors Bureau foliage forecast for October 1 through 7, 2026 puts the southern zone, which covers southern Monroe and Carbon counties, at about 10% full color with every leaf still on the trees. Peak is projected for October 20 to 28, 2026. Northern Wayne and Pike counties are projected to peak October 8 to 14, so Saylorsburg's color comes roughly two weeks after the northern Poconos. Sumac, black gum and red maple are already turning red in the southern zone, and sassafras is expected to add orange and yellow next. For a second read, the state's DCNR weekly fall foliage reports start again October 1.

Put those together and October covers both reasons to climb. The whole month is the peak for raptor diversity, and the color reaches the ridge in the last third.

After the Trail, the Same Driveway

Sorrenti Family Estate has a tasting room with guided tastings, four-wine flights and spirits flights. Mamma Lucia's, in a separate building, serves wood-fired brick-oven pizza for dine-in or takeout. The winery says the pizzeria has free live music year-round, Saturdays 5 to 8 p.m. and Sundays 1 to 4 p.m. That lines up well with a morning hike on either weekend day.

The first weekend of October has a special event. Sorrenti's Italian Fall Fest Drink Flights run Saturday, October 3, and Sunday, October 4, from noon to 6 p.m., with flights advertised at $29.

On hours, the winery currently lists the tasting room at 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday. The pizzeria is listed at noon to 8 p.m. Sunday and noon to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday. The page labels those as Summer 2026 hours, so check before an evening visit as the season changes.

The Neighbors Sorrenti Points You Toward

Sorrenti's own visitor page lists what is next door, including a local flea market, an outdoor corn maze that runs in the fall, and a haunted house. Those neighbors, plus Blue Ridge Estate Vineyard & Winery up on Blue Ridge Road, fill most of the fall calendar around Cherry Valley.

Some details the table can't hold. At Mazezilla, admission is $15 per person, or $14 in cash, and children under 4 get in free. The maze ticket covers the jump pads, pedal cars and cow train. Barley Creek Brewing Company is on site all season, and Hardball Cider is there every October weekend. Franklin Hill Vineyards joins the last two October weekends, and Hecho Bien Empanadas is scheduled for October 30, October 31 and November 1. The farm's own page says the maze runs September through October. DiscoverNEPA's listing runs select dates through November 8, 2026. The posted times are last-entrance times, and the maze closes when weather or wet ground calls for it. The farm suggests checking its Facebook page or calling 570-402-7378 before you go.

October admission at Hotel of Horror ranges from $35 to $45. Most nights run 7 to 10 p.m., and some Saturdays stretch from 6 to 11 p.m. The last night is Sunday, November 1, from 7 to 10 p.m. at $40, and parking on site is free. Blue Ridge Estate keeps regular hours of 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Friday and Saturday, with October 1 listed as an 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. exception.

The Road Work Around the Underpass

The ridge trail directions go under US-33, and that same road and Cherry Valley Road both have work planned. PennDOT's September 24, 2026 notice listed nighttime lane restrictions for crack sealing on Cherry Valley Road between Old Route 115 and Middle Easton Belmont Pike in Hamilton Township. They were scheduled from September 29 to October 1, 8 p.m. to 6 a.m., and rain could push them back. A later Times News roundup lists the same restriction for Tuesday through Thursday nights, into October 2. Both windows are overnight, so a daytime hike won't run into them.

The longer project starts at the same exit. In February 2026, PennDOT announced an accelerated Route 33 safety project running from Lower Cherry Valley Road to Bossardsville Road in Hamilton Township. It was slated to go out for bid in September 2026, with completion estimated for summer 2028. That announcement doesn't set a construction start for this fall. It does mean the stretch of 33 that leads to the trailhead is about to change, a few seasons out.

On the Saylorsburg side of the refuge, the fall plan is straightforward. Follow the gravel road past the underpass to the refuge lot, get through the gate before sunset, walk the blazes up the ridge while the raptors are moving, and come back down to the pizza oven.

If you know Lower Cherry Valley Road for the ridge trail, you already know what the Saylorsburg area offers beyond its listings. That local knowledge is what John D Keely brings to every conversation about this part of Hamilton Township. Let's connect, whether you want a valuation on a home near Cherry Valley or a search that starts with how you'd actually spend a Saturday here.