Bear Mountan State Park

[Lighthearted]

Bear Mountain State Park-hardly a hike at all, but a most memorable spot for its remarkable history and visual representation. Hudson River, Whitman statue, a Revolutionary War redoubt, wildlife center, museums, lake and beautiful Inn. You mentally have to shift gears after being out in the woods, but how cool is it: this is still the trail. Gotta love it.

[stranger]

Nice to hear some good things about Bear Mtn/Harriman State Park. I used to live about 5 miles from there, I agree the Inn is great. Too bad most hikers see it in the summer...it's a great sight in winter. What do you think of the zoo haha.

[Lone Wolf]

In 2000 me and Gypsy arrived there in mid November going south. The zoo was empty. Hardly any tourists. Had a beer or two in the Inn. Had Harriman all to ourselves also. Wonderful time to be in that area. In 1986 going NOBO was a different story. Me any Roy got to The Inn on the 4th of July. We thought we were in Puerto Rico! Half of NYC was there BBQing. The music! The smells of burning flesh! The Spanish! You had to be there.

[stranger]

Lone Wolf...Bob Dylan wrote a great song about that type of thing. I believe it's called the Bear Mountain Picnic Massacre, check it out if you can. I know the NYC burning down Harriman scene well, I have been there and don't miss it. Also in the summer people pull over on the median of the Palisades Pkwy and BBQ, it's sad but funny.

[Trail Dog]

when your at bear mt head over the bear mt bridge, the lowest point on the trail if i aint mistaken, and head up to anthony's nose. wonderful view beautiful site. New York aint all that bad guys you give us a bad rep good to see some positive news about it.

lol thought you were in puerto rico lol.

happy trails

[yogi clyde]

I do alot of day hiking there, since it is less than 1 hour from NYC.

Although the parking areas and beaches can be crazy during the summer, especially on the weekends, once you hike into the woods you have the trails all to yourself.
Most people up there to bbq do not venture into the woods.

Enjoy and happy trails!

[Jumpstart]

The inn has excellent air conditioning, for those contemplating making an escape from the summer heat that hits about this time, and akilelr continental breakfast. Also, on an aside note, you can catch a geryhound bus into New York City for an excellent dose of culture shock or a zero day for $11 bucks each way. The bus stops at the front entrance of the inn and makes several stops a day.

[Grimace]

When we came through Bear Mtn we had the most generous Trail Magic of our trip. We stopped to eat a snack on a picnic table (alright we were yogi-ing) and this little girl came up to us and asked if we were hikers. Yep, we're hikers. Wow, I've never seen a real hiker before she replied. Then a couple more girls came around to ask us questions. Then some older girls. then some adults. Then came the hot dogs, sodas, candy bars. We started to ask about them only to find out they were from a state run orphanage. Orphans! giving US stuff. Unbelievable! We did send them postcards along the way, but I still feel guilty.

[mongo]

I loved Bear Mtn. Why well it was so hot when I was on top of Bear Mtn (about 108) that when I got down to the Zoo and saw everybody swimming and BBQing and the all the noise ti just blew me away. I was really freaking out actually. I wondered along the road a bit to a pizza place and had about 10 litres of ice cold Gatorade plus between Mrs Mongo and I we had three large Pizza's. Yummy...oh yes there was air condtioning!!!

To add to the atmosphere there were a bunch of plain clothes ATF guys cleaning their weapons and planning a raid on somebodies place. They were quiet at first but once they realised that we weren't local (did the 4 day funk, the kiwi accent or the pizza demolation in 4 seconds give it away) they started talking again.

The Zoo was neat the people were neat, Bear Mtn you rock.



Mongo

[oruoja]

Bear Mountain has a special meaning for me as it was at the Inn back in June 1975 I first set foot on the AT on a five day hike to High Point, NJ with my scout troop. Bear Mt. itself also marked my first hiking fall which resulted in blowing out the ass of my cutoff jeans. I still have the old scout ruck sack hanging in the garage which was known as the "cruel" pack.

[Flash Hand]

I guess this Bear Mt. is the area where Bear Scared shouldn't go!

Flash Hand

[funkyfreddy]

Harriman State Park is an interesting area to hike in. I wouldn't call it wilderness but consider it a nice oasis of forest, the first good stretch of woods as you drive north away from NYC and NJ. As others have noted there is a lot of history about the area and one can come upon a lot of old cemetaries and cellar holes in the woods. There's a lot of nice hiking and solitude to be had if you're willing to venture some, especially away from Bear Mountain and the AT if you're so inclined.

[A-Train]

There are some awesome trails in Harriman, one being the Long Path, which I hope to thru-hike in the near future. There are many other trails that allow for interesting loops with much more solitude than the AT. This area is great most of the year, besides the summer when less people are using it. Winter is one of my favorite times-there is a lot of beauty out there.

Thru-hikers unfairly dislike NY in general. I wish they could hike it off season. I'm glad i live so close (when not in school) to explore

[Rain Man]

I have a question about the area somewhere north of the Park. When I drove up to Maine earlier this month, we crossed the Hudson River on I-84. On both sides of the Interstate there, there were prisons on the river. Correct? What were they? The infamous Sing-Sing?

Just curious.

Rain Man

.

[2XL]

I have a question about the area somewhere north of the Park. When I drove up to Maine earlier this month, we crossed the Hudson River on I-84. On both sides of the Interstate there, there were prisons on the river. Correct? What were they? The infamous Sing-Sing?
Rain Man
.

One of the prison is the Green Haven maximum security prison, I believe the other is a woman's prison. The prison can be seen from Mt Egbert, just south of the Morgan Stewart shelter.

From the New York-New Jersey Trail guide
A maximum security prison that servesas home to New York's death row,formerly located at SingSing prison. For more the a decade it was the home of the state's electric chair. ............Today it houses more than 2,000 inmates, most of whom committed violent offenses and sixty percent of whom are serving life sentences.

Green Haven is in Duchess County. Sing Sing is further south in Westchester County

[bailcor]

Bear Mountain also holds another distinction - On October 7, 1923, the first sixteen-mile stretch of the A.T. trail was dedicated at Bear Mountain. On October 26-28, 1924, a meeting at Bear Mountain Inn with MacKaye, Raymond Torrey, Major William A. Welch, and others was the first major meeting devoted to the A.T. At that time, Welch’s diamond A.T. symbol became the official trail marker. Excerpted from - “Walking The Appalachian Trail” by Larry Luxenberg.

[LIhikers]

It's been years since the last post on this thread and much has changed or is cahanging at Bear Mountain. The Inn is closed for renovations and doesn't look like it's going to open anytime soon although the schedule calls for sometime in 2007. The AT is also undergoing extensive renovations and relocations. Here's a link to the project www.nynjtc.org/BearMountainTrails/index.html

[vipahman]

I hate the Bear Mtn stretch of the AT from the summit to the bridge because of the crowds. I guess when I try to get out of the NYC area, I want isolation. But it's great in the middle of winter.

[rafe]

I hate the Bear Mtn stretch of the AT from the summit to the bridge because of the crowds. I guess when I try to get out of the NYC area, I want isolation. But it's great in the middle of winter.

No crowds when I was there... it was the Sunday morning after Hurricane Ernesto blew through. It was raining lightly as I started the climb. By the time I got to the summit of West Mtn. it had turned into a beautiful sunny day. I met one woman jogging on a road near the summit. I saw no hikers between the bridge and West Mtn.

[vipahman]

No crowds when I was there... it was the Sunday morning after Hurricane Ernesto blew through. It was raining lightly as I started the climb. By the time I got to the summit of West Mtn. it had turned into a beautiful sunny day. I met one woman jogging on a road near the summit. I saw no hikers between the bridge and West Mtn.

Maybe Ernesto had something to do with it, eh?