CCC Camp

Trail uses include hiking, biking, horseback riding, and snowmobiling. Cross-country skiing is available in winter on the golf course. Park borders the Hudson River with scenic trails. 

Use the Web Map link on this site to view a map of trails and other attractions. 

The trails in Blue Mountain Reservation meander up hills and down through valleys. Aside from the singel-track trails created by mountain bikers, the trails are on woods roads. Blazes and numbered posts change all too frequently because groups decide on their own to mark a trail. Hikers seeking solitude might prefer weekday visits to avoid the heavy mountain bike activity on weekends.The official park trail map designates most intersections with numbers, but unfortunately these numbers do not appear on the ground at most intersections. It is best to print out the trail map from the Blue Mountain website, but the colors on the map indicate the degree of difficulty of the trail, not the blaze color. If available pick up a free map from the entrance kiosk. A five-mile loop includes both Mt. Spitzenberg and Blue Mountain. The north end of the 12-mile Briarcliff-Peekskill Trailway is within Blue Mountain Reservation.

A trail map set published by the Trail Conference (TC) for the combined parks is available for purchase.   Use the Web Map link on this site for a view of trails covering only Bear Mountain SP. 

One of the biggest attractions of Bear Mountain State Park is hiking; this is also an especially historic place to enjoy the outdoors.

The very first segment of the Appalachian Trail (white 2" x 3" blaze), from Bear Mountain Bridge to Arden, was completed in 1923.  The lowest point along the AT is 124 feet above sea level at the Trailside Historical Museum in the zoo (just to the west of the Bear Mountain Bridge.)  This section of the AT, stretching from the main parking area near the Inn through the zoo, is wheelchair accessible. Today an 18 mile segment passes through Bear Mountain-Harriman State Parks from Bear Mountain Inn west to NJ 17 and Arden Valley Road.  At 2,175 miles, the AT is now one of the longest blazed foot trails in the world.

Read information about the Trail Conference's Bear Mountain Trails Project.  

The “Bicentennial Trails” were blazed in 1975 for the bicentennial celebration to commemorate the strategically important military events occurring in the Hudson Highlands during the American Revolution.  The 1777 Trail (blazed red “1777” on round white tag, 10.6 miles) and the 1779 Trail (blazed blue “1779” on round white tab, 8.5 miles) follow routes by British and American troops during the Revolutionary War. 

• The 1777E Trail (Fort Clinton branch), one of three 1777 Trail segments, travels south and then west from the main parking lots ending, in 2.3 miles, near the abandoned hamlet of Doodletown  -- which has its own fascinating history.
• A 1779 Trail trailhead is located at Fort Montgomery Historic Site, across the Popolopen Creek where separate parking is available. The 1777W and 1779 trails are co-aligned here.     

The Major Welch Trail (blazed red ring on white, 2.6 miles) ascends Bear Mountain’s north slope; its trailhead is a little south of Hessian Lake and travels to the east of the lake.  The trail was named in 1944 in memory of Major William A. Welch, the first general manager of the Palisades Interstate Park.  Welch was basically responsible for launching Bear Mountain SP and Harriman SP trail networks. The trail ascends nearly 1,000 feet to terminate at the summit close to Perkins Memorial Tower where it meets the Appalachian Trail.  

An online map produced by NYS parks (use on Contact Information on this site) identifies 16 trails in Bear Mountain SP, several extend into Harriman SP.   They range in length from 0.2 mile to 6.5 miles, totaling just over 45 miles.  Be aware when planning a hike with this map that distances are for Bear Mountain SP only.

• Looking for a hike?  Click for a list of detailed descriptions in Harriman and Bear Mountain State Parks.

With more than 235 miles of trails, approximately fifty marked trails, and three-dozen plus woods trails not to mention unmarked trails, it seems best to feature just a few major trail access points with parking areas.

• Reeves Meadow Visitors Center: One of the most popular trails in the park, the Pine Meadow trail [5.5 miles; red on while] leads to the north shore of Pine Meadow Lake. A 0.2-mile hike east from the parking area towards Sloatsburg on Pine Meadow Trail connects to Seven Hills Trail [blue dot on white]; 300 feet east of the visitors center on Pine Meadow Trail is the trailhead [on the right] of the Reeves Brook Trail [white].
• Bear Mountain Inn: The large parking area [though it becomes full in good weather, or on special holidays] is an access point to several trails, including the Appalachian [white], Anthony Wayne [2.8 miles, white], 1777E [red "1777" on white], Suffern-Bear Mountain [23.5 miles, yellow], and Cornell Mine Trails [2.5 miles, blue]. Also the Twin Forts Trail, a short path connecting the sites of the historic Fort Clinton and Fort Montgomery [including the modest Fort Montgomery visitor center] and also leading to the Timp-Torne [11.2 miles, blue] and Popolopen Gorge trails [4.5 miles, red on white].
  • Significant improvements are underway for trails in this section of the park; volunteers are welcomed to join the NYNJ Trail Conference's Bear Mountain Trails Project.
• Anthony Wayne Recreation Area: The mid-point of the Anthony Wayne Trail [2.8 miles; white] forms a loop with the Popolopen Gorge Trail [red on white] at Turkey Hill Lake and the Timp-Torne Trail [blue] on the west end of West Mountain.
• Elk Pen Parking Area: On the western side of the park, there is access to the Appalachian Trail, Arden-Surebridge Trail [6.3 miles, red triangle on white] and Island Pond.

The Appalachian Trail [18.0 miles, white] traverses the northern section of the park, extending from the Bear Mountain Bridge at the Hudson River west to NY 17. On the way, it intersects or runs jointly with eleven other marked trails, and it can be combined with these trails to make a variety of loop hikes.

This section of the Appalachian Trail in the park was the first of the 2,160 mile-long A.T. to be completed, and much of it still follows the original route. Improvement are still being made to the A.T. on Bear Mountain which is the focal point of a multi-year, multi-agency trail building and rehabilitation project being led by the Trail Conference. Learn more about the Bear Mountain Trails Project.

• Before proceeding west on the A.T. from Bear Mountain Inn, hikers may wish to follow the trail east, through a pedestrian tunnel under US 9 W, into the Trailside Museum and Zoo, which features native plants, animals, reptiles and birds. A sign on the A.T. as it passes through the museum marks the lowest point on the entire trail from Maine to Georgia - 124 feet above sea level.

• Both ends of the trail in the park are readily accessible. See "Let's Go/Directions to Trailhead" to either Bear Mountain Inn or Elk Pen Parking Area.

Doodletown near Bear Mountain, an isolated hamlet surviving for 200 years -- but a ghost town since the mid-1960s -- is a popular destination for hikers.  Click for more information. 

For a collection of detailed hikes go to the “Find a Hike” page, scroll down to “Harriman State Park” and “Harriman-Bear Mountain State Park.”