Hike Reviews
August 26, 2020
Parking Issue and downed trees
This is a fine hike and Pine Meadow Lake is truly lovely on a beautiful summer day. Our spirits were a bit dampened by the unfriendly reception from the Equestrian Center. The trailhead parking sign has been partly covered to obscure the word "parking" and we were told that hikers are not permitted to park at the trailhead. The parking area was not full, but we were told we would be ticketed or towed if we parked there. Note there are many downed trees on the trail.
June 14, 2018
Beautiful hike
Beautiful hike when the mountain laurel’s in bloom, which it was today! Greatly appreciate the very clear directions to trailhead parking as Google tried to drop me off on the side of the road somewhere. Finished in about four hours, with a healthy stop for lunch at the lake.
June 05, 2018
Ramapo Escarpment Hike
This is a beautiful hike. If you are following the hike description, the rock cairns described early in the hike are not that obvious. The left hand turn in the trail is visible, but we did not see a blaze. Just make sure to take the very sharp left before you reach the giant power pole. If you find yourself crossing Guyascutus Brook on big metal pipes, you have missed the turn.
Pine Meadow lake is indeed lovely. And we truly enjoyed the view from Hawk Cliff. It was a bit overcast, but we still could see the Manhattan skyline and the Bear Mountain Bridge!
July 05, 2016
FIRE on pine meadow tr near conklin cabin
<p>yesterday 7/4/16 i hiked this loop in reverse, SBM to conklin crossing and then out by pine meadow, everything is gorgeous now but there apparently was a major fire on the pine meadow trail --probably went on for 1/4 mi or so between the lake and a bit past pine meadow rd east on the pine meadow trail--lots of blackened underbrush but nothing actively burning</p>
<p>BTW i had posted in 2014 about a fire on the ramapo escarpment--all traces of this are gone, its all green again</p>
September 18, 2014
ramapo escarpment
<p>i did this hike only in reverse, went to the lake via SBM and conklins crossing and back by the pine meadow trail. it was gorgeous except that there was a fire still smoldering on the SBM north of the stone shelter south of the viewpoints on hawk cliff. be careful not to scare the horses at the EQ center. driving too fast or coming down too fast on the way in from the hike can spook them. this is a great hike tho. if you need to shorten it up you can go right at the shelter up the sherwood path to pine meadow rd east and hit the pine meadow trail. here is the lake!! if you look you will see a tiny little rock pile which holds the headstone of the grave of matthew conklin and phebe hand. i dont know if their acftual grave is there in the lake but there was rock pile built to hold the headstone. another interesting historical site...</p>
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<p><img src="/sites/default/files/u34/091214pinemeado%20%2824%29.JPG" alt="" width="800" height="600"></p>
November 30, 2013
Pine Meadow Lake is a Harriman treasure.
<p>You get working right from the start of this hike and it's definitely a good workout.</p>
<p>The Blazes were visible througout the hike and the directions were accurate as usual.</p>
<p>There are some steep areas and good climbs, even some places you need to use both hands and feet.</p>
<p>Pine Meadow Lake is absolutely amazing! </p>
<p>Once I seen it, I knew I could not just turn around after the Conklin Cabin, </p>
<p>so I decided to go all the way around Pine Meadow Lake and made a left turn onto the Unmarked road at the Northwestern end of the lake which wraps around the Southern portion, it goes in an Easterly direction up a short but steady hill, it goes around the Conklin Cemetery and at the second unmarked trail (there is an old pipeline) I made a right turn then stayed on this for about 15 minutes until it intersected with the Conklin's Crossing Trail where I made another right turn.</p>
<p>This did add a little over three miles extra to the overall trip.</p>
<p>But it was well worth it.</p>
<p>The view from the Egg was outstanding :)</p>
<p>The total elevation gain was 866 feet, but it felt like a little more.</p>
<p>Lots of good resting places and a varied terrain to make this an extremely enjoyable hike!</p>
November 14, 2012
Pine Meadow trail Head at the Equestrian Center
<p>A comment from August 2011 noted difficulty in finding the Pine Meadow trail head at the Ramapo Equestrian Center. The trail head is well marked with the standard tripple blazes for trail beginning, on the barn directly past the last white fence as you continue toward the hill along the main building, past the corrals. Improvement in the trial marking may bave occurred after the comment was posted. It is very visible from the parking area in the vicinity of the large barn. </p>
August 03, 2011
Yellow Blazed S-BM trail not always clearly blazed
Be careful when hiking the portion of the yellow blazed S-BM trail used in the hike, there are portions where it is not obvious where the trail is. There were 2 or 3 times where we had to back track to the last yellow blaze and do some peripheral scouting to find the next blaze and pickup the trail again.
August 03, 2011
Location of Trail Head not clear from description
To find the trail head after parking your car walk down the road towards the riding stable, you will come to a parking lot and a white fenced in riding area on the other side of the parking lot. It is this fenced in area that the trail description is asking you to circle around counter clockwise. DO NOT try to circle the riding area where you parked your car after the bridge! We did try that and were not happy with the results! Luckily we spotted some hikers coming back from the trail and they told us where to find the trail head. :-)
July 28, 2011
Conklin Cabin -Pine Meadow hike
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<P>I believe remnants of the foundation of the Conklin cabin can still be found. There is also rusted wire fencing at the site.</P>