Popolopen Gorge/Popolopen Torne Loop

Harriman-Bear Mountain State Parks

Bear Mountain Bridge and the Hudson River from Popolopen Torne - Harriman-Bear Mountain State Parks - Photo: Daniel Chazin Bear Mountain Bridge and the Hudson River from Popolopen Torne - Harriman-Bear Mountain State Parks - Photo: Daniel Chazin Trail along the route of the West Point Aqueduct - Popolopen Gorge/Popolopen Torne Loop - Harriman-Bear Mountain State Parks - Photo: Daniel Chazin Trail along the route of the West Point Aqueduct - Popolopen Gorge/Popolopen Torne Loop - Harriman-Bear Mountain State Parks - Photo: Daniel Chazin

This loop hike climbs to the summit of Popolopen Torne, with panoramic views, and runs along the scenic Popolopen Gorge.

41.324539, -73.988736

Near the bottom of the ramp, at the entrance to the parking area, you'll see a brown post with a yellow arrow, a blue blaze, and 1777W and 1779 blazes. This marks the start of three co-aligned trails: the 1777W and 1779 Trails (which commemorate Revolutionary War events) and the blue-...

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Trip Reports

rate experience
April 08, 2019
3
Missed the blue blazes twice!
The trail and trailhead were easy to find but my friends and I got lost again. This was the 2nd time and with a different group of friends. Luckily, this time we turned back once we realized we were making the same mistake as last time. We got lost when it talks about the trail junction and 1777 and 1779 separate from the blue trail. There aren't clear indicators of where the junction is and you literally have to turn your head around to notice where the blue blazes splits off. We didn't think to look backwards even though the directions said there was a sharp right because the trail ahead of us still had 1777, 1779 and blue blazes. Even as we continued going forward we kept seeing this combination for a while so we thought we were going the right way. It was only when we were 3.5 miles into our hike and realized nothing was as the description described that we turned back. On the way back, we saw the blue blazes that took a sharp right up to Mine Road. To add to the confusion, there were 2 trails that did this! While we didn't get to do the hike that's described here, we had a fun time and enjoyed being outside. We hope to do it again next time and turn right at the correct set of blue blazes. "After about two-thirds of a mile along the West Point Aqueduct, you'll reach a trail junction. The 1777W and 1779 Trails continue ahead, following the aqueduct, but you should turn sharply right, following the blue blazes of the Timp-Torne Trail, which climbs gradually on a woods road, soon reaching paved Mine Road."
Lee.winnifred
June 15, 2018
5
Gorgeous hike, great directions
15Jun2018. Great directions, just something I would change at the end: instead of dashing across 9W and hoping to not die, I would turn left, cross the bridge, go until the sidewalks ends then turn left and continue through a meadow briefly until you can turn left again (there will be a sign facing the opposite direction for "Visitor's Center," where the hike began). This will lead you back under the bridge as you did at the beginning of the trail directions.
wilchung
June 05, 2017
5
The bridge is fixed!
The bridge was fixed when we did this hike on June 4, 2017! We parked in the auxiliary parking about 1/4 mile north of the Fort Montgomery site (to leave its tiny parking lot for its visitors). Auxiliary parking is on the east side of 9W, and the trailhead is on the west side; the east side of 9W has a sidewalk all the way, and I recommend staying on that side until just before the bridge over Popolopen Gorge because cars are moving very quickly. That said, dashing across 9W was not a problem at 9:15 a.m. on a Sunday morning. We missed the trailhead boulders but saw a clearing at the 9Wfork, ventured in and picked up the blaze -- white with red center. (Maybe we turned too soon? Or the boulders were removed in the bridge construction and haven't been replaced?) I definitely recommend the clockwise direction for this route; this lets you go up the rock scrambles to the torne and then mostly hike rather than scramble down at a flatter pitch. (The path to the peak is a tight U, and on a wet day you can also avoid the rocks altogether by doing an out-and-back on the exit arm of the U; turn left at the road and walk about 1/8 mile to the kiosk on the right.) The first time we did this hike, in 2016, we missed the sharp upward left turn about 1/4 of the way into the hike but knew to look for it this time and easily saw the cairn and double blaze. The descent from the tome took a little while to find both times; you have to double back to the south and can miss the first blaze. This time, we missed the turn at the very end and ended up walking 5-10 minutes the wrong way on Firefighters Memorial Drive; not a big deal.
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