If you were in NYC this past weekend, or really anywhere on the Eastern seaboard, you may have spent considerable time cursing the dreary fall weather and wishing for summer’s sunny skies. But Mother Nature is looking kindly upon us New Yorkers because these next few days and possibly (fingers crossed) the weekend as well are looking to be absolutely beautiful.
As the days get shorter and the temperatures hint at dropping below the freezing point, I've been making a concerted effort to soak up every minute of sun I can get by hitting up the trails on some of the local mountains. More often than not I find myself amongst the trees at Harriman/Bear Mountain State Park.
At just over an hour (sans traffic) by car and easily accessible via public transit, you really have no excuse to not go. Also the trails are beautifully maintained by the New York – New Jersey Trail Conference, which means you won’t be haphazardly stumbling around 50,000+ acres. That being said, there are seemingly endless possibilities of paths which can make choosing a few for a hike or attempting a backpacking trip quite the daunting task. Since I was just there the other weekend, I thought I’d share where my friend and I went just in case you want to check it out yourself. Disclaimer: it's a detailed doozy - feel free to scroll on down a bit to the shortened version.
THE ROUTE
Park at Elk Pen which is off of Route 17 in Southfields, NY.
Make your way across the meadow to where there is a sign with many different destinations (pictured above).
Follow the white-blazed Appalachian Trail off to the left. It is a bit of up and downs for just shy of 2 miles until it reaches the Arden-Surebridge Trail (red blazes).
At this point, you could check out Lemon Squeezer but since we had our packs we continued on our way to the right along the Arden-Surebridge. Make sure you choose the correct direction. When looking at the entrance to Lemon Squeezer, it is the first red-blazed trail on your right.
About a half-mile further, turn right on to Lichen Trail (L on white background). Of all the trails our feet graced, this was one of my favorites. We stopped here for dinner and watched the sun sneak behind the hills.
After another half-mile, you will reach the end of Lichen, turn right on to the Ramapo-Dunderberg Trail (red blazes) and follow it for a half-mile to the shelter area. Set-up camp or continue on your merry way if making this a day trip.
The Ramapo-Dunderberg continues for another mile before reaching the turn off for the Nurian Trail (white blazes). We planned to take this route on our first pass but due to a missing blaze and yours truly with her head in the clouds, an extra mile and maybe 500 feet in elevation gain was added to our trip. Don’t be like us (unless you love backtracking uphill) and make a right on top of the rocky peak. If you start going steeply downhill for more than 100 feet, you have sadly missed the turn.
After successfully making it on Nurian, the trail meets up with White Bar Trail for a bit and at that point it is marked as a black N with a while background since the White Bar also uses white blazes. It also kisses the yellow-blazed Dunning Trail. Ignore these two trails and stay on Nurian through the Valley of Boulders until it reaches Stahahe Brook (red horizontal strip with a white background) on your right.
For the rest of the hike, the trail is pretty flat and it pretty quickly feeds into the Arden-Surebridge Trail (red blazes) which lead back to Elk Pen. This backpacking trip was short and sweet but not too shabby for having less than 24 hours to spend gallivanting outdoors. And yes, we stayed out for the night but this could easily be hiked (or run – the footing was pretty solid) in one day.
THE SKINNY
Elk Pen >> Appalachian Trail >> Arden-Surebridge >> Lichen Trail >> Ramapo-Dunderberg >> Nurian >> Stahahe Brook >> Arden-Surebridge >> Elk Pen
THE STATS
Mileage = 8.75 miles
Best Elevation Estimate Using an App on my Phone = 1792 feet
Times I Was Temporarily Lost But It So Does Not Count = 1
Total Time Hiking+Eating+Sleeping = 20.5 hours
notes:
lichen and ramapo-dundergberg involved hiking on semi-smooth rock. if it has been raining or is going to rain, these would probably not be my first choice. also remember to look for cairns as well as blazes on these trails as the trail markings aren’t always that easy to see. to avoid getting lost, i highly recommend downloading the aveza pdf maps app and then purchasing ny-nj trail conference maps for harriman. you can then pinpoint your location to the trail map should you find yourself in a pickle.
harriman state park has a number of lean-tos that you are required to sleep in or near if you stay the night. you will see many people not sleeping in the designated areas. don’t be like those people. the rules are in place to protect the park and come on now, if you are backpacking an hour from nyc chances are you are never going to be completely alone. perhaps sad but true.
for more photographic evidence of what you would be getting yourself in to if you decided to follow our footsteps, check out this post.