Parking in Harriman/Bear Mountain (elk pen/lake askoti)

[whywoogy]

Hey everyone, I am planning a loop at Harriman/Bear Mountain and am trying to find out a little about the parking at the spots in the title. The parking at elk pen is off of 87 and right next to the AT. The parking at Lake Askoti is off of seven lakes drive next to the Long Path. Is anyone familiar with these trailheads/parking lots? Are they just in the middle of the woods or are there buildings/people/civilization near them (more so the Elk Pen lot)? Comments on vehicle safety in these areas? Any information is greatly appreciated. Thank you.

[Silent Bob]

Elk Pen parking area is actually off Rt17 on Arden Valley road. It's a dirt parking lot. I can't say if it's safe but i do see cars parked there. I guess if your doing a day hike it's fine. When I go to Harriman I usually take the train.

[Another Kevin]

I haven't heard of any problems at the elk pen, but I suppose there's a first time for everything. For what it's worth, I parked there the other day without trouble. It's just a dIrt lot on a road that sees lIttle traffic, although suburbIa is right across the bridge. I met three nice southbounders on the trail near there, and a couple who were leaving soda and water in a cooler as trail magic. Being just a weekender I didn't partake, but left it for the longer distance travellers.

[whywoogy]

Thanks for the info. I am trying to plan a loop and have the maps for the park. I am trying to plan a 4day 3night trip but am having difficulty finding any help online. Also, using the maps and the scale it just seems like I would have to loop the whole park to make a 4day 3night trip. Does anyone have a good loop maybe already planned out in a kml or gpx file starting at elk pen parking? This would be golden! Thanks in advanced for any help.

[Silent Bob]

I dont have a specific loop. The park has over 250 miles of trails. You can take the Appalachian Trail across the park to Bear mountain bridge.Going back take the Suffern Bear Mountain trail (yellow). From there you have many options depending on how far you want to hike. If you want a short hike you can get on the Long Path or go further down to Kakiat Trail (white). I go up there once a month for a 3 day hike and it's always different. Hope this helps

[hikerboy57]

I've parked the just about every possible location in the park and I never had a problem. but I don't have a Camaro. if you're really concerned the safest place is right next to bear Mountain Inn. plenty of loops you can do from there and if you're looking to do an overnight West Mountain shelter has a great view down the Hudson

[tdoczi]

Thanks for the info. I am trying to plan a loop and have the maps for the park. I am trying to plan a 4day 3night trip but am having difficulty finding any help online. Also, using the maps and the scale it just seems like I would have to loop the whole park to make a 4day 3night trip. Does anyone have a good loop maybe already planned out in a kml or gpx file starting at elk pen parking? This would be golden! Thanks in advanced for any help.

you can also lengthen things by continuing across the river from bear mountain or head west into sterling forest. youd only have to repeat very short sections of the AT to do this, and youd end up with more loop possibilities to string together. you could theoretically tie together 3 loops, sterling forest, harriman and east hudson. and if you do cross the hudson river be sure and take the blue blaze to the top of anthony's nose

[Feral Bill]

I assume you have the Trail Conference map set. If your loop is very convoluted you could easily do a hundred miles or more without back tracking. Ohoulihan's sugestion is a good start.

[jfarrell04]

We've left vehicles (mini-vans) on two occasions for 7 days at a time with no issues...this parking lot appears to be heavily used, at least in the fall when we were there.

[LIhikers]

The wife and I have left our car at Elk Pen, and every other parking place in Harriman, overnight with no problems. We also spent a week hiking in the park, staying someplace different every night. You'd be surprised at how many different loops you can make and stay within the park. Sure you'll use some trails multiple times but they always look different goin in the other direction. And as others have suggested, you could use the AT or Long Path to take you out of the park.

[whywoogy]

I dont have a specific loop. The park has over 250 miles of trails. You can take the Appalachian Trail across the park to Bear mountain bridge.Going back take the Suffern Bear Mountain trail (yellow). From there you have many options depending on how far you want to hike. If you want a short hike you can get on the Long Path or go further down to Kakiat Trail (white). I go up there once a month for a 3 day hike and it's always different. Hope this helps

Have an estimation on how many days (miles?) it would take from Elk Pen lot to the bridge (before crossing the Hudson) using the AT?

[Gillum]

Www.atdist.com

[Silent Bob]

Have an estimation on how many days (miles?) it would take from Elk Pen lot to the bridge (before crossing the Hudson) using the AT?

I believe it's 18 or 19 miles. There are 3 shelters along the trail and plenty of locations to stealth camp.