Final Plan for Bear Mountain Realignment

This came out a while ago, but I don't remember anyone else mentioning it:

http://www.nynjtc.org/BearMountainTr....2.22.2005.pdf

(requires Adobe)

The executive summary is that the trail on the east side (i.e., the way up from the Inn and the parking lot that is much more heavily used) will be basically made into a freeway and heavily reworked so that it is suitable for lots of people. There will also be major improvements to the signage that will be easier to follow and provide some info about the history of the trail. In addition, there will be a big display on trail maintenance at the foot of the mountain, with actual examples of some of the techniques used to build the footway.

The west side, on the other hand, will be made much steeper and shorter, in order to give expert hikers a challenge and to get off the road.