Bear Mountain Trails

[Raul Perez]

Hiked Bear Mountain over this past weekend. I've hiked Bear mountain quite a few times but this was the first when the trails were completely re-routed on both sides.

Stairs everywhere... I mean everywhere. I understand why they did the stairs.... I still dont particularly like them.

The re-route on the south west side makes for a much more scenic walk. Really great views of the peaks and valleys of Harriman. It also takes you off the original route of walking down perkins drive for like a 1/4 mile so you dont really do any road walking... the trail leads you directly on your way to west mountain.

However there was a price to pay for that re-route.... zero water sources on Bear Mountain unless you consider going to the Bear Mountain Inn bathrooms. There used to be 2-3 water sources on your way to perkins drive now you're SOL until you get to west mountain.

All in all I liked it for the scenery. Definitely get updated maps though.

[river1]

Hiked Bear Mountain over this past weekend. I've hiked Bear mountain quite a few times but this was the first when the trails were completely re-routed on both sides.

Stairs everywhere... I mean everywhere. I understand why they did the stairs.... I still dont particularly like them.

The re-route on the south west side makes for a much more scenic walk. Really great views of the peaks and valleys of Harriman. It also takes you off the original route of walking down perkins drive for like a 1/4 mile so you dont really do any road walking... the trail leads you directly on your way to west mountain.

However there was a price to pay for that re-route.... zero water sources on Bear Mountain unless you consider going to the Bear Mountain Inn bathrooms. There used to be 2-3 water sources on your way to perkins drive now you're SOL until you get to west mountain.

All in all I liked it for the scenery. Definitely get updated maps though.

I recently was on a overnight trip in that section (Elk Pen to Rt 9). The very nice re-route was a lot of hard work by a lot of volunteers but all those stairs can be knee killers. I had enough stairs for one day (after 17 miles) and I found a stealth site for the hammock just north of Perkins over looking the Hudson. Water wasn't a issue for me as I usually carry a liter or two, I'm not the UL type and the Catalyst carries 28 pounds nicely.

[Blissful]

I got lost on the reroute SOBO last fall. Walked half the road. Stunk

[elray]

We came down the re-route last Spring before the official opening and a more impressive piece of trail building hasn't been completed since the WPA days in Shenandoah. I understand that that particular section of footpath sees a huge number of hikers each year and that the steepness and soil conditions required such a massive and permanent "road" to prevent further damage. Those guys did a super job using a minimum of power machinery and my hat's off to them! Thank You!

[Feral Bill]

I have not been there in a long time, but those who don't like the new trail have several other routes they can enjoy. The Suffern-Bear Mountain Trail is a close parallel route to/from West Mountain

[XCskiNYC]

vending machines near the parking lot at the top sell 20 oz waters for $1.50. expensive way to water up. also on offer -- pringles