Harriman State Park, at 41,618 acres, is the second-largest state park in New York.  The park is located in Rockland and Orange counties just 30 miles from New York City.  Harriman State Park has 31 lakes and reservoirs, over 200 miles of hiking trails, three beaches, two public camping areas, a network of group camps.  There are miles of streams and scenic roads.  You'll see scores of wildlife species, vistas and vantage points.  Harriman State Park's major facilities include Lakes Welch, Sebago, Tiorati and Silvermine, the Anthony Wayne Recreation Area, Sebago Cabins and Beaver Pond Campgrounds.

Much of the land was donated in 1909 by Mary Harriman, which included a donation of one million dollars to build facilities in the park.  Mary Harriman was opposed the state's decision to build a prison at Bear Mountain and wanted to donate some of her land to the state in order to build a park.  She made a deal with the state before any donation was made. As part of the deal, the state would do away with the plan to build the prison, appropriate an additional $2.5 million to acquire additional land and construct park facilities.  The park became a reality on October 29, 1910.

The park is bordered by Bear Mountain State Park and Sterling Forest State Park, which creates a large wilderness area only 30 miles from New York City.  Harriman State Park is a hikers haven with over 200 miles marked hiking trails to explore and enjoy.  The Appalachian Trail passes through the state park on it's 2180 mile journey.  Look below for a list of some of the trails.  Most of the trails are maintained by the NY - NJ Trail Conference. 

Follow Heshy Friedman’s wild hiking excursions in all types of weather and terrain. From short hikes in Harriman State Park to insane scrambles in the Gunks, you'll find it on his Harriman Hiker blog.

Directions

• Off the Palisades Parkway, 30 miles north of New York City.

View from Tom Jones Mountain

Hiking Trails

There are more than forty marked hiking trails (over 225 miles total) in Harriman, and another 57 unmarked trails and woods road (103 miles, foot traffic only). Some of the better known trails include:

• Appalachian Trail 18.8 miles are within the park
• Long Path 25 miles are within the park
• Pine Meadow Trail, 5.5 miles
• Ramapo-Dunderberg Trail, 21 miles
• Red Cross Trail, 7.9 miles
• Seven Hills Trail, 6.7 miles
• Suffern-Bear Mountain Trail, 23.5 miles
• Timp-Torne Trail, 11.2 miles
• Tuxedo-Mt Ivy Trail, 8.2 miles
• White Bar Trail, 7.4 miles

In addition to the hiking trails there are a number of horse trails in the southeastern portion of the park and a mountain bike trail at the Anthony Wayne Recreation Area in the northeast of the park. In winter some of the trails are open for cross-country skiing.  This is a very popular state park.

Check out the The Long Path Guide for more on hiking the Long Path.  For more information on hiking on the Appalachian Trail, check out Exploring the Appalachian Trail: Hikes in the Mid-Atlantic States - Maryland Pennsylvania New Jersey New York and Appalachian Trail Guide to New York-New Jersey. 

Also check out Harriman Trails: A Guide and History, 10 Hikes in Harriman Park and Harriman-Bear Mountain Trails for more info on the hiking trails in the park.

Here are some of the popular hikes located in Harriman & Bear Mountain State Parks from the NY-NJ Trail Conference website:

• West Mountain Loop from Anthony Wayne Recreation Area (6.5 miles, moderate to strenuous)

• Ramapo Torne/Raccoon Brook Hills Trail Loop from Reeves Meadow (6.5 miles, moderate)

• Suffern-Bear Mountain Trail/Pyngyp (7.5 miles, strenuous)

• Circular Hike Around Bear Mountain (10 miles, moderate)

• Appalachian Trail/Long Path Loop from Silvermine Picnic Area (7.6 miles, moderate to strenuous)

• Iron Mines Loop #3 (Northwest/Lemon Squeezer) (7.0 miles, moderate to strenuous)

• Dater Mountain Nature Park and Harriman State Park (6.0 miles, easy to moderate)

• Raccoon Brook Hills Trail/Pine Meadow Lake/Diamond Mountain Loop (7.2 miles, moderate to strenuous)

• Bald Mountain/Doodletown Loop from Route 9W (5 miles, strenuous)

• Green Pond/Boston Mine Loop (4.3 miles, moderate to strenuous)

• Claudius Smith Den/Parker Cabin Mountain Loop (8.5 miles, moderate to strenuous)

• Popolopen Gorge/Popolopen Torne Loop (5 miles, strenuous)

• Raccoon Brook Hills Trail/Cascade of Slid Loop (5.4 miles, moderate to strenuous)

• Diamond Mountain/Stony Brook Loop (6.3 miles, moderate)

• Appalachian Trail and Major Welch Trail on Bear Mountain (4 miles, strenuous)

• Iron Mines Loop #2 (Southwest) in Harriman-Bear Mountain State Parks (8.5 miles, moderate)

• Almost Perpendicular/Claudius Smith Den Loop (4.7 miles, moderate to strenuous)

• Dunderberg Spiral Railway/Bald Mountain Loop (7 miles, strenuous)

• Parker Cabin/Black Rock Mountain Loop from Route 106 (4.7 miles, moderate to strenuous)

• Island Pond/Lemon Squeezer Loop (7.5 miles, moderate to strenuous)

• Seven Hills/HTS/Reeves Brook Trail Loop to Ramapo Torne and Torne View (5.2 miles, moderate)

• Iron Mines Loop #1 (East) in Harriman-Bear Mountain State Parks (5.5 miles, moderate to strenuous)

• West Mountain Loop from Seven Lakes Drive (5.4 miles, moderate to strenuous)

• Claudius Smith's Rock Loop from Tuxedo (6.2 miles, moderate to strenuous)

• Stockbridge Mountain/Nawahunta Fire Road Loop from Silvermine Picnic Area (4.7 miles, moderate)

• Iron Mines Short Loop (3.8 miles, easy to moderate)

• West Mountain Loop from Anthony Wayne Recreation Area (5 miles, moderate to strenuous)

• Seven Hills/HTS/Raccoon Brook Hills Loop from Reeves Meadow (8 miles, strenuous)

• Timp-Torne/Dunderberg Spiral Railway/R-D Trail Short Loop from Route 9W (3.9 miles, moderate to strenuous)

• Black Mountain Loop from Anthony Wayne Recreation Area (7.5 miles, moderate to strenuous)

• Red Cross, Beech Trail and Long Path Loop from Lake Skannatati  (8.4 miles, moderate)

• Long Path to Long Mountain Summit in Harriman State Park (2 miles, moderate)

• Reeves Brook/Raccoon Brook Hills/Pine Meadow Trails Loop from Reeves Meadow (5 miles, moderate)

• 1777E/Doodletown Bridle Path Loop from Route 9W (5 miles, easy to moderate)

• Appalachian Trail/Major Welch Trail Loop on Bear Mountain (4 miles, strenuous)

• Queensboro and Turkey Hill Lakes Loop from Anthony Wayne Recreation Area (4.6 miles, moderate)

The park is split up by seven different section.  Below are those seven sections with links to the NY State Park website.

• Anthony Wayne Recreation Area
• Beaver Pond Campgrounds
• Lake Sebago Beach
• Lake Tiorati Beach
• Lake Welch Beach
• Sebago Cabin Camp
• Silver Mine

For more information on this beautiful state park check out the NY State Park website.

Seven Lakes Drive in Harriman State Park

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New York State Parks

Appalachian Trail in Harriman State Park