Harriman State Park

Harriman State Park, in the Hudson Highlands of Rockland and Orange counties about 30 miles north of Manhattan, is the second-largest state park in New York and the urban wilderness backyard of New York City — 47,000 acres of rugged Precambrian ridge and valley terrain, 31 lakes and reservoirs, 200 miles of marked trails, and the passage of the Appalachian Trail all within an hour’s drive (or train ride) of Times Square.

Harriman was preserved from development by the Harriman family (railroad magnate E.H. Harriman purchased the land in 1885 to prevent an industrial prison from being built on the ridge; his family donated it to New York State in 1910), making it one of the earliest examples of conservation philanthropy in American history. The park’s combination of genuine backcountry hiking terrain, accessible wilderness, and proximity to the largest metropolitan area in the United States makes it the most heavily used and most beloved wild landscape in the New York region.

Harriman State Park offers day hiking on 200 miles of marked trails (the finest trail network in the New York metropolitan area — the Ramapo-Dunderberg Trail, the Long Path, the Pine Meadow Trail, the Suffern-Bear Mountain Trail, and dozens of other marked routes cross the ridges and valleys through Precambrian rock terrain; the Lemon Squeezer — a classic boulder scramble on the Long Path — is the most famous single trail feature), through-hiking and section-hiking the Appalachian Trail (the AT passes through the northern section of Harriman, crossing Bear Mountain and connecting to Bear Mountain State Park), backpacking with permit (designated backcountry campsites allow overnight trips in the park interior), swimming at Lake Welch Beach and other lake areas (in summer; with lifeguards), fishing in the 31 lakes (largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, rainbow trout, brown trout; fishing license required), mountain biking on designated trails, cross-country skiing and snowshoeing in winter, and rock climbing on the numerous Precambrian outcrops. Hiking, the AT, and the lake swimming are the singular draws.

Fall (September through November) is the finest season — the hardwood forest (oak, maple, birch) puts on a spectacular display of orange, gold, and red that covers the Precambrian ridgelines and transforms the park into one of the finest fall-foliage hiking destinations in the northeastern United States; the trails are less crowded than summer (except on peak fall-foliage weekends in mid-October), the temperatures are ideal for hiking (50-65°F on the ridges), and the air clarity reveals distant Catskill and Hudson Valley views from the summit rocks. Summer brings the lake swimming and the full-capacity trail crowds (the park receives three to four million visitors per year, with summer weekends bringing massive crowds to the popular trailheads). Spring offers wildflowers (trailing arbutus and bloodroot in April; mountain laurel in June) and excellent birding during the neotropical migration.

The Harriman land was acquired by railroad and shipping magnate E.H. Harriman beginning in 1885, initially to create a private estate; when New York State proposed to build an industrial prison on the Bear Mountain ridge, Mary Harriman (E.H.’s wife, acting after his death in 1909) offered the Harriman land to the state —10,000 acres plus $1 million — on the condition that the prison plan be abandoned. The state accepted in 1910, and Harriman State Park was created. The New York-New Jersey Trail Conference (established in 1920) has maintained the park’s trail network for over a century — the trail blazes (red, white, blue, and yellow paint marks on rocks and trees) are an enduring legacy of volunteer trail maintenance. The Appalachian Trail passes through Harriman; the AT was co-designed by Benton MacKaye and first proposed in 1921.

Harriman State Park is underlain by the ancient Precambrian basement of the Hudson Highlands — approximately 1.1-billion-year-old Grenville-age gneisses, schists, and granites (the same ancient rock as the Adirondacks) that were thrust southward during the Taconian and Acadian orogenies and now form the resistant ridgelines of the Hudson Highlands and Reading Prong. The Pleistocene glaciers profoundly shaped the Harriman landscape — the glaciers scoured the Precambrian ridges smooth (the rounded, bare Precambrian outcrops visible throughout the park are ice-polished glacial pavement), deposited glacial till in the valley floors, and created the kettles and lakes (Lake Welch, Pine Meadow Lake, Silvermine Lake) that punctuate the ridge-and-valley terrain. The Lemon Squeezer — the park’s most famous geological feature — is a joint-controlled gap in the Precambrian gneiss where the trail squeezes between two vertical rock faces.

Harriman State Park supports a surprisingly diverse wildlife community for a park surrounded by the New York metropolitan area — black bear (a growing bear population has recolonized Harriman; bear sightings are increasingly common, particularly near the backcountry campsites and berry patches in late summer), white-tailed deer (abundant; the park’s deer herd is one of the densest in New York State), eastern coyote (common on the ridges and heard howling at night), red fox, river otter (in the lakes and streams), broad-winged hawk (spectacular fall kettles over the ridges in mid-September — thousands of birds on good migration days), barred owl (calling in the forested valleys at night), wood thrush, ovenbird, and a full suite of eastern forest breeding songbirds. The fall hawk migration from the Harriman ridges (Goshen Pass and other ridge sites) is exceptional in mid-September.

Harriman’s forest is dominated by chestnut oak (on the dry ridges — a fire-adapted community historically maintained by Native American burning and lightning fires), mixed oak-hickory (on the mid-slopes), and tulip tree and sugar maple (in the moist valley bottoms). The 20th-century fire suppression has allowed pitch pine and chestnut oak communities to succeed toward mixed hardwoods on the formerly fire-maintained ridges, changing the forest character. The park’s 31 lakes and ponds support freshwater mussel communities, wild brook trout in the coldest headwater streams, and significant aquatic biodiversity. The proximity of the park to the metropolitan area creates extreme visitor pressure; the trail network, maintained by the NY-NJ Trail Conference, is one of the most intensively used in the eastern United States.

Harriman State Park holds the deepest place in the outdoor culture of New York City and the northeastern United States — the wilderness backyard of 20 million metropolitan-area residents, the training ground for generations of Appalachian Trail through-hikers, the landscape that taught the outdoor skills of hundreds of hiking clubs and scout troops, and the legacy of the Harriman family’s founding conservation philanthropy. The New York-NJ Trail Conference’s century of volunteer trail maintenance is one of the finest traditions of American outdoor volunteerism. For New Yorkers, Harriman is the first and most essential wild landscape — the place where the city discovers that the wilderness is genuinely accessible. Harriman is a cherished natural and cultural icon of New York.

Harriman State Park has multiple access points from I-87 (the New York State Thruway): Seven Lakes Drive (exit 15A, Sloatsburg) provides the primary interior road access; Kanawauke Road and Lake Welch Drive (exit 16, Woodbury) access the lake areas. NJ Transit and Metro-North run weekend bus and shuttle services from New York City to Harriman (the Trails to Tails program runs shuttles from transit hubs to park trailheads on summer and fall weekends — check nynjtc.org for current service). A parking fee applies at major parking areas on weekends (EZ Pass or cash); parking lots fill by 9 AM on summer and fall weekend mornings — arrive early or use transit. Check parks.ny.gov for current parking, swimming, and facility status.

New York State Parks manages Harriman. The trail network is maintained by the NY-NJ Trail Conference (a volunteer organization — support them with a membership or a trail workday). Black bear encounters are increasing as the park’s bear population grows; never feed bears, store all food and scented items in your vehicle (not in your tent), and make noise while hiking through dense berry patches in late summer. The mountain laurel (blooming in June) and trailing arbutus (blooming in April — one of the earliest spring wildflowers) are protected; do not pick or dig any plants. Stay on marked trails to prevent new social trails that erode the thin Precambrian soils. Report trail maintenance issues to the NY-NJ Trail Conference via their trail conditions app.

Harriman’s popularity means that the trails are well-marked and rescues are frequent — cell service is spotty throughout the park interior (the Precambrian ridges block signals); download offline trail maps before leaving the trailhead. The ridge terrain is rocky and requires sure footing — ankle sprains and falls are the most common injuries; hiking boots with ankle support are strongly recommended. Ticks are abundant in Harriman (the park has one of the highest Lyme disease tick-exposure rates in New York State); use permethrin-treated clothing, apply DEET repellent, and do a thorough tick check after every hike. Bears are present — store food appropriately. The trails are extremely crowded on fall-foliage weekends (mid-October); expect parking-lot waits and crowded summit areas.

Parking fee required at major lots on weekends (credit card or cash). Swimming at designated beach areas only (lifeguarded in summer; no swimming outside lifeguard hours). Backcountry camping by permit only (obtain permits through parks.ny.gov). Fires permitted only at designated fire rings at backcountry campsites (no open fires elsewhere in the park). Pets on leash at all times; not allowed at swimming beaches. Fishing requires a New York State fishing license. No motorized vehicles on trails. No rock climbing without proper safety equipment; no top-roping on certain fragile cliff areas (check with park office). Pack out all trash. Check parks.ny.gov for current parking, facility, and permit availability before visiting.

Bear Mountain State Park (adjacent to the north — the Perkins Memorial Tower at the Bear Mountain summit is one of the finest Hudson Valley views in the region; the Bear Mountain Inn is a classic Hudson Valley resort; Hessian Lake is a scenic picnic destination), West Point (8 miles north on the Hudson — the United States Military Academy, with excellent visitor access to the historic post, the West Point Museum, and the Hudson River overlooks), the Hudson Valley wine and farm trail (the west bank of the Hudson from Harriman north to the Catskills is one of the finest agricultural heritage landscapes in the northeastern United States), Cold Spring (across the Hudson from West Point — a charming riverfront village with excellent Hudson Valley hiking access via the Bull Hill and Breakneck Ridge trails), and New York City (30 miles south on I-87) define the region. Harriman is the anchor of the metropolitan New York outdoor experience.

Take the Trails to Tails weekend shuttle from Port Authority Bus Terminal or a Metro-North station to Harriman (check nynjtc.org for the current season schedule — the shuttle eliminates the parking nightmare and drops you at the trailhead); use the transit option on fall-foliage peak weekends when the parking lots fill by 8 AM. Hike the Lemon Squeezer — the mandatory classic of Harriman; the boulder scramble through the narrow joint in the Precambrian gneiss is the most memorable single trail feature in the park. For fall foliage, the Pine Meadow Lake circuit (Pine Meadow Trail + Conklin Crossing; 8 miles, 1,200 feet of gain) puts you on a ridge above a lake surrounded by fall color — one of the finest single-day fall hikes in the New York metropolitan area. Leave the trailhead by 7 AM on October weekends.