Harriman Hiker: Harriman State Park and Beyond: Claudius Smith Den and Black Ash Mine Mountain

Wednesday, July 4, 2018

Claudius Smith Den and Black Ash Mine Mountain

Harriman State Park,
Orange Co.,
New York

Hiking Trails:
Ramapo-Dunderberg (R-D) Trail: Red blaze: Red blaze
Tuxedo-Mt Ivy (TMI) Trail: Red blaze
Blue Disc Trail: Blue blaze

Total Time: 2:30 hour
Estimated Distance: 3.9 Miles

Pros: Scenic area, great views, and interesting rock formations
Cons: None

Hiking Partners:
Shimmy Rosenberg
Morty Rosenberg

As I was off for July 4, I naturally took the oppurtunity for a hike. The weather had been extremely hot all week, with the previous Sunday being over 100 degrees earlier in the week. There was a heat advisory in the area, and in addition to being very hot was also oppresingly humid. We parked at the R-D Trailhead right before the Thruway underpass, and walked along the road for a short distance to the trailhead. We took the trail up the climb to Smith Rock, a prominent overlook above Tuxedo, and then continued along to the TMI Trail to the Claudius Smith Den.

We took the Blue Disc Trail up the Claudius Smith rock formation, although Morty climbed up through the cave formation. After the view, we continued along the Blue Disc Trail up to the top of Black Ash Mine Mountain, and then descended the mountain to the Black Ash Swamp across the natural rock dam at the outlet of the swamp. We then took the TMI Trail back around to the R-D Trail. Instead of going back to Smith Rock, we took the old trail back and then bushwacked to the phone line trail, which we took back took the R-D Trail and back down the mountain and back to the trailhead. As we were finishing the hike, we heard the rumbles of thunder, with a strong thunderstorm approaching from the west. We made it in time though before the rain came.