Harriman Hiker: Harriman State Park and Beyond: Halfway Mountain & Diamond Mountain

Sunday, June 30, 2019

Halfway Mountain & Diamond Mountain

Harriman State Park,
Rockland Co.
New York

Hiking Trails:
Pine Meadow Trail: Red blaze
Stony Brook Trail: Yellow blaze
Kakiat Trail: White blaze
Hillburn Tone Sebago (HTS) Trail: Orange blaze
7 Hills Trail: Blue blaze

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

Pros: Scenic area, good climb, great views, and blueberries
Cons: Lots of people at beginning part of hike on weekends

Hiking Partners:
Josef Friedman
Shimmy Rosenberg

This area is one of my most favorite area in Harriman State Park. It features incredible views with nice climbs and scrambles. The weather had been quite hot, and this was no exception.

We parked at Reeves Meadow, which was already quite busy despite being the morning, and took the Pine Meadow Trail to the Stony Brook Trail along the brook. The bridge across Pine Meadow Brook at the junction of the Kakiat Trail was broken and out of commission, with a sign by the pile of wood from the bridge that we will be rebuilding it soon. The water level was low enough to easily cross the brook on foot.

We continued along the Kakiat Trail to the Cascade of Slid waterfall, and then took the HTS Trail up to the view. This view is becoming quite overgrown with less to see. We then continued up the steep rock to the top of Diamond Mountain, at the intersection of the 7 Hills Trail.

There is a great view here, and it remains impressive along the 7 Hills Trail all the way to its descent back to the deep valley of Pine Meadow Brook. We continued along the 7 Hills Trail, crossing the brook, and then taking the Pine Meadow Trail all the way back to the parking area.