Harriman Hiker: Harriman State Park and Beyond: Doodletown

Showing posts with label Doodletown. Show all posts

Sunday, November 3, 2019

Bald Mountain & Doodletown LinkedIn Hike

Harriman/Bear Mountain State Parks,
Rockland and Orange Counties,
New York

Hiking Trails:
Cornell Mine Trail: Blue blaze
Ramapo-Dunderberg Trail: Red blaze
1777 Trail: Red blaze
1777E Trail: Red blaze

Total Time: 3:00 hour
Estimated Distance: 4.8 Miles

Pros: Good climb, great view, historic ghost town
Cons: None

Hiking Partners:
Tuli Krause
Abe Pressberger

I had been traveling alot over the month of October, thereby limited my hiking activities. The previous weekend at the peak of the foliage was stormy, with heavy rain and wind. In fact, it had been raining all week, and finally dried out over the following weekend. The sky was blue and bright, but alas much of the foliage was already gone.

I had meant to do a fall foliage hike with some LinkedIn members the prior week, but due to the inclment weather I postponed it, but it was late notice and we had a much smaller crowd than previous showings. However, my two fellow hikers were great company to have, and excellent networkers.

We parked the car on Route 9W at Iona Island at the trailhead parking, and took the Cornell Mine Trail. There is a small waterfall cascading at the very beginning of the hike, with another one nearby further up the creek. We climbed up to the intersection of the Ramapo-Dunderberg Trail, and took that trail west towards the Bald Mountain summit. This area affords one of the most scenic in Harriman/Bear Mount state parks.

We then continued down the mountain and looping on the side of it on the 1777 Trail through Doodletown. Doodletown is a ghost time, with nothing left of its original town but foundations. The trail goes through old road that went through town. We then took the 1777E Trail at the intersection, and from there went back to our car.

Map of the Route

First Waterfall at the Beginning of the Hike

Main Waterfall near Doodletown

View of Bear Mountain While Ascending Bald Mountain

View of the Bear Mountain Bridge While Ascending Bald Mountain

Trail Intersection near the Summit of Bald Mountain

Summit View of Bald Mountain, Facing North Towards Bear Mountain

Bear Mountain Bridge and the Hudson River

West Mountain Across the Valley

View from Bald Mountain Facing South

Selfie View with Tuli and Abe

Bear Mountain Bridge and Anthony's Nose

Me at the Summit

Home Plaques at Doodletown

More Plaques and an Impressive Tree

Me, Tuli, and Abe at the Main Doodletown Intersection

Doodletown Reservoir

Sunday, August 4, 2019

1777W Trail to Doodletown and Herbert Cemetery

Bear Mountain State Park,
Rockland Co.
New York

Hiking Trails:
1777W Trail: White blaze
Appalachian Trail: White blaze
1777 Trail: Red blaze
Ski Trail: Unblazed
Suffern-Bear Mountain Trail: Yellow blaze
Fawn Trail: Red blaze

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

Pros: Historical area through ghost town
Cons: No views of climbing

Hiking Partners:
Jacob Zuber
Josef Friedman
Elisha Friedman

I needed a hike that was not too strenuous, and this was the perfect place. This hike goes through Doodletown, an old ghost town that has plaques of the past relics that once existed here.

We parked the car at the trailhead parking on Seven Lakes Drive at the 1777W Trail, and took the 1777W Trail east towards Doodletown, passing the Appalachian Trail and going concurrent on the Appalachian Trail for a short distance.

At the 1777 Trail junction, we took the 1777 Trail through Doodletown, passing many of the landmarks and seeing some of the old foundations. We took a short detour into the Herbert Cemetery, an very old woods cemetery. There are some new plaques here as well from more modern times, but the old tombstones in the wild forest give this cemetery a real flashback in history.

After exiting the cemetery, we continued on the 1777 Trail a short distance to the Ski Trail. This trail is designated as a cross-country ski route and is not an officially marked trail. After reaching the Suffern-Bear Mountain Trail, the Ski Trail turns into the Fawn Trail, which was recently extended to this point after having previously ended at the Appalachian Trail. We continued along the Fawn Trail to the Appalachian Trail, and then to the 1777W Trail and then back to our car.

Map of the Route

Appalachian Trail Plaque

Dunderberg Mountain in the Distance

Bridge Across Doodletown Brook

Plaque in front of the Lewis Home, with the 150
year old Maple and Chestnut Trees

Coming into the Herbert Cemetery

Old and New Tombstones in the Herbert Cemetery

Old, Worn-Out Tombstones in the Herbert Cemetery

Another View of the Cemetery

Tamsen Houses Plaque

The Ancient Oak, a 200+ Year Oak, is Dead

Ancient Oak Plaque

Me on the Hiking Trail

Me with David Zuber

Me at the Appalachian Trailhead

Sunday, May 15, 2016

Bald Mountain and Doodletown

Bear Mountain State Park/
Harriman State Park,
Rockland Co.,
New York

Hiking Trails:
Cornell Mine Trail: Blue blaze
Ramapo-Dunderberg Trail: Red blaze
1777 Trail: Red blaze
1777 Trail E: White blaze

Total Time: 2:45 Hours
Estimated Distance: 5.3 Miles
Level of Difficulty: Difficult
Level of Recommendation: Highly Recommended

Points of Interest: Good climb and Excellent View

Hiking Partner:
Shimmy Rosenberg

This hike is one of my favorites in the Harriman/Bear Mountain area. The area is quiet, the scenery is dramatic, the climb is steep, and the view is excellent. The Gran Fondo bike race was this same Sunday, and their route was right where the trailhead was. We parked on Route 9W right before the road to Bear Mountain to avoid the traffic from the bike race, and then walked down a little bit to the trailhead. It was difficult crossing Route 9W due to all the bikes going in both directions.

We took the Cornell Mine Trail from its beginning, and climbed up along the brook on the ridge. We continued along on this trail until its steep ascent. Where the trail turns west on the climb, we stayed straight and took the original steep trail route up back to where it meets the Cornell Mine Trail again. We took the Cornell Mine Trail until its terminus on Dunderberg Mountain, by a small pit that is part of the Cornell Mine complex. We headed west on the Ramapo-Dunderberg Trail to its short traverse to the summit of Bald Mountain, which is really the western part of Dunderberg. This area affords an excellent and unobstructed view north, west, and south.

From the Bald Mountain view, we continued along the Ramapo-Dunderberg Trail down into the valley, and cut across on the unmarked woods road that goes in to Pleasant Valley Road in Doodletown. At this point, a small storm rolled in, with strong winds and rain, making the conditions very uncomfortable. About 20 minutes later the rain and wind died down, and we continued along the path until it met up with the 1777 Trail at the end of Doodletown.

Doodletown is a ghost town. This was a small community up until the 60’s, when the state purchased the entire area and made it into a state park. Although none of the structures are preserved, many of the foundations are still in place, and plaques are placed throughout the area describing all the former structures, such as the homes, schools, and church. We went along the trail and veered off at the first former unnamed road that goes to the east and loops back around south towards the Edison Mine. We quickly went up the hill to explore the Edison Mine, went back down along the same road behind the Doodletown Reservoir, and then joined along with the 1777 W Trail briefly. We then took Pleasant Valley Road down back to Route 9W and our car.