Pine Swamp Mountain Short Hike

Pine Swamp Mountain Short Hike,
Harriman State Park
Orange Co.,
New York

Hiking Trails:
Arden-Surebridge Trail: Red blaze

Total Time: 0:30 hour
Estimated Distance: 0.75 miles
Level of Difficulty: Easy
Level of Recommendation: Recommended for a short hike with good view
Points of Interest: Lake Skanatati and good view
Pros: Lake scenery and good view
Cons: Very busy area, especially on weekends and Holidays

Hiking Partner:
Rayzi Friedman

Google Map of Parking:

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My knee had been getting better, and I decided to take my first hike with a climb. The climb is very short, but is a climb nevertheless, with a short scramble near the top. The top also affords a very good view. Although I have been hear many times, rarely do I just climb up this short hike and then climb back down. This is a recommended hike for someone who wants to do a very short hike in Harriman and get a nice climb with a view and also a lake.

We parked in the parking area for Lake Skanatati on Seven Lakes Drive, and took the Arden-Surebridge Trail up the mountain towards the view. We then turned around and went back the same way. The parking lot was very busy being that it was Memorial Day with great weather, but we were lucky to get a parking spot that had just opened up. If coming here on weekends or a Holiday, make sure to arrive early to ensure a parking spot.

Map of the Route.
Harriman/Bear Mountain Trails (North and South)

View from the top, with Lake Skanatati and Kanawauke

White Bar-Lake Sebago Loop

Harriman State Park
Rockland County,
New York

Hiking Trails:
White Bar Trail: White blaze
Tuxedo-Mt Ivy Trail: Red blaze

Total Time: 1:30 hours
Estimated Distance: 3.8 miles
Level of Difficulty: Easy
Level of Recommendation: Slightly Recommended
Points Of Interest: Lake Sebago
Pros: Very quiet area of park, beautiful lake
Cons: No views, Unmarked trail part is overgrown

Google Map of Parking:

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The weather has been beatiful for much of September, with bright blue skies and temperatures in the 70's. This day was no exception, though the morning started out cold, and I started the hike in the upper 40's and needed a light jacket. I parked at the Johnstown Road dead end, and took the White Bar Trail north from its southern terminus. This part of the trail follows the old Johnstown Road path, and it is therefore a wide trail. The Kakiat Trail intersects and comes in and then leaves. I continued up the White Bar Trail past the swamp on the left until the Tuxedo-Mt Ivy Trail intersection. I veered easy on the Tuxedo-Mt Ivy Trail, climbing up the mountain and through the notch. Then went down and headed towards Lake Sebago, where I went to a rock in the lake to take some pictures. I then veered off south prior to Seven Lakes Drive, where I picked up the trail back to the White Bar Trail. This part of the trail is ver overgrown but not recommended. I then took the White Bar Trail back to my car.

Map of the Route.
Harriman/Bear Mountain State Parks Southern Map

Bright blue Sky and Start of Foliage at the Trailhead
at Johnstown Road Cul-de-sac

Tuxedo-Mt Ivy Trail Going Through the Notch
Before Descending to Lake Sebago

Lake Sebago, at the Southern End of the Lake.
Facing East.

Lake Sebago. Facing Northeast.

Zoomed into the Above View

Lake Sebago, Facing East

Bright Red Early Ivy Foliage Along the White Bar Trail

Irish Potato Harriman State Park

Rockland County,
New York

Hiking Trails:
Suffern-Bear Mountain Trai: Yellow blaze

Total Time: 0:35 hour
Estimated Distance: 1.2 miles
Level of Difficulty: Easy
Points Of Interest: Short hike in a tranquil area, interesting rock formation
Pros: Peaceful area with nice streams, nice rock formation
Cons: No good view

Hiking Partner:
Shimmy Rosenberg

Google Map of Parking:

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Though much of the snow from Friday had melted, there was still good coverage in the mountains, so I am happy to present yet another snow hike. Though this winter has been disappointing in that the lakes were never fully frozen and accessible for walking upon, there were so many snow events, even small ones, that allowed the mountains to be covered in  snow for almost the entire season.

I had a trade show to attend in New Jersey this Sunday, so I really had to do a short hike. I was a bit disappointed to do such a short hike considering the snow and the bright blue sky, which always create an amazing contrast together. But sometimes that's the reality, so I take what I can get.

We parked at the trailhead on County Route 106 right after the entrance to Harriman State Park. We took the Suffern-Bear Mountain Trail north along the stream and then up the hill to the top where the Irish Potato sits. The Irish Potato is a very large glacial rock sitting atop the bedrock floor. There are sticks setup on the north side to climb it, but my attempt at this was dissuaded due to the icy conditions. After walking around the rock we turned around and headed back along the same route.

Map of the route

Hiking along the stream

SBM Trail before the ascent up Irish Mountain

The Irish Potato

The other side of the Irish Potato,
with me unsuccessfully attempting to climb it

View atop Irish Mountain where the Potato is

Long Path Snow Slide,Lake Skanatati Area

Harriman State Park,
Rockland County,
New York

Hiking Trails:
Arden-Surebrige: Red blaze
Long Path: Green blaze
Various Bushwacks

Total Time: 1:40 hour
Estimated Distance: 2.35 miles
Level of Difficulty: Moderate, but more difficult because of snow
Level of Recommendation: Highly recommended, especially in the snow!
Points Of Interest: Great view, amazing snow sliding

Hiking Partners:
Debbie Koegel
Avichai

Google Map of Parking:

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We had just gotten our first significant storm of the season on Saturday, and it had also snowed a few icy inches the previous Wednesday. So there were two layers of snow, with a new fresh layer. The lakes were not yet fully frozen, but one of my highlights of winter is doing a snow hike. The serenity and freshness of such hikes are truly exhilarating. I also like going down some of the hilly parts in fresh snow by sliding down. The tree cover has to be sparse and open, and the hill steep but not to steep to do this. This hike affords these options if you bushwack slightly off the trail, which is what we did.

We parked in the parking area off Seven Lakes Drive at Lake Skanatati. We took the Arden-Surebridge Trail up the mountain to the view. We then bushwacked from the view down to the Long Path, and this bushwack afforded a great snow-slide down the mountain. We continued along the Long Path up some hills and down some valley's, and were forced to turn around approaching the Nurian Trail due to time constraints (we had originally intended to reach the viewpoint on the Nurian Trail near the southern end of Hogencamp Mountain.

The route back was mostly bushwacking up and down hills and sliding down, parallel to the Long Path. Once we reached the western end of Lake Skanatati we took the Long Path along the side of the lake back to the parking area.

Map of the Route

Lake Skanatati Starting to Freeze

Me on the Top of Pine Swamp Mountain Lookout

Sliding Down Pine Swamp Mountain

Avichai at the Pine Swamp Brook

Hiking on the Long Path

Avichai at Lake Skanatati

Me at Lake Skanatati

View a time-lapse slideshow file of me sliding down the mountain in the snow.


 

Claudius Smith Den to Lake Sebago

Harriman State Park
Rockland County,
New York

Hiking Trails:
Ramapo-Dunderberg trail: Red blaze
Tuxedo-Mount Ivy Trail: Red blaze

Total Time: 2:00 hours
Estimated Distance: 3.4 miles
Level of Difficulty: Slightly Difficult
Level of Recommendation: Highly Recommended
Points Of Interest: Nice cave and scramble with an excellent view

Hiking Partners:
David and Debbie Koegel
Yehuda Koblick

Google Maps of Parking:

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Claudius Smith Den is a famous landmark in Harriman that is very well-known. It is a cave and long crack in the rock, with an amazing view on the top. Claudius Smith was supposedly a thief who would use the cave as his hideout den. This is a highly recommended hike for its interesting formations, beatiful view, and historical significance.

We parked at the trailhead in Tuxedo right before the Thruway. We walked along the blazed road underneath the busy highway to the tranquil trail climbing the mountain. We continued past the Gas Line and red trail intersections, and then to the Claudius Smith Den. We spent a few minutes exploring and taking pictures, and then went to the top where the view is and feasted on some ripe blueberries soaking in the sun.

From the claudius Smith Den, half our group went back the same route to the car, and the other half including myself continued along the Tuxedo-Mount Ivy Trail west and took. We eventually got to Lake Sebago and Seven Lakes Drive, where they picked us up on the side of the road by the dam.

Map of the Route

View of Tuxedo from Smith Rock

Yehuda Approching the Claudius Smith Den

David and myself inside the crevice in the den

Me inside the crevice

View atop Claudius Smith Den. Facing Southwest.

Top of Claudius Smith Den. Facing West.

Me on the top of the den.

Yehuda on the top of the den.

The clear waters of Lake Sebago, near the end of the hike.

Hogencamp Mountain

Harriman State Park
Orange County,
New York

Hiking Trails:
Hogencamp Road (unmarked blaze)
Dunning Trail (Yellow blaze)

Total Time: 2 hours
Estimated Distance: 3 miles
Level of Difficulty: Slightly Difficult
Level of Recommendation: Recommended for a good bushwack
Points Of Interest: Good bushwack, good views, historical mine

Google Maps of Parking:

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This hike is mostly a bushwack - and a very scenic one. I parked on County Route 106 right after the bend by Lake Kanawauke, to take the old road to Hogencamp. I took this for a short while passing some of the abandoned structures along the way from this old mining ghost town. Right before the bend in the old overgrown road there is a large clearing on the right, with the foundation of a large unknown structure. There is a cliff behind here which has a very good bushwack route up. I climbed the cliff, to where there is an excellent east-facing view of Lake Kanawauke, and this leads to an unmarked short trail to the Dunning Trail.

I took the Dunning Trail for a very short while, and then cut across up the Rocky area right after the stream to the summit of Hogencamp Mountain. The summit is covered by brush and rocky exposures, and lacks significant tree cover. This is due to the area once being the site of a huge forest fire. The summit of Hogencamp, along the ridge, is an incredibly scenic area with beautiful plants and a consistent view to the east. I strongly advocate the creation of a trail along this ridge.

Coming towards the Long Path, I descended in a valley that had a good cut-through route, and this led me to the northen point of the Hogencamp workings. I explored some of the many mine cuts and shafts in the area, and headed back south along the Dunning Trail. The Hogencamp Mine consists of many mining cuts and pits and is the most extensive of the ancient iron mine workings in the entire Harriman State Park. I always enjoy exploring this area. Headed back along the Dunning Trail, cutting off by the old Hogencamp Road towards Route 106, and then back to my car.

Map of the route

Old Foundation - Looking behind while ascending the bushwack cliff

View atop the bushwack.

View with the Little Long Pond in the distance.

Looking up to the dense brush climbing Hogencamp Mountain

View from the south summit of Hogencamp - Facing south.

Facing southeast.

Facing southeast.

Facing east with the traffic circle in the distance.

Large mine adit at Hogencamp Mine.

The big dangerous hole at Hogencamp Mine.

Campgaw Mountain County Reservation

Ramapo Mountain State Forest,
Bergen County,
New Jersey
Trails: Old Cedar Trail: Red blaze

Total Time: 1:15 hour
Estimated Distance: 3.2 miles
Level of Difficulty: Moderate
Level of Recommendation: Recommended for a tranquil hike
Points Of Interest: Viewpoint and tranquil nature

Google Maps of Parking:

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Campgaw Mountain is a small mountain (or large hill, depending how you look at it) in Northwestern Bergen County. While it doens't contain any rugged peaks or exhilirating hiking, it does afford a very large network of tranquil and well-marked trails in a very small area. There is a small downlhill ski area with about a 200 foot vertical drop.

I parked in the northern end of the large parking lot near the ski lifts, and took the Old Cedar Trail up the mountain. The Old Cedar Trail is the longest trail in the park, and makes a complete loop, starting at the same point where it ends on the road. I climbed up the mountain and veered off at the top to take a look at the view by the top of the ski lifts. Continued back on the trail, going down and then going along the stream, down to the more developed park area at the bottom. From there headed along and continued past the lake, across the road, and along the brand new trail bridge back to the area where I parked.

Strange Pods on top of the mountain.
There are several of these and I don't know what they are for.

View from the top of the ski lift. Facing east.

From top of ski lift, facing northeast.

From top of Ski Lift facing north, with Sheraton Crossroads
Ramapo Mountains in view. The small jagged mountain in the
right center is Cheesecoate Mountain.

Power lines at the bottom.

Interesting trail marker along the Old Cedar Trail