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

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.

Map of the Route
Harriman/Bear Mnt Trails Northern Map

Dunderberg Mountain from Beyond the Iona Island Swamp, From the Parking Area on 9W

The Bear Mountain Bridge and Anthony's Nose, From the Parking Area on 9W

Shimmy Posing with the Gran Fondo Bikers

Gran Fondo Bikers

"The 16-footer" - Waterfall on the Cornell Mine Trail

Approaching the Bald Mountain View, Facing North Zoomed Out

Bear Mountain Bridge and the Hudson River from Bald Mountain

Zoomed in to the Bear Mountain Bridge and the Hudson River from Bald Mountain

View West from Bald Mountain 

Me at the Bald Mountain Summit

Panorama of Bald Mountain Summit

Me at the Bald Mountain Summit

Descending the Mountain, with the NYC Skyline in the Distance

NYC Skyline Beyond the Trees

Zoomed into the NYC Skyline

Me Hiking in the Forest

Bald Mountain from Doodletown

Edison Mine Adit

Caption at Doodletown Ruin Stating Recent Vandalism

Wildflowers in Bloom in Doodletown

Dunderberg Spiral Railway and Loop

Bear Mountain State Park
Rockland County,
New York

Hiking Trails:
Ramapo-Dunderberg Trail: Red blaze
Timp-Torne Trail: Blue blaze

Total Time: 3:30 hour
Estimated Distance: 6.15 miles
Level of Difficulty: Very Difficult (though easier on a direct route)
Level of Recommendation: Highly Recommended (though not the exact route that I took)
Points Of Interest: Historic railway, outstanding views
Pros: Good climb, several excellent views
Cons: Trails a bit confusing, views are of built-up areas

Google Map of Parking:

View 2013 Hiking Locations in a larger map

I am usually good at planning a route, even if it involves a slight bushwack or using unofficial trails. This hike was definitely a challenge for me, having veered off base two separate times, as well as losing my camera. I had attempted to do some new routes on the Dunderberg spiral Railway track, but miscalculated and  ended up in a totally different place then planned on two different occasions on this hike.

The Dunderberg Spiral Railway was a project started in the late 1800's that was supposed to bring a trail up and down the mountain with a hotel on top. This project was never completed, though much of the path for the railway and several tunnels remain. Several of the trails go together with different parts of the unfinished railway, and other parts are very overgrown.

I had done Dunderberg the week before, but was out of time to complete the full route. There was one section of the Ramapo-Dunderberg Trail I wanted to complete, and I resolved to complete it on this hike. I parked on Route 9W at the Ramapo-Dunderberg and Timp-Torne Trailheads. There is a flat thicket area with many thorns vines prior to the steep face of the mountain. There is a small parallel trail directly from the parking area to the other trails, and I took this to start. I then started climbing the joint trails until the split.

At the split, I continued on the Ramapo Dunderberg Trail along the steep cable include, and tried contining along the cable incline after the trail departed, and I got lost here since the cable track is totally overgrown at this point and indiscernible. I ended up bushwacking north-northwest, and then reached a different railroad trail which led me back to the blue Timp-Torne Trail instead of the Ramapo Dunderberg Trail. I continued along the Timp-Torne Trail across the stream, and up the mountain. At this point there is an excellent view high up above the Hudson River. It also overlooks the Indian Point nuclear power plant right across the river. I had left my camera at this point without realizing it.

After the view my plan was to bushwack and cut across to the Ramapo-Dunderberg Trail and then take this trail as the return route. However, I ended veering more to the east then the north, and my GPS stopped working so I couldn't verify the bushwack on its proper eat. I ended up well west of where I was supposed to go, and was at a different spot in the notch between Bald Mountain and The Timp. Once I got my bearings straight, I climbed up the trail to Bald Mountain, (which has one of the best views in the park.) I then continued west along the Ramapo-Dunderberg Trail to where it meets with a dirt path which is probably part of the railway. It was too hard to retrace my steps back through the bushwack I got lost in, so I cut across the dirt path and then did a short bushwack back to the main view on the Timp-Torne Trail. Thank God my camera was here on the rock where I must have left it, untouched. After breathing a sigh of relief, I continued down the Timp Torne Trail back to the trailhead.

Map of the Route

Railway Tunnel near the beginning of the hike

View right near the first tunnel, at the beginning of the steep ascent.
Looking towards Indian Point on the other side of the Hudson River.
Note the trail in the thicket area below.

Green frog resting on a log on the Ramapo-Dunderberg Trail

Part of the railroad bed

Beautiful flowering dogwood tree

View of the Hudson from the Bushwack Part.
Facing South.

A very overgrown portion of the railway

Another view from one of the railway bushwacks. Facing south.

Railway tunnel

This bird is called a scarlet tanager.
It has an orange-red head and body and black wings and tail.
It has an amazing color and is even stronger than a cardinal.
This bird was right near the view on the R-D Trail (below)

View from the Ramapo-Dundeberg Trail
Facing east across the Hudson River to Indian Point.
This is where I lost my camera.

Another  view, facing south along the Hudson River.

Same view, zoomed in.

Same view  facing  northeast, towards Peekskill

View from Bald Mountain, facing North to Bear Mountain.
Taken from my cell phone camera.

View from Bald Mountain, facing south towards the Timp Pass
Taken from my cell phone camera.

View from Bald Mountain, facing west to West Mountain.
Taken from my cell phone camera.

View of the Thicket Area at the end of the hike