Bear Mountain Hike Announced

- Bear Mountain State Park is a 5,205-acre park located on the west bank of the Hudson River, about 45 miles north of New York City. Its creation was spurred by conservation efforts in the early 1900s to prevent the area from becoming the new site for Sing Sing Prison. - The park is a popular destination, attracting more visitors annually than Yellowstone National Park. The first section of the Appalachian Trail was built at Bear Mountain and opened on October 7, 1923. This section of the trail has the lowest elevation point on the entire 2,100-mile trail. - A key feature of the park is the Perkins Memorial Tower at the summit of Bear Mountain, which offers panoramic views of four states and the Manhattan skyline on a clear day. The tower and the scenic Perkins Memorial Drive leading to it were built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s. - The Bear Mountain Inn, which opened in 1915, is a historic landmark within the park. Over the years, it has hosted notable figures such as Eleanor Roosevelt, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Dwight D. Eisenhower. - While the organized hike is described as "moderate," trails at Bear Mountain can be challenging, with some sections featuring steep climbs and over a thousand stone steps. The total ascent on some popular loop trails can be over 1,200 feet. - The park has a rich history beyond hiking, having served as a training location for the Brooklyn Dodgers and New York Giants in the 1930s and a premier ski jumping site in the United States. - Many of the park's rustic structures and trails were built during the Great Depression by the Works Progress Administration (WPA), giving the park its distinctive look and feel. - Following severe rain in July 2023, some hiking trails at Bear Mountain remained closed as of October 2025 for maintenance and to ensure visitor safety.