Suffern - Bear Mountain Trailhead
| Address | Suffern, NY, United States |
| Categories | Hiking Area |
| Rating | 4 4 reviews |
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Suffern - Bear Mountain Trailhead reviews
4 Great trail for a challenging two day / overnight hike. Completed in August in 12 hours (5.5 Day one to Big Hill Shelter and 6.5 Day two to Bear).
Suggested northbound itinerary - get to Suffern NY (easy by NJ Transit) around midday, lunch at Fink’s BBQ (take dinner to go!), head 11 miles to Big Hill shelter. Important, your first water will be the reservoir at mile 9.7. The next opportunity will be mile 13 before you cross the road, and around mile 15 before you cross again. There is no guaranteed further water until the end. Once you cross the Pip and start Pingyp Mountain the elevation changes get pretty tough. It could be better to do the trail in reverse so you have more flats on Day 2?). But don’t give up, you’ll eventually get there.
I then took an Uber to Peekskill for a brewery visit before Metro North train back to the city. Manitou station is currently closed due to covid.
Word of warning after crossing the clearing at Mile 4 I think (or 2.7) the trail was quite difficult to follow. Definitely have maps saved offline.
There is no parking for this. It is also located on the side of a busy road, next to a highway, and next to a train yard. Its practically a vertical cliff face up!
Very steep climb right away. Scramble-ish. Loooong trail. Some views early. Blazes clearly mark the trail. I parked in the municipal train lot across the street for free on the weekend. Fink’s BBQ (good, fun) a few steps away from trail head.
Suffern - Bear Mountain trail follows a rocky ridge along southeast border of Harriman State park. Passes many local attractions - starting with Nordkop Mountain, Panther Mountain, Stone and Big Hill shelters, Pingyp.
It ends in Bear Mountain parking area, near the historical Inn