West Mountain

"Getting out in the spring like weather, high 40’s to lower 50’s, to stretch the legs. Lunch at the West mountain leanto taking in the fine view down to NY city and watching some hawks soaring in the gusty winds. Dropped down to the Fingerboard leanto just for shitz and giggles. Carried out some litter but it will need a thorough cleanup come spring." — Nimblefoot • Feb 10, 2022

"Hiked two small peaks in the Hudson Valley, Taurus and West. First time using the new parking lot for the Washburn trail and surprised to find plenty of parking spots despite my mid-morning arrival. A lot of improvements to the trail, basically a wide gravel road up to the old quarry then plenty of nice rock steps on the climb above the quarry. All the over-use has been fenced off in order to encourage one path of use." — Nimblefoot • May 25, 2021

"A quick hike up to the leanto and the summit from Seven Lakes drive. Return via the S-BM and Fawn trails to make it a loop. Now back to raking leaves while they are still dry." — Nimblefoot • Nov 4, 2020

"A short hike up the AT from Seven Lakes drive to complete the month of July of my Hudson Valley grid. Left my house without my pack- oops!- so made do with a spare one in the car and some bottles of water laying about. On my way up encountered an Asian gentleman looking for the West mountain shelter and was getting bad info from AT hikers, we got it worked out and had a good chuckle in the process. On my return encountered two women with a small dog trying to find their way back to their car. They had no map nor a good idea of where they left their car...way too common occurrence these days and Harriman/Bear Mtn is the worst with its rats nest of trails." — Nimblefoot • Jul 28, 2020

"Attempted to do West mountain from 7 Lakes drive but the road was closed off at the traffic circle behind Bear Mtn Inn. I drove around to try get to the PA from Rt 6 but that was also closed off. So back to the Inn and down to Doodletown area, which fortunately only a few cars, to park and take a longer route to the peak. Since I was coming from this side I decided to throw in The Timp as I needed both for the Hudson Highlands peak challenge." — Nimblefoot • Apr 14, 2020

"Short loop hike of West mountain to complete the NY Hudson Highlands peak challenge 4-season Grid. After a couple of weeks of cooler temps and no humidity the infamous Hudson Valley humidity came back with a vengeance with temps in the upper 80’s. The haze was so bad I couldn’t see the Manhattan skyline from the West mountain shelter. Still a nice quiet day on the trails." — Nimblefoot • Sep 11, 2019

"Traverse of the Suffern-Bear Mountain Trail that spans the eastern side of Harriman State Park, plus some bonus miles and elevation with an out-and-back of Bear Mountain along the Appalachian Trail to finish up the trek. Marathon of a day- 26.3 miles and 5,160 feet of gain in 9.5 hours of solid hiking. Caught the sunrise atop Nordkop Mountain, had beautiful bluebird skies all day, and was able to make it home in time for dinner!" — wacbravo • Feb 10, 2019

"Enjoying a wonderful Fall day in Harriman and Bear Mountain state parks. Sunny blue sky with a good breeze especially up higher. On my loop of Dunderberg, Bald, The Timp and West Mountain I encountered quite a few other hikers who were also playing hokey to start their weekend off early. At the shelter on West mtn. I encountered a guy and his friendly dog taking a break. We commented on the great view down to the NYC skyline, where he normally works." — Nimblefoot • Oct 12, 2018

"Tom,Steve and I spent a second day with two friends hiking through our area while thru-hiking the Appalachian trail. Today Cathy and Kate are slackpacking again, this time from Bear mountain through Harriman SP to Island Pond near the NYS thruway. The Hudson Valley is experiencing an Indian summer, complete with high humidity, so the climb up West mountain is a bit of a sweatfest while enjoying the views back to Bear mountain and the memorial tower. Typical AT thru-hikers, only interested in doing AT mileage, they choose to forgo a side trip out to West mountain shelter to get the view down to the Manhattan skyline." — Nimblefoot • Oct 5, 2017

"On a rare day off from work I did a scenic loop of The Timp and West mountains red lining the 1777 trail in the process. The nice sunny weather with temps running from the upper 60's to a high of 80 encouraged many other hikers to play outside on a Tuesday." — Nimblefoot • Apr 11, 2017