Appalachian Trail: Bear Mountain - Harriman State Parks - West

The less-traveled western section of Bear Mount - Harriman State Park offers an ideal introduction to the history, flora, and fauna of the Hudson Highlands. The land here comes alive with signs of the dynamic 12,000-year relationship between human beings and nature. You will travel through secluded forest once occupied by Native Americans, walk along the shores of pretty Island Pond, slip through the Lemon Squeezer (an unusual rock formation), and explore the ruins of a 19th-century iron mine. Most notably, this hike follows the approximate route of the very first 5.5 miles of Appalachian Trail ever blazed. Natural history features: Green Pond Mountain; Island Pond; Lemon Squeezer; Surebridge Mountain, Fingerboard Mountain Social history features: Clove Furnace; Civilian Conservation Corps spillway; Long Path; Ramapo-Dunderberg trail; Surebridge Mine Road; Greenwood Mine; first miles of AT ever built.