Bear Mtn State Park
Bear Mountain State Park
Bear Mountain, NY
Transportation – There are three main ways to arrive at Bear Mtn. The easiest way is to drive and park at one of its various parking lots. If you park at the Bear Mountain Inn area, you can either buy the Empire Pass card for $80 (this pass includes all NY State Parks) or pay $10 for the day. Other lots are free. During the summer, the parking lots fill up, so be sure to arrive early.
Another way via public transit is to take a bus that leaves from Port Authority that drops you off right at Bear Mountain Inn. Buses leave NYC at 8:45am and 11:15am and return to NYC at 3:19pm (and 5:19pm on weekends and holidays). The bus trip is about 1.5 hours in duration each way without traffic. Pro tip: Don't buy your tickets online – it is actually easier to purchase right at the ticket counter and leave extra time for yourself to navigate Port Authority. The pickup location is right in front of the Bear Mountain Inn.
The least convenient way is via train. You can take MetroNorth to Peekskill or Manitou. Bear Mountain is across the Hudson River from both stops and about a 10-15 minute car ride. If you want to run from the train, we’d advice Manitou as it is about a 2.5 mile run to Bear Mountain Inn. If you plan to take a taxi, Peekskill likely has a higher concentration of Ubers and Lyfts available.
The Trail -
Bear Mountain trails are classic east coast trails, meaning they are very rocky and rooty. You won’t find any continuous climbs greater than 1.5K feet in elevation gain like you would on trails in other areas like the Rockies or Alps, but these climbs will still challenge you and provide sufficient training if you are preparing for a mountain trail race.
During the summer and on nice weather days in the spring and fall, the trails to the top of Bear Mountain can become very crowded with day hikers. Other trails, though, are much less crowded. It is easy to become lost in Bear Mountain due to its large size, so we’d strongly advice having a printed map with you and downloading the Avenza map to your smartphone (this map works when you don’t have cell service).
Some historical trails run through Bear Mountain. The most noteworthy is the Appalachian Trail (white blaze), which pass by the Bear Mountain Inn. The 1777 trail (both east and west) retraces the route followed by British and American troops during the Revolutionary War. If you take 1777W trail, you will run past Fort Montgomery State Historic Site where a Revolutionary War battle occurred. Lastly, the Suffern Bear Mountain trail (yellow blaze) begins at Bear Mountain Inn and runs about 23 miles south to the bottom of Harriman State Park in Suffern, NY.
For additional detail on trails at Bear Mountain check out:
Tips:
· Bear Mountain Inn is the best place to purchase food and drinks at Bear Mountain. The store on the main level is good for grabbing a quick snack.
· At Fort Montgomery State Historic Site and Bear Mountain Inn, water fountains and bathrooms are available
· Bring a water filter for long trail days. There are a number streams throughout Bear Mountain
· There is very poor cellphone service at Bear Mountain, so maps like Avenza come in handy
