 |
A parcel of Peace: Bear Mountain State Park - 23 June, 2005
By BILL CARY
wcary@thejournalnews.com
THE JOURNAL NEWS
For a midweek summer sick day, when the urge to play hooky proves unbearable, it's hard to beat the allure of Bear Mountain State Park. You can do it all here: swimming, hiking, biking, birding, picnicking — or just loafing.
The park, which sits in the northern corner of Rockland along the Hudson and can be just minutes away from Westchester and Putnam residents via the Bear Mountain Bridge, draws 3 million visitors a year, more than Yellowstone, Yosemite and Acadia national parks combined. The vast majority of visitors come on weekends, so the trick for finding peace and quiet is to come on weekdays, especially after schools let out and the horded masses of school groups have left in peace.
On a recent Monday morning, a couple of female joggers had the mile-long trail around Hessian Lake pretty much to themselves. Along the edge of the lake, Eddie Bunn of Middletown had just caught a 15-foot bass, which he tossed back because bass season had not started yet and that's the way he likes to fish anyway. He and a buddy come to the park to fish on weekdays a couple of times a month.
"They bring them up from the city by the busload on weekends," he warned.
Overhead, an osprey floated lazily over the lake, sometimes high, then just over the surface — fishing, too, perhaps.
A nearby path leads to an underpass below Route 9, where you'll find a huge swimming pool ($2 for adults, $1 for children 6 to 12), a meandering nature trail, small museums with exhibits on history, geology and reptiles, and a zoo of sorts, with bears, otters and birds of prey that have suffered permanent wing damage. Admission here is $1 for adults, 50 cents for children 6 to 12.
The pool is open from 9:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. on weekends and holidays and from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. on weekdays, beginning Monday.
The nature trail is an easy walk with lots of stops to see labeled trees (even the utility poles get labels here), a fern garden and small ponds with waterfowl.
Another path leads down to the river, where you'll find a wooden dock jutting out into the Hudson just under the Bear Mountain Bridge, great views up and down the river and a grassy strip with benches and picnic tables — a perfect spot for lunch.
A major rehab of the historic Bear Mountain Inn is still in progress, with a reopening of the inn and restaurants now set for April 2006. The nearby Overlook Lodge offers accommodations until then and an outdoor pavilion near Hessian Lake that sells substantial snacks, beverages and sandwiches. There's one near the pool, too.
A stand near the lake, which is stocked with trout, offers a spin across the water in pedal boats or rowboats ($4.50 per person per hour).
More strenuous hikes through the woods include a section of the Appalachian Trail that runs through the park, the Cornell Trail, the Suffern-Bear Mountain Trail and the Major Welch Trail.
The merry-go-round is open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekends until the end of the month, then every day for the rest of the summer.
The entrance to Bear Mountain State Park is at the intersection of the Palisades Parkway and Route 9W, near the Bear Mountain traffic circle. Parking costs $6, and the park is open 365 days a year from dawn to dusk.
For more information, call 845-786-2701 or visit www.nysparks.com or www.friendsofpalisades.org.
BACK
BACK TO TOP
|
|
|
|
A View for Generations
Palisades Interstate
Park System
MAP
Bear Mountain
Attractions
MAP
Bear Mountain
Suggested Hikes
MAP
|
|
