Bear Mountain State Park is a

state park State parks are parks or other protected areas managed at the sub-national level within those nations which use "state" as a political subdivision. State parks are typically established by a state to preserve a location on account of its natural ...

located on the west bank of the

Hudson River The Hudson River is a river that flows from north to south primarily through eastern New York. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains of Upstate New York and flows southward through the Hudson Valley to the New York Harbor between Ne ...

in Rockland and Orange counties, New York. The park offers biking, hiking, boating, picnicking, swimming,

cross-country skiing Cross-country skiing is a form of skiing where skiers rely on their own locomotion to move across snow-covered terrain, rather than using ski lifts or other forms of assistance. Cross-country skiing is widely practiced as a sport and recreatio ...

, cross-country running,

sledding Sledding, sledging or sleighing is a winter sport typically carried out in a prone or seated position on a vehicle generically known as a sled (North American), a sledge (British), or a sleigh. It is the basis of three Olympic sports: luge, ske ...

and ice skating. It also includes several facilities such as the Perkins Memorial Tower, the Trailside Museum and Zoo, the Bear Mountain Inn, a merry-go-round, pool, and a skating rink. It also hosts the Bear Mountain

Circle A circle is a shape consisting of all points in a plane that are at a given distance from a given point, the centre. Equivalently, it is the curve traced out by a point that moves in a plane so that its distance from a given point is cons ...

, where the historic Palisades Interstate Parkway and Bear Mountain Bridge meet. It is managed by the Palisades Interstate Park Commission, which is overseen by the State of New York.

Geography

The park includes Bear Mountain as well as Dunderberg Mountain and West Mountain. Fort Montgomery is adjacent to the north edge of the park while Iona Island Bird Sanctuary is on the eastern edge in the

. The park is a separate entity from the adjacent Harriman State Park which runs along the western edge of the park. It lies within the Northeastern coastal forests

ecoregion An ecoregion (ecological region) or ecozone (ecological zone) is an ecologically and geographically defined area that is smaller than a bioregion, which in turn is smaller than a biogeographic realm. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of ...

History

During the

American Revolution The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revoluti ...

, when control of the Hudson River was viewed by the British as essential to dominating the American territories, the area that was to become the park saw several significant military engagements. In 1777 British troops routed Patriots at Fort Montgomery. Anthony Wayne's attack of the British fort at Stony Point moved colonial troops to the west of Bear Mountain. In 1908 the State of New York announced plans to relocate Sing Sing Prison to Bear Mountain. Work was begun in the area near Highland Lake (renamed Hessian Lake) and in January 1909, the state purchased the Bear Mountain tract.

Conservationists The conservation movement, also known as nature conservation, is a political, environmental, and social movement that seeks to manage and protect natural resources, including animal, fungus, and plant species as well as their habitat for the ...

inspired by the work of the Palisades Interstate Park Commission lobbied successfully for the creation of the Highlands of the Hudson Forest Preserve, stopping the prison from being built. Mary Averell Harriman, whose husband,

Union Pacific Railroad The Union Pacific Railroad , legally Union Pacific Railroad Company and often called simply Union Pacific, is a freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Paci ...

president E. H. Harriman died in September of that year, offered the state another and one million dollars toward the creation of a state park. George W. Perkins, with whom she had been working, raised another $1.5 million from a dozen wealthy contributors including John D. Rockefeller and

J. Pierpont Morgan John Pierpont Morgan Sr. (April 17, 1837 – March 31, 1913) was an American financier and investment banker who dominated corporate finance on Wall Street throughout the Gilded Age. As the head of the banking firm that ultimately became know ...

. New York State appropriated a matching $2.5 million and the state of New Jersey appropriated $500,000 to build the Henry Hudson Drive, (which would be succeeded by the Palisades Interstate Parkway in 1947). Bear Mountain-Harriman State Park became a reality the following year when the prison was demolished and a dock built for

steamboat A steamboat is a boat that is marine propulsion, propelled primarily by marine steam engine, steam power, typically driving propellers or Paddle steamer, paddlewheels. Steamboats sometimes use the ship prefix, prefix designation SS, S.S. or S/S ...

excursion traffic; the following year a new West Shore Railroad station was built near the dock. In 1912, a replica of

Henry Hudson Henry Hudson ( 1565 – disappeared 23 June 1611) was an English sea explorer and navigator during the early 17th century, best known for his explorations of present-day Canada and parts of the northeastern United States. In 1607 and 16 ...

's ship, the '' Half Moon'' was built and moored at the dock. Major

William A. Welch Major William Addams Welch (August 20, 1868 – May 4, 1941) was an American engineer and environmentalist who would have a major impact on the state and national park systems of the United States. Born in Cynthiana, Kentucky, he obtained a ci ...

was hired as Chief Engineer, whose work for the park would win him recognition as the father of the

movement (and later, the national park movement). Hessian Lake NY

The park opened in June 1913. Steamboats alone brought more than 22,000 passengers to the park that year. Camping at Hessian Lake (and later at Lake Stahahe) was immensely popular; the average stay was eight days and was a favorite for

Boy Scouts Boy Scouts may refer to: * Boy Scout, a participant in the Boy Scout Movement. * Scouting, also known as the Boy Scout Movement. * An organisation in the Scouting Movement, although many of these organizations also have female members. There are t ...

. By 1914 it was estimated that more than a million people a year were coming to the park. In the 1930s the federal government under Franklin D. Roosevelt was developing plans to preserve the environment as part of the Depression-era public works programs; the Civil Works Administration and the

Works Progress Administration The Works Progress Administration (WPA; renamed in 1939 as the Work Projects Administration) was an American New Deal agency that employed millions of jobseekers (mostly men who were not formally educated) to carry out public works projects, i ...

spent five years on projects at the park. Pump houses, reservoirs, sewer systems, vacation lodges, bathrooms, homes for park staff, storage buildings and an administration building were all created through these programs. The park continued to grow after its creation. The Palisades Interstate Park Commission began purchasing nearby Doodletown in the 1920s and completed the acquisition with

eminent domain Eminent domain (United States, Philippines), land acquisition (India, Malaysia, Singapore), compulsory purchase/acquisition (Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, United Kingdom), resumption (Hong Kong, Uganda), resumption/compulsory acquisition (Austr ...

in the 1960s.

Facilities

Bear Mountain Inn

Originally completed in 1915, the Bear Mountain Inn is an early example of the rustic lodge style influenced by the Adirondack

Great Camps __NOTOC__ The Great Camps of the Adirondack Mountains refers to the grandiose family compounds of cabins that were built in the latter half of the nineteenth century on lakes in the Adirondacks such as Spitfire Lake and Rainbow Lake. The cam ...

and later used extensively in the National Park System. It closed in 2005 for extended renovations, reopening in 2011.

Perkins Memorial Drive

The Perkins Memorial Drive is a scenic road to the summit of Bear Mountain. At the summit, the Perkins Memorial Tower provides a view of four states and the skyline of

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

, to the south. The road and tower were built by the

Civilian Conservation Corps The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was a voluntary government unemployment, work relief program that ran from 1933 to 1942 in the United States for unemployed, unmarried men ages 18–25 and eventually expanded to ages 17–28. The CCC was a ...

between 1932 and 1934. It is named after George Wallbridge Perkins, the first president of the Palisades Interstate Park Commission.

Trailside Museums and Zoo

The Trailside Museums and Zoo are located at the former site of Fort Clinton. Its name is a reference to the Appalachian Trail that runs through the complex. The zoo began as a bear den in 1926 and is currently the home of a wide variety of local injured or rehabilitating animals, including bears, otters, deer, bald eagles, and owls. The zoo's popular otter died in June 2013, aged 19 years. The Reptile and Amphibian House has many species of fish, turtles, snakes and frogs. The Nature Study Museum was formed in 1921 for the Boy Scouts facility in the park from the original exhibits created by the

American Museum of Natural History The American Museum of Natural History (abbreviated as AMNH) is a natural history museum on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City. In Theodore Roosevelt Park, across the street from Central Park, the museum complex comprises 26 int ...

. The Geology Museum covers the Hudson Highlands and other local geology. The History Museum has exhibits about colonial and Native American culture. On February 11, 1962, 35,120 spectators turned out to watch the New York State Junior Ski Jumping Championship. More jump competitions were held at Bear Mountain than at any other ski jump in the United States. The ski jumps have not been used since 1990.

Hiking

There are over 50 official trails covering , featuring a wide range of difficulties and elevation changes. The first section of the Appalachian Trail, taking hikers from Bear Mountain south to the Delaware Water Gap, opened on October 7, 1923 and served as a pattern for the other sections of the trail developed independently by local and regional organizations and later by the federal government. The Bear Mountain Zoo, through which the Appalachian Trail passes, is the lowest elevation on the trail. There are of the AT located in the park. In 2010, sections of the AT within the park were rebuilt by the

New York - New Jersey Trail Conference New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...

, with stone steps to handle the 500,000 annual hikers. The Manhattan skyline can be seen from the top of Bear Mountain.

Cross country running

Bear Mountain also regularly hosts cross country running events during the fall season. High school cross country teams compete on the course, which mostly consists of paved walkways. Bear Mountain is the location for the County's Championship race as well as the Rockland County Alumni Race, run every year since 1983.

Cruises

Several cruise lines operate cruises with views and trips to the park. These ships ride the

fifty miles from

in order to visit the park.

References

* Myles, William J., ''Harriman Trails, A Guide and History'', The New York-New Jersey Trail Conference, New York, N.Y., 1999.
50 Hikes in the Lower Hudson Valley
Written by New York-New Jersey Trail Conference members Stella Green and H. Neil Zimmerman. ''The Countryman Press''. 296 pages, 2008, 2nd ed.

External links

New York State Parks: Bear Mountain State Park

Palisades Park Conservancy: Bear Mountain State Park

Trailside Museums and Zoo

HarrimanHiker.com – With many hikes and photos of the area

Bear Mountain Inn

New York-New Jersey Trail Conference: Harriman-Bear Mountain State Parks trail details and info
{{authority control Ramapos Works Progress Administration in New York (state) U.S. Route 9W Zoos in New York (state) State parks of New York (state) State parks of the Appalachians Parks in Rockland County, New York Protected areas established in 1913 1913 establishments in New York (state)