Exploring Bear Mountain State Park in New York
Bear Mountain State Park in New York is just about 2 hours north of New York City along a beautiful scenic road called 9W. Along this road you’ll see panoramic views of the Hudson River as well as the Hudson Highlands surrounding it.
With millions of people gathered less than a hundred miles away, this is a great place to get back into nature and take your perspectives to a new vantage point.
OH THE COLORS!
OH THE COLORS!Our previous couple trips to Bear Mountain were not successful as we timed our visit right around Octoberfest. The top of the mountain was closed off to traffic for whatever reason and we drove back home disappointed.
Luckily we called ahead before making the trip this time and SUCCESS, they would be open the day we planned on visiting. If you don’t live nearby, I highly recommend giving the park a call first to make sure the top of the mountain is not closed off to visitors. You can find their phone number on their website (click here).
EPIC VIEWS
Deanna and I happened to time our visit to see the beginning of the fall foliage throughout the northeastern United States. As you’ll see in a lot of Deanna’s photos, it is quite a stunning sight with the rolling hills alone.
Adding the array of fall colors just adds to the spectacle and takes a while to soak it all in. Luckily we had plenty of time to just sit and admire nature’s signal that winter is on its way.
THE TOWER
One of the other unique landmarks of Bear Mountain is the tower (photos above) that gives you an extra 40-50ft (guesstimate) of elevation. Throughout the tower you’ll find a museum of sorts documenting the history of the surrounding area including the construction of the iconic Bear Mountain Bridge.
Deanna and I have visited this tower a few times in the past and each time seems to have a unique feel to it (assuming you don’t go on consecutive days). One of the days the wind was howling through the open windows towards the top of the tower. It was kind of an eerie but neat sound as trees offered no wind protection at the top of this tower.
NYC IN THE DISTANCE!?
It is hard to argue that the main attraction of this park however is the lookout towards New York City. Unlike the hazy (yet beautiful) views from above, you can actually see the skyscrapers in a distance on a relatively clear day. We were able to see the outlines of them during this visit, but weren’t particularly photo worthy.
Don’t worry, we will be back and capture those eventually. 🙂 This trip, as I mentioned before, was all about capturing the fall foliage and the rolling hills. If it weren’t for the rather excited and noisy crowd of fellow onlookers, I’m sure we could have stayed there in awe for quite some time.
If you do want a place of your own, you will more than likely have to hike down the mountain a little ways among the cascading boulders. Eventually we did find a little nook on the side of the mountain were we could view with a bit more peace and quiet. 🙂
PLENTY OF HIKING TO BE TREKKED
Although the park does offer quite a few hiking trails, Deanna and I opted out this time due to some of my physical limitations. As you may have seen in my last post, I had surgery scheduled and quite honestly didn’t want to further injure myself before…so we took it easy this time around.
Fortunately this park offers views for all physical levels. Not only can you hike to the top of the mountain, but you can drive up and around. If you head to the top of the mountain and follow the circle around the tower, you will see another scenic road you can take. We definitely recommend it, as you can see from the photo gallery above, it is quite beautiful.
WHAT CAN’T YOU SEE FROM UP THERE
From the top of Bear Mountain you can see nearby cities such as Peekskill and also a neighboring mountain called Anthony’s Nose. I’m not associated with them at all, but definitely try out the Peekskill Brewery if you find yourself in the city…Amazeballs. Anthony’s Nose is also another really fun hiking area if you want to see the Hudson Valley from the other side of the river. 🙂
OTHER NEARBY HIKES
NOTE FROM WRITER
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Adventure On!
