Harriman Hiker: Harriman State Park and Beyond: Pine Swamp Loop, Harriman State Park

Orange County,
New York

Hiking Trails:
Long Path: Green blaze
Dunning Trail: Yellow blaze
Arden-Surebridge Trail: Red blaze

Total Time: 1:15 hours
Estimated Distance: 3.25 miles
Level of Difficulty: Moderate
Level of Recommendation: Highly Recommended
Points Of Interest: Beautiful, serene forest and good view at the end

Google Maps of Parking:

View 2012 Hiking in a larger map

This is one of my favorite loop hikes in Harriman. Its a very peaceful, tranquil part of the park, and although there are ups and downs on this hike, there is no difficult climbing. There are many streams, swamps, and various forest types encountered on this hike. The weather was also a perfect early autumn day, with temperatures in the low 70's in low humidity.

I parked at the Lake Skanatati parking area off 7 Lakes Drive, and took the Long Path along the side of Lake Skanatati. I continued along past the lake inlet brook, and all the way to the Dunning path. I took the Dunning Path north, and then shortly after took short detour to bushwack up the hill on the left side of the trail to see if there is a view there. There was no view, but the flora and coverage on top here is beautiful. I climbed back down to the Dunning Trail towards the Pine Swamp, passing along to the left of the old Pine Swamp Mine, and then took the Arden-Surebridge Trail up and around Pine Swamp Mountain all the way toward the view. The view overlooks Lakes Skanatati and Kanawauke, and there are usually people here at the view. After the view continued the short descent down to the parking area and back to my car.