Rockland County,
New York
Hiking Trails:
Pine Meadow Trail: Red blaze
Stony Brook Trail: Orange blaze
Kakiat Trail: White blaze
Raccoon Brook Hills Trail: Black blaze
Reeves Brook Trail:White blaze
Total Time: 2:30 hour
Estimated Distance: 5.5 miles
Level of Difficulty: Slightly difficult
Level of Recommendation: Recommended
Points Of Interest: Scenic gorge, good climbs and views
Pros: Very scenic, varying terrain and flora
Cons: Beginning part of trail is always very busy
Google Map of Parking:
View 2013 Hiking Locations in a larger map
The weather was unseasonably cold for late May, and I had even considered bringing a light jacket. In the end I wore just short sleeves, and was indeed cold. I parked in the busy Reeves Meadow parking area, and took the Pine Meadow Trail to the Stony Brook to the Kakiat Trail. The water level was very impressive due to the excess rains, and the Cascade of Slid was particularly fierce.
I continued up the Kakiat Trail to its second intersection with the Raccoon Brook Hills Trail, and took the Racoon Brook Hills Trail to the Pulpit. From there continued to the Reeves Brook Trail, where I took this trail in its entirety back to the trailhead parking area.
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| Map of the Route. Map: Southern Bear Mountain Harriman State Park Trails. |
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| Small cascade right before the gas line crossing |
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| The raging Stony Brook |
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| Cascade of Slid |
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| Waterfall by Cascade of Slid |
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| Pine Meadow Brook above the Cascade of Slid, with the Washed Out HTS Trail Bridge |
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| Large Blueberry Meadow atop the Raccoon Brook Hills Trail |
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| Gas Line from the Raccoon Brook Hills Trail. Facing east towards Kakiat Park |
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| View from atop near the end of the Raccoon Brook Hills Trail. Note the Manhattan Skyline in the Distance |
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| Another View Facing South. |
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| Washed Out Part of the Trail near the End of the Raccoon Brook Hills Trail. There Was No Way to Avoid the Water |
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| View near the Pulpit Viewpoint. Facing South. |
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| Me near the Pulpit Viewpoint |
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| Waterfall Along the Reeves Brook. This is usually a trickle, but the heavy rains made this quite impressive. |
Thanks so much for this website and documenting all Harriman has to offer. Being relatively close by it's a great training ground for my backpacking trips with great scenery as well. Keep it up and enjoy! :)
ReplyDeleteIf you had ~10mi to spend in the park, where would you hike for the best views? Thx.
ReplyDelete10 miles or 10 minutes?
ReplyDelete10 Miles... actually closer to 12 if possible. Many thanks!
ReplyDeleteYou can cover alot of good areas in 10 miles! I would suggest doing the entire Timp-Torne Trail. You would get Dunderberg, The Timp, West Mountain, and Popolopen - all are solid climbs with excellent views.
ReplyDeleteThanks very much for the suggestion. I'll get out my maps at home and give it a shot. I accidentally did 16.8 miles up Bear Mountain and back two Sundays ago by parking in R 9W. That was tough... maybe something slightly less difficult. :p
ReplyDeleteLooking to backpack reeves brook and raccoon brooks trail out to the stone memorial with the wife.
DeleteShe is ok on moderate trails but not in good enough shape for anything difficult or really rocky where would you rate the trail I see you say slightly difficult in your description which encourages and also scares me
As a point of reference we have backpacked sleeping beauty in lake george and the would be about her limit if you are familiar
Thanks Jim