Daters Mountain and Mine

Harriman State Park
Orange Co.,
New York

Hiking Trails:
Blue Disc Trail: Blue blaze

Total Time: 1:00 hours
Estimated Distance: 2 miles
Level of Difficulty: Moderate
Level of Recommendation: Highly Recommended
Points of Interest: Historic Mine, Scramble to Excellent View
Pros: Exploring old mine, nice climb, nice views
Cons: No trail to mine; may be difficult to find

Google Map of Parking:

View 2014 Hiking Locations in a larger map


Dater's Mountain affords one of the best views in Harriman State Park. It is also a relatively short and easy climb to get there. I had been there earlier in the winter from a different route, but decided to go back to find the nearby Dater's Mine.

I parked at the cul-de-sac at the end of Johnsontown Road, at the trailhead of the Blue Disc Trail. I took this trail adjacent to the gas line and below the cliff until the scramble up the mountain, which I took to the view. I turned around and went along one of old trail routes, and then instead of going down the mountain, I headed east towards the Dater's Mine.

There is a path that goes along the side of the cliff which I though would lead to the mine, but it slowly disappears. I ended up going around under the mine on a steep talus slope, which probably contains waste rock from the mine, and went around this back up to the top. The mine itself is at the top of the mountain, and I had unnecessarily skirted around the side while trying to find it. Found the main pit, a smaller pit, and several dumps, and then headed back by bushwacking back to the Blue Disc Trail and then back to my car.

Map of the Route.
Harriman/Bear Mnt State Parks, Southern Map

Trailhead of the Blue Disc Trail

View from Daters Mountain.
Facing South Towards the Gas Line

View from Daters Mountain.
Facing Southwest Towards Sloatsburg

Parking Area of Reeve's Meadow from the View.
Facing South.

Cliff Walls Below the Dater's Mine

Steep Cliffs and Loose Rocks Below Dater's Mine

Dater's Mine Dump

Dater's Mine Main Pit

Wild Turkeys Roaming Around at the Dater's Mine

Nordkop Mountain Rock Hop

Harriman State Park
Suffern
Orange Co.,
New York

Total Time: 0:50 hours
Estimated Distance: 1.3 miles
Level of Difficulty: Moderate
Level of Recommendation: Recommended
Points of Interest: Rock Scrambling and Nice Views
Pros: Good climb with view on top
Cons: View is very populated and busy
Hiking Trails: Suffern-Bear Mountain Trail: White blaze

Google Map of Parking:

View 2014 Hiking Locations in a larger map

This was a short hike as my time was short. I have been to Nordkop Mountain many times, and always enjoyed climbing the large rocks going up. The rocks go to towards the north although the trail veers towards to the east. So I decided to explore a little bit around the area of the large rocks.

I parked in the village of Suffern, on Chestnut St (where parking is legal) and walked on Route 202 to 59, underneath the wide Thruway underpass, to the Suffern-Bear Mountain Trailhead, on Route 59. I climbed up the first short part, and by the rocky area, I scrambled to the north a little bit. I then turned around and went back along the large rocks further south towards the Suffern-Bear Mountain Trail near its terminus, and took the same route back.

The larger summit of Nordkop is further north from where I was, and I would like to return there someday in the near future to do a bushwack to the summit.

Map of the Route

Looking South Towards the I-287 Overpass and Sheraton Crossroads

Looking South Towards I-287

Looking South Towards the Sheraton Crossroads and Suffern

Looking Northwest Towards Hillburn

Looking Northwest Towards Mt. Fuji Above Hillburn

Looking North Towards the Summit of Nordkop

Rock Crevice Along Nordkop

Large Commuter Trail Below While Descending the Rocky Part

Looking North at the Trails while Descending

Somebody Camping Out in a Tent While Descending