Harriman Hiker: Harriman State Park and Beyond: West Mountain Ridgeline

Harriman State Park
Rockland and Orange Cos.,
New York

Hiking Trails:
Anthony Wayne Trail: White blaze
Fawn Trail: Red blaze
Timp-Torne Trail: Blue blaze
Appalachian Trail: White blaze
Beechy Bottom Road: Unblazed

Hiking Partner:
Shimmy Rosenberg

Total Time: 2:45 hour
Estimated Distance: 3.5 miles
Level of Difficulty: Difficult
Level of Recommendation: Highly Recommended
Points of Interest: View, terrain, and historical mine
Pros: Excellent climb and several views
Cons: None

West Mountain is one of my favorite mountains in the Harriman/Bear Mountain area. It has multiple views as well as a good climb with some scrambling. I had not done the ridge above Anthony Wayne in a long time, and figured the spring weather would provide us a good opportunity for this. We parked at the northern end of the Anthony Wayne area, and headed on the Anthony Wayne Trail to the Fawn Trail, and then to the Timp-Torne Trail, which ascends up the ridge.

The ridgeline of West Mountain along the Timp-Torne Trail is relatively narrow, providing excellent views on both sides of the ridge. The Timp-Torne Trail meets in conjunction with the Appalachian Trail, and at the split we continued along the Appalachian Trail down the mountain, and cut across along a spur to Beechy Bottom Road. We veered off road a little bit further down Beechy Bottom Road to view the Mica Mine, an old 1800's era mine which used to provide large Mica sheets. We then continued on the Beechy Bottom Road taking the path that goes back to the parking area, back to the parking area where our car was located.