New AMC Area in Harriman

Harriman State Park,
Rockland Co.,
New York

Hiking Trails:
Breakneck Pond Loop Trail: Unblazed
Tuxedo-Mt. Ivy Trail: Red blaze
Breakneck Mountain Trail: White blaze

Total Time: 2:00 hour
Estimated Distance: 4.4 Miles

Pros: New hiking area and scenic pond
Cons: No good views

Hiking Partner: Shimmy Rosenberg

AMC Outdoor Center is a new project opened this summer in the old Camp Lanowa in Harriman along Breakneck Pond. The old camp was entirely restored with rustic cabins, and a swimming and boating area in the lake. We wanted to get some information about this place and check it out. So we headed off to the area, took the Old Turnpike, which was partially restored, and parked in the field designated as a parking area.

We walked along the road to the cabin area from the parking lot, and went in to the office to ask some questions about the center and get some brochures and details. After walking around the area, we took the new Pond Loop Trail around the lake. This trail was very recently created, and is not yet officially marked. It only has ribbons tied around trees at this point. Our plan was to cut across to Pine Meadow Road and then take the Tuxedo-Mt. Ivy Trail to the Breakneck Trail. However, I was disappointed to learn that the new Breakneck Pond Loop trail doesn't connect to the main Harriman Trail system! Perhaps they want to keep this separate, though its a very easy and short bushwack to the main trail system, which we soon discovered.

After crossing the inlet of the lake, we bushwacked to Pine Meadow Road, took the Tuxedo-Mt. Ivy Trail, and then took the Breakneck Trail in its entirety at the Suffern-Bear Mountain Trail. At that point there is an unmarked trail going down the mountain back to the AMC area. We took this trail down, and went through the AMC Center area and headed back to our car.