Panther Mountain Fire Zone

Harriman State Park,
Rockland Co.,
New York

Hiking Trails:
Suffern-Bear Mountain (S-BM) Trail: Yellow blaze
Tuxedo-Mt. Ivy (TMI) Trail: Red blaze

Total Time: 2:15 hour
Estimated Distance: 3.5 Miles

Pros: Good climb with good views, Excellent Views
Cons: Damage from brush fire

Hiking Partner: Shimmy Rosenberg

We had not yet had a chance to explore the brush fire at the Panther Mountain area. We had seen this fire burning with some very large blazes back in November, and wanted to check out the area. We parked at the Diltzes Road parking area, at the TMI trailhead. At the power lines, instead of continuing along the trail, we veered off southwest instead to the unmarked trail (on the maps) that climbs up Panther Mountain. The trail is somewhat overgrown and not maintained, but is very accessible. We took this trail all the way up to where it meets the S-BM Trail. Exactly at this point is where the burned zoned begins. It seems the burned area only started at the top of the mountain area, and didn't affect the steep slope below it.

We headed south on the S-BM Trail, and this area was indeed very burnt. I went to both views, and right before the descent of the trail into the notch, turned around back on the S-BM, and then continued along this trail all the way to the intersection of the TMI Trail. This entire area was also extensively burnt, with many pockets and zones of burnt areas. The burn zone extended to the stream just prior to the TMI Trail intersection. We took the TMI Trail the rest of the route, descending down the mountain, back to the power line area, and then back to our car.