Harriman Hiker: Harriman State Park and Beyond: Iron Mountain and Lime Kiln Mountain

Harriman State Park,
Rockland Co.,
New York

Hiking Trails:
Tuxedo-Mt Ivy (T-MI) Trail: Red blaze
Iron Mountain Trail: Unblazed
File Factory Hollow: Unblazed
Limekiln Mountain Trail: Unblazed

Total Time: 2:45 hour
Estimated Distance: 4.1 Miles

Pros: Good views and climb
Cons: Difficult route to follow

Hiking Partners:
Shimmy Deutsch

This hike was a training exercise with CommSAR, a community search and rescue organization, using navigation skills on electronic GPS devices. We followed the route based on the command instructions of where to hike and what to climb based on our coordinates.

The weather was very poor. It had been raining in the morning and was still hazy and very humid. There was still rain predicted but it did not rain for us. However, the muggy weather made conditions very uncomfortable and marred the views.

We parked at the Diltzes Road parking trailhead, at the beginning of the T-MI Trail. We took the T-MI Trail briefly along the Gas Line Trail, and then continued along the Gas Line Trail after it seperated from the T-MI Trail. We then took the Iron Mountain Trail, which is an unblazed trail but is fairly easy to follow, as it steadily ascended the mountain along the side of the ridge. At the top where the trail bends towards the view, the trail is no longer easily discernable, but it's straightforward to get to the view. This is a great view looking over Cheescote Mountain and the huge house on the mountain. After the view, the trail is no longer discernible and requires bushwacking through blueberry and hucklberry bushes until the connector trail that goes to the File Factory Hollow.

We took the connector trail to File Factory Hollow, and then bushwacked up Limekiln Mountain to the top view where we met Mordy Neuman at the summit view. We then took the Limekiln Mountain trail down the mountain, back to the T-MI Trail, and then back to the trailhead.