Harriman State Park,
Rockland Co.,
New York
Hiking Trails:
White Trail: White blaze
Orange Trail: Orange blaze
Hillburn Torne Sebago Trail: Orange blaze
7 Hills Trail: Blue blaze
Reeves Brook Trail: White blaze
Total Time: 2:40 hour
Estimated Distance: 3.9 Miles
Pros: Good climbing with excellent views
Cons: Powerlines mar the tranquility
Hiking Partners:
Shimmy Rosenberg
Yehudah Koblick
In 2013, an area in Harriman State Park near Torne Valley Road had opened up to rock climbing. This was due to positive efforts by the Torne Valley Climbers' Coalition to get the state to allow climbing in this rugged area of Harriman with steep cliffs and rock walls. This area, known as the "Powerlinez" is now a popular area for small-scale rock climbing that is very close by.
I had never been hear before, and only heard about the area, and decided to check it out. It was very quiet when were there, with no one in sight in the area. None of the rock climbing trails and routes are in the Trail Conference maps. I made due leading the way on the trail blazes, as well as using GPS.
We did this as a two car hike. We parked one car at Tone Valley Road, and the other at the Reeves Meadow area off 7 Lakes Drive. We started at the Torne Valley area, taking the White Trail white has its terminus here. We continued along trail to where it goes under the power lines, and we observed the many rock walls for climbing. We took the White Trail to the Orange Trail, which abruptly ends supposedly at the end of the area where climbing is allow. At this point we bushwacked from this area to the Hillburn Torne Sebago (HTS) Trail. After meeting up with he HTS Trail, we climbed to the top of Ramapo Torne, where there is an exceptional view. We continued along the HTS Trail, to its intersection with the 7 Hills Trail, which we took down the mountain. We continued along the 7 Hills Trail to the unmarked connector trail to the Reeves Brook Trail, which we took to the trailhead where the second car was parked.
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| Map of the Route |
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| Beginning of the Rock Climbing Trail |
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| Signs and Warnings at the Entrance |
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| Yehudah and Shimmy Going up the Powerlinez Trail |
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| Large Rock Wall at the Powerlinez |
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| Ascending the Powerlinez Area |
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| Large Rock Wall |
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| View from the Top of the Powerlinez Area |
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| Rock Tunnel Formation Right before the HTS Trail |
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| Ascending Ramapo Torne on the HTS Trail |
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| Beautiful View Facing West |
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| Yehudah Ascending the Mountain |
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| View Facing Northwest |
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| Shimmy Ascending the Last Leg of the Mountain |
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| Large Rock atop Ramapo Torne |
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| View from Ramapo Torne Facing South, with the Landfill Below |
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| View of the Thruway Facing South from Ramapo Torne |
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| View from Summit Facing West |
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| Me at the Summit Rock |
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| Me on the Summit Rock, Facing Souh |
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| Manhattan Skyline in the Distance |
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| Upper West Side and George Washington Bridge |
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| Me at the View |
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