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Appalachian Trail in Bear Mountain
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The Appalachian Trail
"The Appalachian National Scenic Trail, designated a linear National Park by the 1968 National Trails System Act, is a continuous, marked public footpath extending approximately 2,144 miles from Mount Katahdin, Maine to Springer Mountain, Georgia along the Appalachian Mountain range. It maintains a wilderness character by following the scenic ridges of the Appalachian Mountain ranges of the White, Green, Berkshire, Ramapo, Kittatinny, Blue Ridge, Great Smoky, and Nantahala Mountains. The Appalachian Trail is protected along most of its course by federal or state ownership of the land. The entire trail environment is maintained as a place for everyone to hike and enjoy the Appalachian Mountains, while at the same time conserving the natural, scenic, historical and cultural resources of this one-of-a-kind, linear park." Source: Signage at the Visitor Center Book Store on the Palisades Interstate Parkway, describing the Appalachian Trail.
In 1921, the idea for the Appalachian Trail originated with a volunteer forester Benton MacKaye. He conceived the Trail as a refuge from modern stresses, stretching along the spine of the Appalachian Mountains, where hikers could re-connect with the natural world. Once MacKaye's idea was published, over the years, volunteers from hiking groups in the Northeast made that dream a reality - a 2,144-mile-long hiking trail which is our nation's first National Scenic Trail.
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Click
to enlarge photo of the Bear Mountain Bridge taken from Perkins Memorial Drive.
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The roadway of the Bear Mountain Bridge carries the Maine-to-Georgia Appalachian Trail. Note that the Bear Mountain Bridge has eight-foot-wide shoulders for pedestrians and cyclists to comfortably walk on both sides of the bridge.
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Through a network of 32 hiking and trail clubs from Maine to Georgia, volunteers form the basis of a unique, volunteer-based, cooperative management system for this national parkland. Volunteers take an active role in safeguarding the quality of the Trail both for the hiking public and local communities. The private Appalachian Trail Conference oversees the volunteer effort along the Trail's length.
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to enlarge photo of View of the Hudson River from Bear Mountain Bridge.
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Experience wonderful views of the majestic Hudson River when walking the Appalachian Trail on the Bear Mountain Bridge.
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The Appalachian Trail enters New Jersey at the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area, and runs northward along the ridgeline of the Kittatinny Mountains to High Point State Park. There it strikes east along the NJ/NY state line, crosses the Wawayanda plateau, and enters New York state on the ridge overlooking Greenwood Lake. It traverses Harriman-Bear Mountain State Park (where the Appalachian trail was first conceived), crosses the Hudson River on the Bear Mountain Bridge, heading northeasterly towards and through Fahnestock State Park. Continuing northeast, it crosses into Connecticut near Kent, CT.
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to enlarge photo of Popolopen Creek from the Bear Mountain Bridge.
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The Popolopen Creek Footbridge, a bridge for pedestrians only, connects the trail between the twin forts, Fort Montgomery and Fort Clinton, and carries the Appalachian Trail on the western side of the Bear Mountain Bridge.
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Popolopen Creek
Popolopen Creek is a stream that is mostly fed by Lake Popolopen, Stillwell Lake, and Weyant's Pond. Eventually, the creek drains into the Hudson River. In 2002, New York's Governor George Pataki, dedicated a long suspension foot bridge that spans Popolopen Creek.
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on photo of Appalachian Trail Sign.
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Appalachian Trail Sign
Look for this sign at the Rockland side of the tool booths of the Bear Mountain Bridge.
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Also in Categories:
Attractions in the Hudson Valley
Children & Kids - Things To Do
Childrens Activities & Attractions
Hiking Trails & Walking
Historic Sites / History
History of Hudson River Valley
Hudson River Towns
Kids - Educational Activities & Websites
Local History
Outdoor Activities & Places to Go
Scenic Bear Mountain
Scenic Hudson River Valley
Things to Do in the Hudson Valley
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845-786-2521
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Battles of the American Revolution
Battle of Stony Point
Date: July 16th, 1779
Between: British against the American Continental Army
Location: Stony Point, New York
The Stony Point Battlefield marks the "Battle of Stony Point" and the victory of the American light infantry over the British in a daring midnight raid.
Visit the site of the Battle of Stony Point, one of the last major Revolutionary War battles in the northeastern colonies. This is where Brigadier General Anthony Wayne led his corps of Continental Light Infantry in a daring midnight attack on the British, seizing the site's fortifications and taking the British garrison as prisoners on July 16, 1779.
By the late 1770s, the war had been raging for four years and both sides were eager for a conclusion. Sir Henry Clinton, commander of the British forces in America, attempted to coerce General George Washington into one decisive battle to control the Hudson River. As part of his strategy, Clinton fortified Stony Point. Washington devised a plan for Wayne to lead an attack on the fort. Armed with bayonets only, the infantry captured the fort in short order, ending British control of the river.
The site features a museum, which offers exhibits on the battle and the 1826 Stony Point Lighthouse, as well as interpretive programs, such as reenactments highlighting 18th century military life, cannon and musket firings, cooking demonstrations, and children's activities.
Attractions Include
Children's Activities
Costumed Interpreters
Demonstrations
Educational Services
Group Tours
Museum and Visitors Center
Picnic Area
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Also in Categories:
American Revolution / American War of Independence
Attractions in the Hudson Valley
Children & Kids - Things To Do
Childrens Activities & Attractions
Historic Sites / History
History of Hudson River Valley
Hudson River Towns
Hudson Valley
Kids - Educational Activities & Websites
Local History
Outdoor Activities & Places to Go
Picnicking / Picnic
Things to Do in the Hudson Valley
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914-786-2521
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The Stony Point lighthouse was built in 1826, and is the oldest lighthouse on the Hudson River. In October, 1995, the lighthouse was restored, relighted, and re-opened to the public for the first time since 1925; when it was decommissioned after having served for nearly one hundred years. The Stony Point lighthouse marked the danger to ships of a rocky promontory, the Stony Point peninsula.
The top of a lighthouse is called the lantern. The inside of a lantern is called the lens. In 1856, a fifth-order Fresnel lens was installed and a larger, fourth-order lens installed in 1902. The lens in use now is a period fourth-order lens on loan from the United States Coast Guard.
Lighthouses were operated by keepers who had to make sure that the lights were burning and fogbells were ringing in bad weather. A keeper's house was either built into a lighthouse or constructed separately close by. Nancy Rose, the Keeper of the Stony Point lighthouse, kept the light for 47 years, from 1857 to her death in 1904.
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Also in Categories:
Attractions in the Hudson Valley
Hudson River Towns
Lighthouses
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