New Section of Appalachian Trail in Bear Mountain State Park Opens This Weekend

A new section of the Appalachian Trail on the southwest shoulder of Bear Mountain in Bear Mountain State Park will be opened this Saturday, November 14, with a ribbon-cutting ceremony at noon (raindate Sunday, November 15). The new .2-mile section was built by the Long Distance Trails Crew, an all-volunteer group of trail builders from the New York-New Jersey Trail Conference. A dozen core crew members, aided by more than 40 volunteer individuals, employee and college student groups, worked since March of 2015, contributing more than 3,000 hours of volunteer time during 40-plus work trips, to relocate a highly used and deeply eroded section of trail.

The new route which winds its way up through cliffs and climbs a stone ladder to reach beautiful views, includes a rock-pinned stone ladder out of a crevice and up the rock face. Immediately following the ribbon cutting, the crew will lead a .5 mile guided hike up the new trail, pointing out the many modern trail construction details designed to make it easy to use, sustainable, interesting and enjoyable.

The relocation is very accessible, only a short, five-minute walk (two-tenths of a mile) from the hikers’ parking lot between Exit 19 of Palisades Parkway and Route 9W on the south side of Seven Lakes Drive, .1mile west of the signed Appalachian Trail Crossing on Seven Lakes Drive and west of the Bear Mountain summit road (Perkins Drive. )

The Long Distance Trails Crew is hard at work on the trails many weekends throughout the season. No experience is necessary; the crew provides on-the-job training and offers a fun and rewarding day for volunteers at any skill level. Contact Crew Chief Chris Reyling at 914-953-4900, chrisreyling@gmail.com, or Crew Leader Bob Fuller at 732-952-2162, refuller99@hotmail.com for further information.

About New York-New Jersey Trail Conference

Since 1920, the New York-New Jersey Trail Conference has partnered with parks to create, protect, and promote a network of over 2,100 miles of public trails in the New York-New Jersey metropolitan region. The Trail Conference organizes volunteer service projects and publishes maps and books that guide public use of these trails. The nonprofit organization is supported by over 10,000 members and 1,700 volunteers who annually donate more than 93,000 hours of time to keep trails open, safe, and enjoyable for the public.

Photo 1 Caption: Bard College student volunteer (center) with NY-NJ Trail Conference volunteer crew members move rock to build new trail. Photo Credit: Andrea Minoff

Photo 2: Steps built as part of new trail by NY-NJ Trail conference volunteers. Photo Credit: Bob Fuller