Robert G.
Yelp
I've known about Bear Mountain State Park, not too far north of New York City as the crow flies, for a while. On a temperate holiday weekend, I drove up here with a friend who had been here many years ago, but didn't remember much about it.
It's really not that far. With the exception of Long Island stretching over 100 miles, everything in the Tri-state New York area seems more compact than out West ... when traffic is flowing well. The state park is on the west side of the Hudson River and we reached it by continuing up the Palisades Parkway from New Jersey.
I recommend going midweek if it's summertime. During other times of the year, every day should be okay if it's not a holiday. We were driving along on this landscaped highway, complete with stone arch bridges as if the Merritt Parkway, and it was going fairly smoothly until we got to the base of the mountain. On this holiday weekend, state park employees were preventing or metering how many vehicles could continue on the access road upward. We drove along aimlessly on nearby roads for a short while and then tried again. Luck prevailed in that the roadblocks had just been removed and we were able to drive up Bear Mountain.
Other reviewers mention the pool, the lodge, and other recreational facilities in addition to lakes and trails, but we came here for the summit and its view. The road up is a windy one, so proceed cautiously. If anything, the natural environment here reminds you that there's a very different world outside of and not very far from New York City. There will different types of of vegetation and wildlife here and, with its name Bear Mountain, there will indeed be bears, but not of the type that are likely to "meet and greet."
Up at the top of Bear Mountain is a rusticated stone tower - the Perkins Memorial Tower - as well as limited parking, trails, and benches. On this holiday weekend, the tower was closed to the public. The views available from the trails were still captivating and made it worth the trip. But I'm sure going up to the top of the tower would just give you a better view over the surrounding vegetation.
In addition to the views, the topography, and the natural environment, the diversity of the people here is amazing, and I mean that in a good way. It went without saying that, in addition to people visiting from outside the area, many of those present who do reside in the Tri-state New York City area may not be native to the U.S. Thus, it's always interesting to try to figure out where they're from ... at least it is for me.
I'm saving the best for last. After parking the car near the tower, descending on the trails on the slope of Bear Mountain gave a faint view of Manhattan's skyline over the hills and valleys in front of us. I was mesmerized by this. Autumn is most likely my favorite season and this state park could be a fine place to take in autumnal color midweek when there's "coffee weather" - cooler, comfortably overcast, and with fewer people.
Picking up the car, having lunch, and driving up here chewed up the lion's share of the day. As such, we later crossed the Hudson on the Bear Mountain Bridge and ended up in Westchester County, thus shortchanging the time dedicated to seeing some of its highlights. I've been to Westchester County before, but for more "official" purposes, and realize more and more that it's worth going back to ... and exploring it slowly as well. Crossing the Hudson River into Westchester County and driving through it heading south made for an interesting way to reenter New York City.
You can see that you're presented with what is an interesting loop trip: crossing the Hudson and up through New Jersey toward the state park and back down south, remaining in New York State ... or up through New York State, crossing the Hudson toward the state park, and then back down south through New Jersey. Either way, you can't go wrong with a well planned trip to scenic and verdant Bear Mountain State Park.