Harriman State Park and its smaller companion, Bear Mountain State Park, comprise New York State's second largest preserve, a wilderness as beautiful as any forest in Vermont or Maine and only 45 minutes by car from Manhattan. Think of a hiking trip to Harriman Park as a short vacation with these key attributes: scenic beauty, exercise, great food, and minimal driving time. This book profiles 10 mostly moderate loop hikes that pass the Park's most interesting or scenic highlights. The Sky Hike, for instance, offers three wonderful views of mountain lakes, a unique formation called "Ship Rock," glacially polished rock, and mysterious flooded in iron mines. The Doctors and Lawyers trek includes a cave where a bandit hid out in the late 1700s and the remains of an herb doctor's house. The Tourist Hike takes you to a waterfall, a beaver dam, caves where Native American artifacts were discovered, and an old cemetery plot on the edge of Pine Meadow lake. Unlike other outdoor books, this manuscript breaks down each hike into three to six short intervals or segments (e.g. point A to point B), promoting safety, a sense of mastery, and greater appreciation for nature's beauty. Three illustrated maps are provided for visual enjoyment and overall route planning.
