Trail Conditions Forum

A friend and I also tried to use the Diltzes Lane trailhead on August 26 to enter the park to do some trail maintenance. We pulled in and parked out of the way in the back of the parking lot/staging area, but an Orange & Rockland employee told us to leave. There's a sign at the parking lot/staging area directing hikers to the njpalisades.org website for alternatives. But as best I can tell, that website only has information about the actual Palisades park along the Hudson River in the Fort Lee and Alpine area. So it's not useful for people wanting to hike in Harriman.

A friend of mine, who recently visited these sites, has the following to say: The primitive sites in the col between Blackhead and Black Dome are nice and, from what I've seen, underutilized. They are dry, and they are free of trash and debris. It pays to look around, as the ones further off the trail are the nicest. Water is about 0.4 mile down the Black Dome Range Trail. There is a high-impacted set of "stealth sites" (room for 4 or 5 tents) just north of Acra Point, all with partially obstructed, but nice views of the Blackhead Range. No water is conveniently available. The sites between Cornell and Slide are similarly nice, but several are very close to the trail. However, the water source marked on the 2016 edition of the map was barely a muddy puddle and slow trickle when I was there in early August (this water source has been deleted from the current 2018 edition of the map). We chose to take our water from the spring on the back side of Slide.

I am the NYNJTC trails supervisor for this area. I believe that the spot near the horse trail & Schutt Rd. trail intersection is ok to camp at, though I've never seen anyone do it. Last time I checked it, there was a fire pit and a privy there. There is even a horse mounting ramp there, from when there was a crazy idea of creating a handicap horse riders campground there. No close water source, unless the drainage ditch along side the SC trail has water running from recent rain. I haven't seen anyone camp near Palenville overlook in many years. Picnic table was destroyed and burned many years ago. Fire pit is practically destroyed. No water source near there. The North/South Lake Campground is a very nice place. You would have to get a reservation, and this year they are down to 50% occupancy due to the virus. Running water and restrooms there. I imagine that you would have to walk out to the gatehouse to check in. Good luck. Cal

This section of the R-D Trail below the Timp was abandoned soon after the 2016 edition of the Harriman-Bear Mountain Trails map set was published. This was a very steep, poorly constructed trail, and it was decided to consolidate the R-D Trail east of Timp Pass with the Timp-Torne Trail, which follows a much better route. The current route of the R-D and T-T Trails in this area is shown on the new 2020 edition of the Harriman-Bear Mountain Trails map set.

It is not clear whether weekend parking is allowed in the lot in front of the Tuxedo railroad station. However, Metro-North's website indicates that parking is free on weekends in the commuter parking lot located just north of the station.

From the map, it appears that the mile-long route between Friday and the Cornell-Wittenberg-Slide Trail is an easy bushwhack, as it is nearly flat. Although I have not done this traverse in 30 years, when I hiked it in 1991, it was one of the very toughest hikes I've ever done. At least then, the terrain was covered with thick spruce, and it took us about two hours to cover this distance of one mile. I have not been been back since, but would highly doubt that any kind of a herd path or trail exists to connect Friday with the Wittenberg-Slide-Cornell Trail. Unless you're looking for a real adventure, I would not recommend this "great short cut."