Backpack Trail Guide

Trails / New York / Hudson Valley

Appalachian Trail: Lake Tiorati to Bear Mountain (Harriman)

Appalachian National Scenic Trail through Harriman and Bear Mountain State Parks

The Appalachian Trail’s first miles were built here. The Appalachian Trail Conservancy (ATC) says the first A.T. section was built in 1923 on Bear Mountain, and a Wikipedia history of the NY-NJ Trail Conference dates its opening to October 7, 1923, from Bear Mountain west through Harriman State Park to Arden. The trail still reaches its lowest point, 124 feet, at the Bear Mountain Bridge over the Hudson.

This page follows the stretch from Lake Tiorati to the bridge, with stone shelters on Fingerboard and West Mountains, and notes the Lemon Squeezer to the south.

The hike

Bill Menke’s October 2009 journal gives a simple two-day plan. He parked at the Hurst trailhead at Lake Tiorati, walked “a half mile or so” up the Hurst Trail by flashlight to Fingerboard Shelter, and the next day hiked 22.7 km (about 14.1 miles) north on the A.T. to the Bear Mountain Bridge in 8 hours and 20 minutes. Backpacker notes Lake Tiorati’s swimming area, showers, and water fountain near where the A.T. crosses Arden Valley Road.

Fingerboard Shelter sits on the ridge of Fingerboard Mountain, which Backpacker puts at 1,328 feet. The ATC’s history archive describes it as a 1930s stone lean-to. Menke found it full and camped on a grassy spot behind it. South of the shelter is the Lemon Squeezer, a narrow passage between boulders that Backpacker says is hard to get through with a big pack; the State Parks hike sheet puts it about 3.5 A.T. miles south of the Arden Valley Road crossing, and a State Parks loop hike reaches it from the Elk Pen lot on NY 17.

Northbound from Fingerboard, the trail crosses Arden Valley Road, passes the William Brien Memorial Shelter, built against a boulder pile that forms its back wall (Backpacker), and goes over Black Mountain, with views of Silvermine Lake, before crossing the Palisades Interstate Parkway. Since June 2026 that crossing follows a Trail Conference detour over the Anthony Wayne Overpass.

Next is West Mountain. Its shelter sits on the blue Timp-Torne Trail, about half a mile off the A.T. in State Parks directions; Menke found the climb steep. A 2014 Backcountry Post writer who walked about 13 miles from Elk Pen made it his stop because it “overlooks the Hudson River” with a view of the New York City skyline.

The last climb is Bear Mountain, at 1,305 feet according to N2Backpacking, where Menke passed the observation tower. The trail descends past Hessian Lake, where he filled bottles at a faucet, and runs through the Trailside Museum and Zoo to the Bear Mountain Bridge. Through 2027, expect a Trail Conference detour around construction near the Bear Mountain Inn.

North of the bridge, the A.T. climbs Anthony’s Nose toward Fahnestock: see Bear Mountain Bridge to Dover Oak. For a Harriman shelter route off the A.T., see the Ramapo-Dunderberg Trail. South toward New Jersey, the A.T. continues to Wawayanda and High Point.

Tips

Camping

NY State Parks says Harriman’s trail shelters are first come, first served; if one is occupied, you may camp 300 feet from it. Fires are allowed only in the shelter fireplaces. The ATC says camping on the New York A.T. is limited to designated sites, with campfires only in designated rings. Shelters along this stretch include Fingerboard, William Brien Memorial, and West Mountain, plus others off the A.T. in the park.

Inside Intel: The Backcountry Post writer calls West Mountain “my favorite shelter in Harriman because it overlooks the Hudson River,” with a view of the city skyline. He shared it with two other hikers who “insisted they preferred company to privacy.” A 2017 BackpackingLight poster recommends arriving by early afternoon and skipping Brien Memorial on busy weekends because of large scout groups.

Trail facts

The Lowdown

Over Black Mountain to the Hudson:

Between Fingerboard Shelter and the bridge, the trail climbs over Black Mountain and West Mountain. Testers say the Beta SL can feel warm on long uphill pushes; we compared it with two cheaper shells.

Read the comparison →

Where this comes from

This page draws on the sources below, along with other guides and trip reports. Links go to the original pages.

Before you go: This page is based on published trail guides, trip reports, and reviews, along with official park and agency information where we could find it. It’s meant to help backpackers discover new trails, not to replace current, official information. Conditions, closures, permits, campsites, and water sources change, and some details here may be out of date or wrong. Confirm everything with the managing agency and check current conditions before you head out, and don’t rely on this page alone for safety or navigation. Backcountry travel involves risk.