Iron Mines Short Loop

Harriman-Bear Mountain State Parks

Hiker at Cape Horn on the Long Path - Photo by Daniel Chazin Hiker at Cape Horn on the Long Path - Photo by Daniel Chazin

This hike in Harriman State Park passes interesting remnants of old iron mines.

41.241997, -74.102354

From the kiosk at the northwest corner of the parking lot, bear left and follow the aqua blazes of the Long Path along the north shore of the lake on a rocky footpath through a mountain laurel thicket. In about 0.4 mile, the trail bends away from the lake and crosses Pine Swamp Brook on large rocks. After passing by a huge rock ledge on the right, the trail proceeds through dense thickets of...

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Trip Reports

rate experience
January 05, 2020
5
Nice hike
I wanted to put an update since the last one was from 2014. Went on this hike today and it was lovely. The markers were easy to follow except that turnoff to the red triangle is still not well marked. Also, once you do turn on the right path, the next trail marker is way down the hill and you can’t see it without going a short while. We ran into two other hikers having the same problem. It didn’t help that the trail was very wet and looked like we might be walking in a stream, which seemed wrong. The triangles can be harder to spot than the aqua but they do make themselves known eventually.
Mingum
October 04, 2014
0
Iron Mines Loop - Bear Encounter
<p>Went to do this loop in reverse. So started out on the A-SB trail from the north end of the parking lot. It was a quick hike up to a lovely view of the lakes belows. After following the trail up on the ridge of Pine Swamp Mtn, the trail turns left and descends toward the area on the map called Pine Swamp. it was near the bottom of this descent my hiking buddy and I saw two black bears foraging off the trail and to our left.&nbsp;</p> <p>The bears continued their foraging; having not run off from the noise we made nor from the whistle I carry. We made noise and backtracked on the trail. At one point we lost the trail head, having climbed over downed branches that were marking a side trail as NOT the trail. Knowing to look for the blazes we soon after realized our mistake and walked back to the trail.&nbsp;</p> <p>Hope to do this quick loop in its entirety one day. But when hiking those parts of the park that are less travelled or when hiking during quieter times in the park, stay alert of your surroundings. I didn't expect to see bears in this part of Harriman State Park.&nbsp;</p>
hikeBikeWander
August 26, 2012
0
Iron Mines Loop
<p>We were short on time, so we chose this loop for our hike yesterday. It took us 2 1/4 hours, including stopping to let our dogs swim at the end. We had no problems following the directions. We've been to the Times Square intersection before, so we were familiar with the cross roads. The instructions for getting onto the A-SB trail were spot on.</p> <p>It was a pleasant hike. The only parts we didn't like were the very beginning &amp; the very end. The parking lot is right next to Lake Skannatati. We've found that parking lots&nbsp;at lakes attract a lot of non-hikers. There was a lot of trash, and TONS of broken glass on the trail. We spent some time picking up a bag full of broken glass and trash. We saw another man near the end doing the same. Once you get away from the lake in the beginning, the trail was fine, until we got to the overlook near the end - that is where the broken glass started again.</p>
TrekkerHikes
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