Plenty of viewpoints, hills, and scrambling plus Pine Meadow Lake in Harriman State Park, NY.
Miles: 9.7. Challenging, scrambling.
Hike Info:
Our two cents:
We chose these trails because we were looking for a longish hike with multiple hills and technical downhill scrambles as part of our prep for a hiking trip – so this route isn’t for everyone.
Seven Hills in the opposite direction puts the harder scrambling uphill, which would be more fun, but there would still be downhill scrambling on other trails.
Map:
Harriman-Bear Mountain Trails is needed to follow the route.
Route:
Pine Meadow (RED Square on White) briefly – Seven Hills (BLUE Square on White) – Hillburn Torne Sebago “HTS” (ORANGE) – Raccoon Brook Hills (BLACK Dot on White) – Poached Egg (YELLOW Dot on White) – Pine Meadow unmarked woods road – Pine Meadow (RED Square on White) briefly – Diamond Mountain Tower (YELLOW) – Seven Hills (BLUE Square on White) – Reeves Brook (WHITE)
Parking: N41.17412° W74.16862° [Reeves Meadow Visitor Center]
Garden State Parkway North to 17 N to Rt 287 N to Rt 87/17N. Take exit 15A and turn left onto Rt 17 N. R on Seven Lakes Dr.
The visitor center is on the right with a small lot, and another small lot just down the road on the left… but they will be full unless you arrive super early so you’ll likely need to park along the road.
Restrooms:
At the visitor center; open 8a – 5p on weekends March through October. No porta-john.
Outside of that… there is a large Valero on the right side of Rt. 17 N. in Mahwah just before getting onto 287 which is about 10-15 min from the trailhead. Or use the last rest area on the Parkway if taking that to the Rt 87 instead.
Books:
Circuit Hikes in Harriman has a lot of other great loops in this area. A few others are in Hike of the Week and Take a Hike New York City. All trails are listed in Harriman Trails: A Guide and History.
Seven Hills (BLUE Square on White) trail…
Scrambling up Hillburn Torne Sebago…
To the view from Ramapo Torne…
Where the NYC skyline might be visible…
Raccoon Brook Hills (BLACK Dot on White) is rocky, with a short wooden ladder at one point.
One of many views along the way…
We skirted Pine Meadow Lane on the woods road, only pausing briefly because people were blasting music across the lake. We only saw hikers occasionally all day and though the lake is pretty – we high-tailed it out of there.
Climbing up Diamond Mountain Tower (YELLOW) to reconnect to Seven Hills.
Crossing Pine Meadow Brook.
One of many views along Seven Hills trail.
Start of a long steep scramble down Seven Hills before picking up Reeves Brook (WHITE) for the hike out.
Post-hike: Venti iced blonde lattes.
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Hiked: 5/5/18.