30 miles from Manhattan, this 47,000-acre New York park has 31 lakes and almost no tourists

Where the Appalachian Trail’s first steps fell

Drive 30 miles north of New York City and the skyline gives way to wooded mountains, quiet ponds, and forest that stretches farther than you’d expect.

Harriman State Park covers more than 47,000 acres in the Hudson Highlands, making it New York’s second-largest state park. Inside, you’ll find 31 lakes and reservoirs and about 200 miles of trails.

The crowds and concrete fall away fast, and the reason this wild place sits so close to the city goes back to one woman’s stubborn fight.

One woman’s fight kept this land wild

The Appalachian Trail started as an idea in the mind of forester Benton MacKaye in 1921. Two years later, on Oct. 7, 1923, the first section opened right here, linking Bear Mountain and Harriman.

The Palisades Interstate Park Commission ran both.

Much of the land came from the Harriman family back in 1910, when Mary Harriman gave money and acreage to stop a prison from going up nearby.

The trail she helped launch now runs from Georgia all the way to Maine.

Seven lakes roll past your windshield

You can drive the heart of the park on Seven Lakes Drive, an 18-mile road running between Sloatsburg and the Highlands. The name fits.

One lake follows another as the pavement bends through the trees, and stone bridges arch over the low spots where streams cut through. Forest crowds both shoulders for most of the way.

Come October, leaf-peepers fill the pullouts, and cyclists lean into the curves alongside the cars. Take it slow.

The road rewards a slow pace.

Sand and cool water on a hot day

Two lakes here let you swim, and each has its own feel.

Lake Welch holds the park’s largest beach, a half-mile run of sand that fills up fast on summer weekends. Lake Tiorati keeps a smaller, calmer beach that families tend to favor.

Both lakes also open up for fishing, boating, and picnicking under the trees.

The water sits in a basin ringed by wooded hills, so even on a hot July afternoon, a cool breeze drifts off the surface and finds you.

Climb to ledges that show off Manhattan

Pick your effort and the trails will match it. The park keeps about 200 miles of marked routes, from flat lakeside loops that circle the ponds to steep pulls that break out onto open rock ledges.

Reach one of those high points on a clear day and the Manhattan skyline shows up on the horizon, small and far. The Long Path, blazed in aqua, threads through the park too.

You walk these woods an hour from the city and forget the city exists.

Sleep in a stone lean-to for free

Carry a pack into the backcountry and you can spend the night in a trail shelter without paying a dime. Many of these lean-tos use stone and timber, simple and sturdy, built to take whatever weather rolls through.

You don’t reserve them, and they cost nothing. Some sit on high ledges that look out over the lakes and folded hills below.

Lay out your bag, watch the light drop, and you get a true backcountry night with stars overhead and no walls between you and them.

Iron mines that fed Civil War cannons

Walk far enough off the main paths and you’ll stumble onto abandoned iron mines that date to the 1800s. The Pine Swamp Mine still shows its open cuts, deep pits, and a long passage carved straight through rock.

Bradley Mine is another spot hikers seek out along the trails.

Crews hauled iron from these workings to a furnace nearby, and during the Civil War, some of that iron went into munitions. Watch your footing here.

The pits run deep and the rock comes loose.

Paddle to a small island midlake

Drop a boat in and the lakes open up a whole other side of the park. Kayakers and canoeists glide across calm water with forested shorelines sliding past on every side.

A few of the lakes hide small islands you can paddle out to and poke around. Anglers work the clear water for bass and other fish, casting from boats and banks alike.

Boat launches sit at several of the larger lakes, so you’ve got a few places to put in and push off.

Hills that catch fire each October

Autumn does something to these hills. The wooded slopes turn gold, orange, and red, and Seven Lakes Drive becomes a ribbon of color running through the heart of it.

Climb to a trail ledge and you look out over miles of bright foliage rolling toward the horizon. Down below, the lakes hold still and mirror the trees that ring them.

Fall pulls the biggest crowds of the year for a reason. Get there early on a weekend if you want a parking spot.

Hawks ride the air above the ridges

The Highlands hold a wide mix of animals, and a quiet morning gives you the best shot at seeing them. Deer step through the trees, foxes slip along the edges, and smaller creatures rustle the brush.

Look up over the ridges and you might catch hawks riding the air currents, wings barely moving. Down in the quieter ponds and wetlands, turtles sun themselves and frogs call from the reeds.

Forests, lakes, and meadows all feed into the mix, so the variety runs deep.

Built by hand during the Depression

During the Great Depression, the Civilian Conservation Corps came to these woods and went to work. The crews cut trails, raised camps, and even built several of the park’s lakes from the ground up.

They designed rustic stone arch bridges to sit low and blend with the rock around them, and they laid out park roads meant for slow, scenic Sunday drives.

You can still see their handiwork as you move through the park. Much of what they made by hand stands today.

Bear Mountain waits just across the line

Harriman shares a border with Bear Mountain State Park, and connecting trails let you walk from one into the other without missing a step.

Climb to Bear Mountain’s summit and a stone tower opens up huge views over the Hudson Valley. Together, the two parks read like one vast stretch of wild country, with no clear seam between them.

Plan a trip to one and you can fold in the other with ease. Two parks, one long day in the hills.

Visiting Harriman State Park in New York

You’ll find Harriman in Rockland and Orange counties, about 30 miles north of New York City, with main access off Seven Lakes Drive from Sloatsburg or the Palisades Interstate Parkway.

The park opens year-round, dawn to dusk, and the Tuxedo train station gives you a car-free way in. Swimming stays limited to Lake Welch and Lake Tiorati, staffed seasonally with lifeguards.

A vehicle fee applies at the beaches in season, and some roads close in winter. Check the official website before you go.

This article was created with AI assistance and human editing.

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