***2 1/2 stars***…read more This is an area I'm pretty familiar with, having previously worked within a few miles of it. It's a stone's throw from Harriman, so it's inevitably going to get compared with it, and that's not to its advantage. I popped over here yesterday morning (a Saturday) for a 6-mile hike in less than ideal weather conditions - it was a bit humid, cloudy and pretty dreary until the sun started to peek out towards the very end. Aside from a few spurs/detours, this was an out-and-back starting from the Route 90 access point near Ridge Road, going east on the Long Path (light blue blazes) past High Tor and ending/circling back from Little Tor. I'd gone on a brief walk in this park last fall from the Route 33 trailhead so it's possible I touched on a few of the same areas, but by and large this was new to me. The trailhead at Route 90 is terrible and desperately needs some upkeep. Even knowing almost exactly where it was, I had trouble locating it because it's completely overgrown and there's no signage or even a nominal rock cairn to note it - there's a few blue blazes on the telephone poles to assist, but other than that you just have to do a bit of trial and error to locate it. And the initial few hundred feet are also pretty overgrown until you start climbing into the forest a bit. Pretty easy fix and I don't know what the point of having a trailhead there is if it's virtually nonexistent. The parking situation is also less than ideal; I opted to park on Parliament Drive, about a five-minute walk to the trailhead, which was fine but I'm never 100% comfortable parking in a residential area versus an official hiking parking lot. Could have been worse though. The first few tenths of a mile are a little spooky (aided by the weather conditions for sure), and I was keeping a close eye out for bears - it just kind of gave off that vibe especially because this clearly is not a heavily used area of the park. There's some nice meadows in this section, and not the faux kind created by power line cuts. I saw a lot of deer and a box turtle (see accompanying pics), which was a pleasant wildlife sighting. The best part of this hike for me by far was stumbling onto the old ruins of the Van Orden House; very cool and unexpected. Again, the dreary weather played a factor and provided for some haunting visuals. Unfortunately, the informative kiosk placed there is also badly in need of cleanup so I couldn't even read the pertinent information about what I'd located here. Also a problem? To get here off the Long Trail via this short white-blazed Spur Trail involves some cringy overgrown meadow shizzle that's just begging for deer tick interaction - tread carefully. The journey on the Long Trail to the High Tor summit definitely has some steep climbs so if you're not in decent hiking shape that area can be a problem. On the initial journey over the summit, the view was nonexistent (giving off Taylor Swift Folklore album cover art vibes) but by the time I returned most of the clouds/fog had burned off so you DID have a nice optic of downtown Haverstraw and the Hudson River. I wasn't particularly thrilled to be reminded of the existence of the Popeyes that loves to overcharge on its sodas, but it is what it is. The journey between High Tor and Low Tur is pretty nondescript; there's not a lot in the way of optics or personality, so for me at least this 3ish-mile section was tedious and seemed to take a while though it's also very flat (it's a fire trail) so it's a nice respite from the mountain climbing. I was expecting to see an increase in foot traffic but it was pretty quiet throughout this adventure - literally I saw one group of older hikers around High Tor, and two other people. That's it. And unfortunately not a single canine chum. There are at least two viewpoints during this hike where you can see Harriman. If you have the ability, I'd just go over there for a more interesting traverse - aside from the ye olde ruins, I don't personally think a sweeping view of Haverstraw is worth the price of admission.

We live in the area and come here often to walk our dogs. Its a great wooded trail and perfect for…read morea nice quiet walk in the woods. We typically enter the trail from the S. Central Highway trailhead.

Such a great five-mile trail along the Hudson that stretches all the way to Haverstraw. Loved by…read moredogs and humans alike. Gorgeous views all the while, lots of shade. A great way to cap a day spent in Nyack. 5 stars!!!

Very nice state park right on the Hudson River. Stunning views of the cliffs and the Mario Cuomo…read moreBridge. Would be a great spot to ride a bike as the path is very well kept.

This trailhead is located along the winding roads through S Central Highway. There are a few…read moreparking spots on the side of the road and the trailheads start on the opposite side. It's quite green here with quite a number of uphills and downhills. You might even meet a neighborly deer along the way. I didn't find the scenery that interesting, but it's certainly a good workout on a hot day. Don't forget the bug spray.

The starting point for quite a few hikes in Harriman with bathrooms (soap if you get there at the…read moreright time!) There's also a little store and vending machines. The parking lot fills up but cars can park on the side of the road. On a nice sunny Sunday afternoon in summer, a lot of people seemed to be headed toward Pine Meadow Lake. It's nice but there was a lot of garbage near there and people swimming (even though there were signs that said no swimming and to take out any garbage you bring in). Very disappointing! If you go counterclockwise you will usually end with Pine Meadow. I prefer to go when there are less people which means cold enough that there are no people with bathing suits.

I've said it before and I'll say it again - parks get stars even when they're not up to snuff. It's…read morefreedom, it's greenery it's blue skies, singing birds, no traffic rumble - and it's all there just waiting for you to come get some. How can I whip out my thick red marker and wrist X's with wreck less disregard of what has been set aside for us, by those that came before us --all in the hopes that we don't totally F it up. I tend to believe and it's not easy to concede that we (as in They) will one day as corporate america blows the tops off mountains for a little slice of yellow cake - dirty swines. The welcome center was closed up tight, paddocks and bolts, metal shutters and such -- what a sight for me to see and to feeling that feeling as I have daily in my NYC life. Gates, electric fence, cameras, deadbolts, dogs, attack birds -- ya know, just the home security essentials -- and I live in a semi affluent area - well, that's why I've got all those terrible things - minus the dogs and birds. So around and around I went -- looking the one floor 60 foot structure up and down - imagining it without the metal, sure is a pretty structure with such stones that you'll step upon on your way up the trail. I do hope to see the visitors center open some day, talk with the parks mounties and rangers -: to ask questions, to learn more about the lay of the land and what flies, glides, walks and slithers within.

A nice area for hiking with castle ruins and a lake and changing elevations. There are some paved…read moreroads but also trails off that path. You can hear the sound of cars on the highway both at the end and beginning of the hikes. Lots of dogs off leash even though there are signs that say to leash all dogs. The parking lot can get crowded later in the afternoon especially in the spring and summer, but there were plenty of spots on a Sunday morning at 9:30.

My 350th Yelp review is a banger…read more I try to stop by Ramapo at least once a year, usually at the beginning of hiking season; there's a nice 5- or 6-mile route I do in there that helps me build up for the more hardcore hikes later in the year, and it's unusual for me to do this one so late into the actual summer. Boy, is this a different hike in June. Ask the gazillion bears I saw. Yesterday I did about 6 miles, starting at the Ramapo Lake Trailhead parking lot, going on the blue trail to the aforementioned lake and then turning left onto N Shore Drive. I then veered off toward the castle ruins but made a pretty quick right before the path up to said ruins onto Cannonball to Skyline Drive, joining up with the Castle Point Trail back to and through the castle ruins, before heading down back to the lakefront and continuing all the way around the lake until getting back to the blue trail and the parking lot. The official hike in my book says it's 6.6 miles when you include an additional loop to the south of the lake that gets you very close to 287, but i bypassed that today. One of the big issues with this section of Ramapo is the parking situation. I can't tell you how many times I've had to pivot and do a different hike because this Ramapo Lake parking lot was completely full by mid-morning, and the powers that be insist on plastering no parking signs in every other conceivable area going literally miles down Skyline Drive. I get that Skyline is a busy road but there ARE sections where you can theoretically park safely on the shoulder without bothering anyone else - I think there's a compromise here somewhere, but because they don't have one, this lot is usually full by 8:30am on a nice day, and then you have vulture cars just lurking in the middle of the lot for ages waiting for hikers to come back so they can immediately grab the new spot. You can't tell me that's much safer than the alternative. Anyway. The other mild annoyance for me is that you can often hear car traffic, especially in the southern section by 287, but it is what it is. The lake and the castle are the real selling points here, especially the castle. Ruins are one of my all-time favorite hiking kinks, and this adventure has them in droves. The one drawback (again, because of the time of year) is that it gets overgrown with foliage very quickly, so this is a rare instance where I would recommend exploring it in the early spring before you're bushwhacking to get through. Very cool optics though, and a definite must at some point if you're in the area. The wildlife situation? Man. This was one for the books. I usually see one or two bears a year, but I saw that many today, and numerous hikers told me they'd encountered others as well. It was insane and I've never seen anything like it. I got a picture of the biggest one I saw (attached) as I was slowly backing away, and I'd guess this was a 700 pounder? Big boy, and wasn't particularly fazed by my bear horn (though he did ultimately wander off after a few toots on it). Absolutely would not do this hike without a bear horn. I don't even want to ponder what would have happened otherwise. Neither of the bears seemed aggressive but you just never know, and if cubs had been around? Ugh. I encountered a park ranger toward the end of the hike who said it had been insane bear-wise the entire summer and they're just getting more comfortable with humans so again, be careful, use common sense, etc. The trail conditions were pretty decent. Some of the blazes/markers were not the best, and a few sections of Cannonball were one way (meaning you had to keep turning around to confirm the markers because they were only on one side of the trees/poles). As mentioned, the trail section by the castle is overgrown right now but I'm not crazy about advocating for maintenance in an area that by definition should probably be preserved and as authentic as possible. To me there aren't too many significant inclines on the trail (there's one small section very close to the parking lot where you have to take a minute for footing on the rocks, as well as the climb up to the castle if you're going on that trail) but it's definitely rocky and not particularly flat except by the lake. This is one of the better hikes in the area but it's not my absolute favorite - it's crowded and a little too close to civilization. But arguably the bears cancel some of that out. Memorable day.

Wow .. fantastic park . I was in Pomona area and was looking for a good bird watching area. Googled…read moreand found this place .. lots of parking outside also rest area, which is clean and usable.. good location . How was able to spot a lot of good birds.. right when you enter this small pond and lots of birds there. Make sure you get your tripod and zoom lens... you can also walk inside for small trail. Took some good shots . Must visit park for bird lovers...

My entire experience was wonderful. I woke up early and decided to take walk yesterday morning. I…read moredon't live far from the park. 10min walk.. it was beautiful. I will go there again. It was also my first time walking the park.. My husband had surprised me with an amazing picnic there once, I enjoyed that spot by the water. I say my walk was enjoyable. Both experiences were incredible. I'll always go to Kakiat County Park.

We've hiked in Sterling Forest several times and have enjoyed the experience! Typically less…read morecrowded than Harriman State Park and others in the area, Sterling has a very nice visitor center with clean bathrooms, a helpful light up model of the forest, a store, and friendly staff to help with any questions. The parking lot is decent sized too. They have some varied hikes but most aren't too difficult. Whether you want lakes, forests or views you can get them here. Many of the trails also connect if you want to make them longer or shorter. Some of the hikes like Mckeags in the summer can be very tick ridden so do all the usual precautions. There's spotty reception in this area so if you're using All Trails or other app, you'll want offline view.

I loved my hike 5 mile hike in Sterling Forest State Park. We did the Doris Duke loop which was…read morejust under 5 miles. We started the hike going clockwise, and in so doing did most of the elevation gain at the start of the hike. I found the path to be very comfortable to walk on, with less rocks and exposed tree roots than typical for NYS. I was also very surprised at how peace full it was, we did not see another living soul until we were 2/3s of the way through the hike, and then didn't see anyone else until we got to the parking lot. I was all set to only hike in this park going forward, because Harriman can get way too busy for me, and then the ticks started. SO MANY Ticks. I hike frequently and ticks are a fact of life in the north east, but this was next level tick infestation. I tuck my pant bottoms into my boots and spray tick repellent on my clothes, boots, and arms. We were pulling them off ourselves in the car on the drive home, and then off ourselves at home. Thank god they were the large size kind of tick and easy to see. I have never seen so many ticks at one time. 100% avoid Sterling Forest.

Fresh water wetland this place is small and intimate but large on the eyes. Since it's a nature…read morepreserve dogs are not allowed. The species of birds you will find here are ridiculous. My oldest daughter and I try to come here twice a month during nicer weather. For her the trail is nice and flat so doable for her younger growing legs. The birds we see there are off the charts cool. I should start keeping a journal to identify them but red and black, striped ones, herrings and more. They have several look out points which allows you to see across the lake and I often see people with binoculars taking in the picturesque scenery and spot one of the rare species. While walking around the lake we have come across turtles, deer, toads/frogs, turkeys and more turtles. One can be a bit intimidated by a large snapping turtle but we just pass them off to the side leaving them alone and they leave us alone. Such a neat sight to see. We come here during the winter from time to time and although you won't find much in terms of natural life the beauty of the frozen lake is a looker. I've seen people step out and "ice skate" with their sneakers on which is fun. You can do the whole thing in 20 min (it takes us 1 hour) so definitely recommend as a nice quick peaceful getaway to decompress and enjoy seeing some stunning wildlife.

No celery is being grown, it's actually a nature preserve. There's no dogs or bikes allowed…read more Sections are fenced off to keep you on the trail. The trail is about a mile and goes around the lake. Some of it is boarded and much of it is in the shade. If it rained recently, than it may be muddy, otherwise sneakers or shoes are fine. It stays level and is good for elderly or kids. There's a lot of benches and a few lookouts as you go around. The preserve is exceptionally clean. I saw one plastic bottle, so I picked it up.