🥾 ActiveDay trip · from New York, NY
Harriman State Park — Pine Meadow & Suffern Loop
Harriman State Park is 47,000 acres of Appalachian Trail wilderness 35 miles from Times Square — one of the most surprising wilderness experiences accessible without a plane ticket. The Seven Hills Trail and the Suffern-Bear Mountain Trail traverse open granite ridges, hemlock gorges, and mountain lakes through a landscape that looks nothing like the state that surrounds it.
Day 1 — Harriman State Park, NY
Day 1 — Harriman State Park, NY
Day 1 — Harriman State Park, NY
🚗 2 hr 2 min driving📍 6 stops
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Morning
🚗
Drive
New York, NY → Harriman State Park — Tuxedo Trailhead
50 min8:00 AM → 8:50 AM
Drive north via I-87 (NYS Thruway) to exit 15A, then NY-17 to Tuxedo.
Pine Meadow Lake via Hillburn-Torne-Sebago Trail
★ 4.7A 7.5-mile loop from the Tuxedo trailhead ascending over Torne Mountain (1,100 ft) before descending to Pine Meadow Lake — a 38-acre wilderness lake in the interior of Harriman with no motor access and a swimming beach used since the 1930s Civilian Conservation Corps era. The Torne summit provides Hudson Valley views from a long, open granite ridge; the lake descent passes through old-growth hemlock stands.
8:50 AM📍 See location
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Lunch
Pine Meadow Lake Swimming Beach
★ 4.8The most remote swimming beach accessible by foot from New York City — a sand-and-grass beach on the south shore of Pine Meadow Lake, maintained by Palisades Interstate Park since 1936. The water is clear and cold even in August; the surrounding forest is mixed hardwood and pitch pine with no development visible from the lake shore.
9:50 AM📍 See location
Sloatsburg Diner
★ 4.5A classic roadside diner on Route 17 in Sloatsburg serving hearty breakfasts and lunches — eggs, pancakes, burgers, and sandwiches. A practical stop before or after heading into Harriman's trails.
10:50 AM📍 See location
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Afternoon
🚗
Drive
Torne Valley Trailhead → Island Pond Trailhead (Lemon Squeezer)
12 min12:00 PM → 12:12 PM
Drive north on Torne Valley Road to Seven Lakes Drive, then east to Island Pond Road trailhead parking.
Lemon Squeezer — Long Path Connector
★ 3.9A famous rock formation on the Long Path in the southern section of Harriman — a 15-foot crack through a granite slab that requires hikers to remove their packs and squeeze through sideways. The formation is the most-visited single landmark in Harriman and connects to the Island Pond loop for an extended afternoon ridge walk.
12:12 PM📍 See location
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Evening
Iron Forge Inn
★ 4.6A 1830s farmhouse restaurant in Arden, NY, serving elevated farm-to-table dinners — local lamb, Hudson Valley duck, and seasonal vegetables — in a candlelit historic dining room at the edge of Harriman State Park. The ideal reward after a full day on the trails.
5:00 PM📍 See location
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Drive
Harriman State Park → Tuxedo, NY
10 min6:00 PM → 6:10 PM
Tuxedo Park — The Alamo
★ 4.5A Mexican restaurant in the village of Tuxedo that serves the post-Harriman hiking crowd, with generous portions, cold beer, and outdoor seating on the village green adjacent to the stone gatehouse of the Tuxedo Park private community — the gated enclave where the tuxedo dinner jacket was invented in 1886.
6:10 PM📍 See location
🚗
Drive
Tuxedo, NY → New York, NY
50 min7:10 PM → 8:00 PM
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