Irish & Pound Swamp Mountains

Irish & Pound Swamp Mountains, Harriman State Park (5/1/2010)

This beautiful out-and-back hike begins and ends where the yellow-blazed Suffern Bear Mountain trail crosses Route 106, about 1.7 miles west of the Palisades Interstate Parkway. We headed north on the SBM trail, passing the huge glacial erratic known as the Irish Potato, a fitting name since it sits near the peak of Irish Mountain. Continuing over the peak and then partially climbing Pound Swamp Mountain, we took a woods road east to the banks of the lovely Upper Pound Swamp. In the book "Harriman Trails: A Guide and History" by William J. Myles, this road is referred to as the Pound Swamp Mountain Trail, though it is not labeled on the NYNJTC North Harriman map (12th edition). While this trail is distinct as a right turn from the SBM, it soon becomes quite difficult to follow for a bit, but eventually becomes distinct again and remains so all of the way to the ruins of the estate of Rose O. Redard. But first it skirts the lake (it's not a swamp) and crosses over a brook. This crossing was a bit tricky with Laura nearly stepping on a snake! Beaver activity has flooded the trail at the eastern edge of the lake, but a bit of bushwacking allowed us to cross the brook easy enough.

Next came the ruins, one of the more extensive we've seen in Harriman, even though the NYNJTC map marks this simply with "ruin". According to the aforementioned book, the park acquired this estate in April 1961 and demolished it in December of the same year. The walls are still very solid and various types of lilacs and other flowers are still blooming in the backyard. After exploring the ruins, we headed back the same way we came, taking a side trip along the southern bank of the lake where we saw two more snakes.

Total distance hiked today was 4.6 miles in about 3.5 hours, at least a half hour exploring the ruins.

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