Silvermine Lake

Silvermine Lake, Harriman State Park (10/22/2011)

This is hike #21 ("Black Mountain") from the book 50 Hikes in the Lower Hudson Valley (2nd edition). A shorter version, which omits the relatively short out-and-back to the two glorious viewpoints on Black Mountain, is the Hike of the Week for 9/29/2011 as described on the NY-NJ Trail Conference site. For those following the NYNJTC hike, I strongly encourage you to continue on the AT (where the hike description says to to turn left on Silvermine Road). Climb for less than 5 minutes to the first wonderful viewpoint over Silvermine Lake, then continue to the second sweeping view south and southeast to the Hudson River, the Manhattan skyline, Tor mountain, among other sites. Then head back to Silvermine Road, making a right at which point you can continue following the hike description.

We did this exact same hike in March, 2006, so it was time to head back. We also climbed Black Mountain from the opposite direction in August, 2008. The fall foliage was peak this weekend and the leaf drop was significant. At this rate I wouldn't be surprised if, by next week, most of the leaves were on the ground and the colors are past peak. Fall foliage only happens once a year, and it doesn't last long, but what a gift it is.

Total distance hiked today was 5.1 miles in just over 3 hours.

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