***2 1/2 stars*** 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. read more

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

High Tor State Park - Parks Near Me - New City, New York

Breahtaking views of the Hudson Valley. The Hike to the peak of Low Tor is a quick 20 minute uphill hike from the park's parking lot. The graffiti on the rocks at the top can detract from the experience, but the views of the Hudson valley and on a clear day the New York city skyline is worth the trip. read more

High Tor State Park - Haverstraw from the peak of Low Tor - Parks Near Me - New City, New York

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I used to come here as a child with my family over 20 years ago and had such beautiful childhood memories here. Today I wanted to share that joy with my 5 year old son on his first trip to High Tor State Park..... WRONG! This once peaceful, quiet park is now over runned by hookah smoking, loud mouthed, ghetto people from mainly NYC. There was several groups of people playing extremely loud music from their cars... they even had back up batteries connected. The police cars came every 30 minutes or so to keep the peace because apparently many fights break out here now. One staff member told me each year it gets worse. The pools are just as bad. There was literally a row of 10 children ages 7-13 forming a side by side line and jumping into the pool all at once with little disregard to the other young children in the pool. The male adults in the pool would lift their women up on their shoulders and throw them into the pool with again a total disregard to the other children in the pool (must be the parents of those jumping children) Adults kissing in the pool as if they were in their private pool, cursing, screaming, loudness.. just utterly terrible. I hardly saw the parents watch their kids.. The staff members of the pool/picnic area were extremely kind and sweet.. sorta like they were 20 years ago however u can tell they're tired of dealing with this level of cheese each and all day. The only reason why I'm giving this park 2 stars is because it's still very well maintained, clean (staff members were literally going around giving out garbage bags and picking trash off the floor because apparently people don't bring their own bags and police themselves) and beautiful. I don't plan on returning here on a weekend any time soon. P.S. The reason why people go upstate NY is to escape the drama of NYC and to enjoy peace and tranquility... NOT bring it with them! read more