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A day at Bear Mountain State Park!

Living in New York City is great, but New York State has so many beautiful places to explore! And today I’m gonna suggest a place for a day trip. Last Sunday, we have been at Bear Mountain State Park, a park that is about 1 hour and a half from Manhattan. I had seen some pictures of the place on some friend’s profiles on social media and I was excited by the fall landscape. The park is on the banks of the Hudson River, with mountains, playing fields, picnic groves, lake and river fishing access, swimming pool, Museum, and Zoo, and offers activities such as walking, hiking, biking, and ice skating. Certainly, the major attraction is Perkins Memorial Tower at the top of Bear Mountain, which offers a spectacular view of the park, the Hudson Highlands, and Harriman State Park.

Coach Usa/Shortline has daily routes to the place. We got the second bus of the morning, arrived there at 1pm and had lunch in the restaurant at Bear Mountain Inn, a very charming hotel that is located there. Then we left for our day challenge: hiking Bear Mountain. We start our hiking without thinking a lot and we soon found out along the way that the climb to the top would take almost one hour! But we didn’t give up and we enjoyed the views of the valley – seeing Bear Mountain Bridge in the background was beautiful. The trail is very quiet, demarcated, and long. Therefore, it is essential to wear comfortable clothes and shoes and bring plenty of water. We made some stops from time to time to enjoy all that beauty.

Even that we did not have so much time besides hiking, it worth every minute! It was invigorating, distressful, and reach the top gave us that wonderful feeling of accomplishment. I want to go back again, perhaps for staying at the hotel and enjoy more time there!

How to get there?

As I mentioned earlier, Coach Usa/Short Line offers daily bus tours to Bear Mountain State Park. Bus leaves from Porth Authority (42th St with 8Av) at two times: 8:45 am and 11:15 am.  Return time is at 3:19 pm – on weekends, there is an extra bus at 5:19 pm. The trip takes about 1 hour and 30 minutes. Honestly, if we do it again, I would go earlier, 8:45 am, to have time to explore more of the place. Tickets can be purchased online – just click here – and costs $26.70 per person, round trip. Importantly: you must wait for the bus at the place where you got off, on the street that is opposite the Bear Mountain Inn. Or maybe we would rent a car, so we have more time.

Eating

Bear Mountain State Park has a picnic area – you can bring your food and enjoy the view. If you want to eat there, Bear Mountain Inn has a cafe and a restaurant, that serves brunch on weekends.

Staying 

If you wanna spend the weekend there, you can stay at Bear Mountain Inn. It is charming and it has 15 suites. Information and reservations here. 

Activities 

For those that enjoy nature, this park is amazing! Trails, a skating rink in the winter season, bike rentals, and other activities, as well as museum and zoo. The park open all year round!

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