Silvermine Ski Center to Bear Mountain Ski Jump Traverse

My previous Bear Mountain State Park experiences have included ice skating with the family during the winter holidays and a zoo trip here and there when my daughter was young. I’ve done limited hiking in the park and there are many miles of trails that I’ve yet to explore.

Recently I had an opportunity to hike some of them while trying to link two sites steeped in New York ski history; the Silvermine Ski Center and the Bear Mountain Ski Jump. The map from a vintage ski brochure I purchased at a used bookstore made the two areas look so close to each other. I parked at the Silvermine Picnic Area, which was the location of the base area of the Silvermine Ski Center.

I was tempted to explore the old ski slopes, but I had a long day planned and thought it was best to get on the trail. A previous story about the Silvermine Ski Center by a fellow NY Ski Blog member, Brownski, brought me up to speed on what I missed.

My hike started by heading east along Silvermine Lake until I reached the Silvermine Lake Dam. There was no path across the dam itself (Google search indicated that the wooden walkway was removed in 1989), but it wasn’t that hard to find a suitable stream crossing just below the dam. It had rained the night before, and rocks were slippery. I took my steps carefully.

I met up with the Silvermine Ski Road east of the dam and started walking south. While some sections of this woods road built in 1934 now look more like a trail, many sections are still in surprisingly good shape.

I left the Silvermine Ski Road in the general vicinity of where I thought an old cross country ski trail had been. The area was completely overgrown, so I ended up just bushwacking southeast down a drainage. The brush was still soaking wet from rain the night before and, after a few minutes of bushwhacking through the waist-high brush, my pants were soaked as well.

I was able to find what looked like a red blaze painted on multiple trees along my bushwhack, indicating that a trail went through this area at some point in time. I may have been bushwacking in the intended area after all! At the bottom of the drainage, I successfully met up with the 1779 Trail which took me to the Palisades Interstate Parkway. I needed to wait longer than expected for my chance to dash across the southbound lanes.

I had better luck crossing the northbound side.

Successfully across the parkway, the plan moving forward was to head east a couple miles to Timp Pass, then northeast for another couple miles to Doodletown, and finally north for about 1.5 miles to the Bear Mountain Inn. Once at the Inn, I would begin my search for the ski jump.

All went as planned to Timp Pass but, just after the pass, there was an orange netting fence with a “Trails Closed – Do Not Enter” sign blocking my intended path. I was not expecting this. My only two options were to go back the way I came or take the Timp-Torne path east up and over a high point called The Timp. While Option 2 would take me out of my way, I didn’t want to backtrack, and my map indicated multiple trail connections on the other side of The Timp that would get me back on track.

I was glad I picked Option 2; the views from The Timp were amazing. Also, I was hiking for almost 3 hours at that point, and I had yet to encounter another hiker. I was enjoying such beauty less than 50 miles from New York City, and I had the whole place to myself. What a treat!

Once I climbed down the other side of The Timp, my next two trail options that headed northwest/west to get me back on track were also blocked with an orange netting fence and a “Trails Closed” sign. I came too far to go back now so my only option was to go up and over another high point, in this case Bald Mountain, and just accept I was going out of my way.

The views from Bald Mountain were stunning and well worth the additional detour. I picked up the scenic Cornell Mine Trail on the other side of Bald Mountain and headed north, only to find the now dreaded orange “Trails Closed” fencing on the only two trail options that would have directed me toward the Bear Mountain Inn. This meant I was traveling even farther out of my way, but it was via a pleasant trail that paralleled Doodletown Brook.

I took these detours in stride as each one allowed me to experience a new part of the park. I was glad that I packed extra food and water, as well as my head lamp, just in case. I was a little perplexed when I reached the Cornell Mine Trailhead at Route 9W and found more orange “Trails Closed” fencing. Was a significant part of Bear Mountain State Park closed for some reason?

I finally made my way north to the Bear Mountain Inn/Skating Rink area only to find it to be a large construction site (fencing was everywhere). An information board provided a link to an updated trail map which confirmed that a significant number of the hiking trails were closed (which explained all my detours) and stated the reason for the closures was a 2023 extreme rainfall event.

The map also shows Silvermine Lake (the start/end point of my hike) on the far left, the 1779 trail crossing the Palisades Parkway on bottom left, as well as how my hike detoured around the right side of the closed area via The Timp, Bald Mountain and Cornell Mine Trail. Bear Mountain Inn/Ski Jump are on top center of map.

Access to the area above the inn and ice-skating rink was fenced off so I sadly gave up my original plan to search for what remained of the ski jump. I was more concerned about figuring out the best way to get back to my car. I hadn’t planned on taking the Appalachian Trail (AT) but that was the best option due to all the fencing.

A little way up the AT, I took a cutover trail that led to the Suffern-Bear Mountain (S-BM) trail. I had been up to the top of Bear Mountain via the AT before, and the S-BM seemed to be a more direct route back to Silvermine. I was also probably a bit tired due to the unplanned miles of hiking, and I was looking for a way to not go over another high point.

In an amazing stroke of luck, the cutover trail went past the take-off point of the ski jump. I made it to the ski jump after all! In a burst of energy, I found myself running up the ski jump steps taking pictures along the way. The jump was in much better shape than I expected. Once at the top, I kept climbing up an unnamed trail until it met up with the AT. I had come this far; I might as well head all the way up to the top of Bear Mountain (and was rewarded with more fantastic views along the way).

I continued south on the AT off the top of Bear Mountain. Views on my way down were just as gorgeous as those coming up from the Inn. Once off the mountain but with still about 1.5 hours left to hike, I found myself approaching another dreaded orange “Trails Closed” sign. My heart sank. It was about 5 pm. My first thought was maybe I’m going to need the headlamp after all. Turned out, for the first time that day, the path closed was for a trail I didn’t need to take. All was good.

I eventually met up with the Anthony Wayne Trail, which I followed until it crossed Seven Lakes Drive. I made a left onto Seven Lakes Drive and walked for less than a mile before I connected with the Silvermine Ski Road. I followed the Ski Road southwest until I reached the Silvermine Dam and subsequently the Silvermine Picnic Area parking lot where I started, thus completing the loop in a little over 8 hours from when I started. Except for the section between the Bear Mountain Inn and the top of Bear Mountain, I did not encounter another hiker the entire day.

The 16 miles hiked was longer than I expected but no regrets. If I knew beforehand that such a large part of the park was closed, I may not have even bothered to hike that day (which would have been a shame). Sometimes fantastic days happen in ways you could never have predicted. This day was one of them.