High Tor State Park — Attraction in Town of Haverstraw

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...

Yesterday I had an incident at High Tor State Park. In which the older women that works there no disrespect intended but she has something wrong with her eyes! Moving in she was extremely offensive and discriminatory to myself the senior I was with and the two children under the age of 5. The disrespect and the discrimination is obsurd. This is the second time I have come to this establishment and this lady is nasty. You can’t have someone that is rude and nasty at a public park suppose to be friendly to our community and children. To top it off the skinny guy that was suppose to be patrolling the area was drinking beer on the job… when I addressed that this lady and himself including the 2 other workers behind them just stood quiet. But my children and the senior who had a bracelet to get into a FREE PUBLIC POOL as per the GOV of New York! We were denied entrance and told to leave because I defend myself. What is the code of conduct for these employees? I was told to move out of the entry way to the side as I did. You guys have cameras and can check them. Then I was told to leave after I moved over and was talking to the senior lady I was with. The RUDE AND DISCRIMINATORY WHITE LADY that was there went ahead and addressed me again, saying why doesn’t that lady meaning the senior go in with the kids. I again addressed her again to not speak to us because we were not speaking to her. This lady and this man should not be in charge of running this facility. I am ready to take this further and have NYS investigate this facility and those two employees. You are suppose to be a NYS park that is suppose to be not drinking on the job in which the park police failed to adhere. They were more worried about the people having bbqs than the actual employees. I have pictures of this employee and again you can check the cameras of what he was doing. As well as the nasty discrimination the people I was with as well as myself had to endure

FYI PARK IS BEAUITFUL AND GRILLING AREA IS NICE. POOLS ARE NICE TOO. I ONLY GAVE IT 1 STAR BECAUSE OF...

This os a great hike because you can do it in less than an hour . Its quick in and out. Parking is limited so best to get there early if exploring on a weekend. Go up central ave like your heading to New City from 202. We locals call it the mountain road. When you het to the peak of the mountain road you will see two parking areas on either side with south mountain park signs. This hike will be on your left. You start by following the teal blazes. At a mile in you will see an intersection with 3 white blazes. Take that left and follow the white blazes till you get to the top. There are two overlooks looking down at North Rockland area and the Hudson. So you will get to the top but then there is a narrow path that allows you yo look at the left side. After you are done taking pictures you come down the same way you came in following the white blazes to the bottom then take a right and follow the teal blazes back...