New York
Counties crossed: Orange County → Rockland County → Westchester County → Putnam County → Dutchess County
New York's 88.4 miles (142.3 km) of trail contain very little elevation change compared to other states. It is rather rugged terrain nonetheless, with many short though nearly-vertical ledges and small cliffs. From south to north, the trail summits many small mountains under 1,400 feet (430 m) in elevation, its highest point in New York being Prospect Rock at 1,433 feet (438 m), and less than half a mile (800 m) from the border with New Jersey. The trail continues north, climbing near Fitzgerald Falls, passing through Sterling Forest State Park, and then entering Harriman State Park and Bear Mountain State Park. In Harriman State Park, the trail passes through the famous Lemon Squeezer, a narrow crack between huge boulders. It crosses the Hudson River on the Bear Mountain Bridge, which is the lowest point on the entire Appalachian Trail at 124 feet (38 m). It then passes through Fahnestock State Park and continues northeast and crosses the Metro-North Railroad's Harlem Line at Pawling, which is also the only train station along the length of the trail. It enters Connecticut via the Pawling Nature Reserve. The section of the trail that passes through Harriman and Bear Mountain State Parks is the oldest section of the trail, completed in 1923. The Appalachian Trail in New York is maintained and updated by the New York - New Jersey Trail Conference.
Professional trail builder Eddie Walsh and Edward Goodell (Executive Director of the New York-New Jersey Trail Conference) oversaw and coordinated the construction of a paved trail coming off of Bear Mountain. That portion of the Trail is composed of 800 steps made of 1,000-pound slabs of granite followed by over a mile of walkway supported by stone crib walls with boulders called gargoyles lining the path. The project took four years, cost roughly $1 million, and was executed by about 700 volunteers. It officially opened in June 2010.
Read more about this topic: Appalachian Trail By State
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