The Bear Mountain Trails Project

2012 Work Schedule: March 24-November 25 / Saturday-Sunday / 8:30am-4:30pm

Find upcoming workshops at Bear Mountain on the Trail U schedule.

Click here to read a NY Times article about the project.

The Bear Mountain Trails Project (BMTP) is a major trail building and rehabilitation effort managed by the New York-New Jersey Trail Conference in cooperation with its partners: The Appalachian Trail Conservancy, National Park Service Appalachian Trail Park Office, NYS Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation, and the Palisades Interstate Park Commission. The project is designed to rehabilitate and rebuild the trails on the slope of Bear Mountain, the most significant of these construction efforts is on the Appalachian Trail, which has been re-routed numerous times on Bear Mountain since its founding in 1923 due to erosion caused from the trails 100,000+ hikers a year. To combat this erosion on the A.T. the Bear Mountain Trails Project was conceived and constructed.

This section of the Appalachian Trail on Bear Mountain will feature over 1,000 hand-hewn granite steps and over 1 mile of tread way supported by stone crib walls. Each step and wall stone has been and will continue to be split and shaped from rocks on site and maneuvered into place either by hand or via a series of overhead cables rigged up in the surrounding trees. With each step measuring 4-5 feet long, weighing in at around 1,000 pounds, and in need of moving distances of up to 300 feet without the aid of motorized equipment, the Trail Conference has sought out professional trail builders from all over the country to lead the construction effort and train hundreds of volunteers. From 2006-2011, volunteers from The NYNJTC, Appalachian Trail Conservancy (ATC), Student Conservation Association (SCA), Rockland County Americorps, and the Boy Scouts of America among others have traveled to Bear Mountain to receive free training as part of The Trail Conferences innovative Trail University program. This program was founded on Bear Mountain at the start of this project and has enabled the Trail Conference to provide free workshops for volunteers seeking to learn both basic and advanced trail building techniques. These workshops have provided for a revival of the masonry skills utilized in the 1930's by the CCC when constructing much of Harriman State Parks roads, walls and buildings. The first section of the relocation was opened on June 5th, 2010 (National Trails Day) and consisted of roughly 700 steps. A second section including an AT loop and nearly 1/2 mile of fully accessible Trail on the top of Bear Mtn was oficially opened on June 6th, 2011 (also National Trails Day).There will be continued opportunities to get involved in this historic project through 2013. Those interested in more information regarding Trail U. or volunteering on the project can do so by clicking on the attached links or by emailing the crew leaders at wheelock@nynjtc.org.

Get Involved

We work from 8:30am - 4:30pm, Thursday-Monday starting on March 24th all the way through November 25th. If this is your first year volunteering for the project however, volunteer days are restricted to Saturday's and Sunday's to insure proper training. Once this apprenticeship is complete, usually one full season of regular volunteering, weekday worktrips will be made available to you. Work trips involve a variety of tasks, such as: prepping work sites, quarrying stone, using an overhead highline to transport stone, creating crushed stone (with mash and sledge hammers), building crib walls, setting rock steps, and splitting stone.

While training is provided everyday, individuals that have no trail building experience are REQUIRED to attend at least 2 Trail U courses on Bear Mountain. If you cannot meet these requirements but still wish to volunteer, please contact the Volunteer Coordinator at wheelock@nynjtc.org

Please wait for either an email or phone confirmation from us prior to attending to confirm the trip and so we know whether to expect you. Do not just show up without a confirmation or you will be turned away.

Be Advised: These worktrips are strenuous! 

Leaders: Eddie Walsh, Tom Kindling - Project Managers, and Larry Wheelock, Volunteer Coordinator.

For more information on any Bear Mountain Trails Project activity or to sign up for a workday, contact the leaders. above.

(For a higher-resolution map image, click here)

PRESS

Journal News - Spring 2010

AMC Outdoors - Spring 2010 

Backpacker Magazine 2008-Bear Mountain Trails Project voted #1 trail building project in US.

Journey Magazine - 2009 Trail Conference and ATC volunteers comment on the project.

Trailwalker - 2005-The Bear Mountain Project kicks off

Spring 2009 Newsletter

Spring 2010 Newsletter