The Harriman “Hotspots”: Most Popular (and crowded) parts of the park

If you love the park but are wary of large crowds on the weekend, avoid the Harriman “hotspots” of Lake Welch, Bear Mountain and the Reeves Meadow Visitor Center.  Other slightly less-crowded spots are Silvermine Lake, Lakes Askoti and Skannatati parking areas, and Tiorati Beach.

Use the maps to find less-used parking areas (roadside pull-outs) and quieter lakes, like Te-Ata and Barnes, in the northern part of the park.  Bring a bike on the train or in your car and use park roads to access the interior trails.

These “hotspots” are nothing new to those familiar with the park in all seasons.  If you can think of any more, leave a comment.  Who knows?; maybe one day we can also conduct a survey of lean-to use on the busiest weekend of summer.

Here are more suggestions for quieter Harriman spots.

Mosquitos Are Out!

Don’t forget to bring your bug dope up into the mountains this week.  I’d even pack a cheap mosquito net for my face, even if you’re just hiking for the afternoon.

A combination of warm weather, humidity, and steady rains have brought out the biting insects this week.  The Ramapo-Dunderberg trail from the parking area on 106 up to Bald Rocks shelter, was clicking away yesterday, with a little swarm of dragonflies springing up from the bald boulder-tops, colliding with spring-loaded grasshoppers.  At Bald Rocks Shelter, and especially near the spring below, the mosquitoes were really a nuisance (although I can appreciate their importance to the food chain!).  Near the swampy lowlands throughout the park, you’ll be carried off without repellant.

Ticks, too, are abundant this time of year (and finally I got what I had coming to me: the dreaded Lyme disease!)  This part of the world is Ground Zero for Lyme, and if the disease doesn’t make you woozy, the bill for the lab tests will!  (Mine totaled two thousand dollars, plus doctor visit).

A note about Lyme: I was surprised that with all the symptoms I was showing, the doctor I saw did not suspect Lyme disease until I told him I hike every day and find ticks on me almost every day.  If you suspect you have Lyme, don’t hesitate to inform the doctor of your hiking habits.  They are still reluctant to order the tests (and maybe this is because of the cost).

Mountain Laurel Season

On the mountaintops, the mountain laurel is just about in full bloom.  You can see mountain laurel throughout the park this time of year.  Almost any trail that heads uphill toward a mountaintop will take you through a laurel grove.  For the full-on splendor of these rhododendrons, visit Lily Pond (below) on Lake Welch Drive, just east of the intersection with Seven Lakes Drive.The pond is a photographer’s dream in the low, slanting light of early morning or late afternoon. Wonderful. If you are a food blogger then make use of this serene location and seek the help of 600 – toronto food photographer to make your amazing recipes reach out to the world.