Bear Mountain (Hudson Highlands)

Mountain in New York, United States

The steep eastern face of the mountain overlooks the Hudson River. The eastern side of the mountain consists of a pile of massive boulders, often the size of houses, that culminate in a 50 feet (15 m) cliff face at approximately the 1000 feet (305 m) level. A direct scramble from the shore of Hessian Lake to Perkins Memorial Drive on the summit requires a gain of about 1000 feet (305 m) in roughly 0.8 mile (1 km). From the summit, one can see as far as Manhattan, and the monument on High Point in New Jersey.

Bear Mountain was historically known as "Bear Hill" and "Bread Tray Mountain". Bear Mountain was once the premier ski jumping site in the United States. Because of its reputation as a ski jumping location, Bear Mountain was considered as a possible site for the 1932 Winter Olympics, which were held in Lake Placid, New York. The ski jump run has not been used in decades, and its stone steps built into the eastern side of the mountain are now crumbling. During World War II, the Brooklyn Dodgers held their spring training here. In 1928, the Palisades State Park Commission built a 60 feet (18 m) Aermotor LS40 steel fire lookout tower on the mountain. It was taken down seven years later to make room to build the Perkins Memorial Tower which was erected in honor of George W. Perkins Sr., who was the first president of the Palisades Interstate Park Commission. The memorial tower was a gift of Perkins's widow and their son. The tower was used as a weather station and fire lookout until 1953. In 1990, the Perkins family agreed to donate $650,000 over a six year period to maintain the tower. The tower was later completely renovated and re opened to the public.