One of many delightful spots in Harriman where a trail runs alongside a marshy field of cattails, which make a unique rustling noise as they sway in the wind. In the fall and winter, the shoots glow like golden straw in the sun.

Cross Seven Lakes Dr. Still following yellow blazes, pass through a picnic area and a parking lot, then turn R and cross a small bridge towards an old ski hill that still has part of a lift. The trail contours L around the hill, then hugs the W shore of Silvermine Lake. Leaving the lake, you'll follow Bockey Swamp Brook uphill through a narrowing valley. Stay L on the yellow-blazed Menomine Trail @ a 4-way.

Continue straight @ 3-way junction onto the Long Path (light blue blazes and discs).

Continue straight @ 4-way intersection with the Dunning (yellow) trail. The R-D Trail (red) stays high a bit longer, then drops into evergreen forest that's so quiet in fall you can hear a pine needle drop. In spring, streams seem to burble off of every hillside, drowning out all else.

Harriman State Park is only 40 miles from Manhattan, and there are probably 10 million people who live within a few hours' drive. But somehow you can always find peace and quiet in the park's sprawling interior. One of the best ways is to head for the NW quadrant, away from the busier trails on Bear Mountain and the southern Harriman ledges. There you'll discover fine views of the Catskills from open viewpoints atop Stockbridge, Fingerboard, and Letterrock Mountains, which are really ridges rather than single peaks. You'll also find quiet and sometimes primeval forest, cattail marshes, deer and other wildlife, and stone shelters set in scenic surroundings. There are also many, many places to leave the trail for a hidden campsite in the woods. This 18.8-mile lollipop-loop follows singletrack trails and old forest roads through pleasant swamp-and-hardwood forests and over many of Harriman's signature bald domes. It combines well-known trails--namely, the Long Path, Appalachian Trail, Ramapo-Dunderberg, and Red Cross--but most of the mileage is away from the busier sections of these paths. I completed the entire loop in a moderately-paced 10 hours, but you could easily make a weekend backpacking trip out of it. There's plenty to explore near the most obvious tent and shelter sites, and numerous other trails to lengthen the loop. **** From the parking lot, cross the stream and head uphill following the obvious red blazes. In spring, the profusion of blooming rhododendron makes the trail feel almost tropical-here and in many other parts of Harriman where the bushes take advantage of the ample groundwater. This first stretch chugs steadily upwards, climbing the main ridge of Black Rock Mountain for 10 to 20 minutes, depending on how much coffee you drank this morning.

Reach the William Brien Memorial Shelter, one of the best in the park for its scenic location, easy water access, and fun scrambling. Just beyond the shelter, continue straight at the junction with the Appalachian Trail. Continue to the next junction, a 3-way intersection with the Red Cross Trail, and turn R. The Menomine Trail ends here; the Red Cross is blazed, not surprisingly, with small painted red crosses. From here, you'll follow the Red Cross Trail across a broad swath of central Harriman Park, passing mostly through lowland forest and marsh with fewer signs of traffic than almost anywhere else in the park.

This sign illustrates the labyrinth of trails, and endless hiking opportunities, in Harriman. ©Jonathan Dorn

Continue straight on the Long Path @ 4-way with the Appalachian Trail.

Bear L @ Y, staying on the Long Path, a trail that begins at the western end of the George Washington Bridge and runs more than 200 miles through the Palisades, Harriman, and the Catskills, finishing just short of the Adirondacks.

Bear R @ Y

This 3-side stone shelter is just off the AT, 1373 miles from Springer, GA (the southern terminus of the AT). ©Jonathan Dorn

Just past Hippo Rock, you'll reach a gap in the Stockbridge Mountain ridge. An old carriage road runs through the gap. Turn R on the road, which is now the yellow-blazed Menomine Trail. Watch your ankles here; it's a fast descent for the next mile, but the road is strewn with ankle-twisting babyhead rocks.

Reach the crest of the ridge and stay right at a 3-way junction on the red-blazed Ramapo-Dunderberg Trail. The next 30 minutes of walking offers some of the finest views in the entire park, as you cross a long bald ridge whose rocky top was scoured by wildfire years ago. You'll occasionally dip into damp notches between domes; watch for deer and animal sign.

Kirsten at Lake Askoti at twilight. ©Jonathan Dorn

Kirsten crosses a gnarly section of the Long Path. ©Jonathan Dorn

This bald ridge features some of the finest views in Harriman. ©Jonathan Dorn

Hang L @ T, then a quick L @ Y onto the yellow-blazed Dunning Trail. You'll soon pass Hogencamp Mine, another one that dates to the 1700s.

Just past the Hasenclever Mine, we inadvertently left the Red Cross Trail and followed an intermittent abandoned forest road to the southern tip of Lake Askoti. The forest is wide open in this area, so it's easy to just aim for the lake (visible through the trees) and go. Or you can stick on the Red Cross Trail to the northern tip of Lake Askoti, cross Seven Lake Dr., and take the Red Cross Trail to the Long Path. You'll end on the N end of Lake Askoti, then road-walk S to Waypoint 21.

Stay L to cross Tiorati Brook, then Tiorati Brook Rd. Across the road, pick up an old forest road (still the Red Cross Trail) that leads to Hasenclever Mine, which dates back to 1765 and produced pig iron for the production of, among other things, guns for the Revolutionary Army. During that war, both British and American troops blazed trails through this area; two of the original routes are commemorated in the 1777 and 1779 Trails. A good book on local mine history is Edward Lenik's Iron Mine Trails (available from the New York-New Jersey Trail Conference).

This roomy shelter on the back side of Surebridge Mountain is a pleasant option for a first-night camp. It overlooks a mature and open hardwood forest that's glorious in the fall. There are also campsites up the hill. Water is down the hill.

Cross paved Arden Valley Rd. after a long, low-country stretch in the shadow of Fingerboard Mountain to the east.

At the southern end of Lake Askoti, cross Seven Lakes Dr. and turn W onto the Long Path.

The William Brien Memorial Shelter sits in a scenic hollow. ©Jonathan Dorn

Bald Rocks Shelter. This is one of the danker and less appealing lean-tos in the park, but there are a number of fine spots in the trees for tents. Water is down the hill to the east; follow the obvious drainage from the shelter. It may take 5 minutes to reach water in dry conditions. Stay on red-blazed trail.

Turn R @ 4-way, staying on the Long Path. Side trip: Take a quick detour to the geological oddity known as the Lemon Squeezer, which is just ahead on the red-blazed Arden-Surebridge Trail. A giant fissure in a wall of rock, the Lemon Squeezer is the closest thing Harriman has to a slot canyon.

Me outside the shelter on the back side of Surebridge Mountain.

The views on this open ridge are more than photo-worthy. Plan your first break of the day on one of the giant boulders.

Continue straight on the Long Path through @ 4-way with a forest road.

Hang L onto the Lichen Trail (blue blazes) at a 3-way junction.

Bear L @ 3-way, leaving the fire road you've been on since Arden Valley Rd. The Long Path now climbs fairly sharply to the crest of Stockbridge Mountain and follows it for about 3 miles with excellent views to Bear Mountain (east) and the Catskills (northwest). West Point Military Academy is due north about 5 miles.

Stay straight @ 3-way with a forest road that leads down and to the L. The Dunning Trail climbs on a rocky doubletrack back to the Bald Rocks Shelter. Retrace your steps from earlier in the day back to your car to complete the hike.

Cattails blow in the gentle wind. ©Jonathan Dorn