Cohasset & Fingerboard Shelters via Lake Tiorati (Harriman State Park)

Cohasset & Fingerboard Shelters via Lake Tiorati (Harriman State Park)

Distance: 6.05 miles
Elevation: 1,109 feet

Time: 2 hours, 48 minutes
Hike Type: Lollipop Loop
Hiking Challenges: Harriman Trail Challenge, Harriman Shelter Challenge

The Hike

And we're back to find two more shelters! I thought I would continue my trend of having the park mostly to myself on weekday afternoons, but parking at Lake Tiorati proved otherwise. Many families were there to swim, and many more were there to picnic. I also had to pay for parking for the first time... which was fine... surpport the parks blah blah blah... $10... Anyway, all the charcoal grilling smelled amazing and I had the pleasure of walking through a family's picnic to get on the blue-blazed Lake Tiorati Trail.

"Lake Tiorati" from Harriman Trails, 4th Ed. (2018)

Before the Lake Tiorati dam was constructed, there were two ponds at the site of the present-day lake: Cedar Pond, half a mile long, which is the northeast end of the present lake; and Little Cedar Pond, a bog-encircled mud hole at the southwest end. When the dam was completed in May 1915, the water level was raised twenty feet, and the two ponds became one.

William Thompson Howelll, in his diary The Hudson Highlands (Sept. 1910), described Cedar Ponds as originally one glacial lake, which gradually filled with silt and became two lakes. In 1765, when Peter Hasenclever came looking for iron ore, he journeyed up the road from Stony Point that had been made in 1760. He opened a mine not far from Cedar Ponds Brook, and bought 1,000 acres of Great Mountain Lot #3 of the Cheesecocks Patent, which included part of Cedar Ponds. To provide power for an intended furnace, he dammed the outlet of the ponds and created one large lake. After Hasenclever abandoned his project in 1769, the property passed through many hands. An iron furnace was erected on the brook in 1880.

In 1844, William Knight of Stony Point bought the lake. He broke out the dam, restoring the two ponds, and raised vegetables on the mud flats around the edges. (In 1910, the local settlers still remembered the fields of rye, buckwheat, corn and onions which grew in the flat.) Below the site of the dam, Knight built a chemical factory to produce pyroligeous acid - a mixture of acetic acid and wood alcohol, made by the destructive distillation of wood. When added to iron ore, it formed "iron liquor," a mordant used in calico printing by the textile mill in nearby Garnerville.

In 1915, the Park bought the Cedar Ponds from the Rockland County Realty Co. and built a new dam, creating what was then known as Lake No. 2. At the time, Cedar Ponds Brook (Tiorati Brook) was a source of water for the Town of Haverstraw. In 1921, after Haverstraw built a filtration plant on the brook, the Park began to move its youth camps from Hessian Lake to the Cedar Ponds area (PIPC Annual Report, 1/31/22). 

When asked about names, the American Scenic and Historic Preervation Society favorited "Cedar Lake" as the name for Lake No. 2. Nevertheless, Major Welch's Mohegan name TIORATEE, meaning "blue like the sky," was adopted by the Commissioners.

During 1915, a large double cabin was built at Cedar Ponds to house the Park engineer, forester and laborers. This cabin was made available to Trail Conference volunteers on November 27-28, 1920, when they were building the Ramapo-Dunderberg Trail. On January 1, 1923, the cabin was rented to the New York Section of the Green Mountain Club, which had been formed in 1915. They named their camp "THENDARA," said to mean "Mountain of the Gods." Camp Thendara is still used by this group, now known as the Thendara Mountain Club.

In 1922, another camp was built for the New York Life Insurance No. on a knoll on the west side of the lake. The company contributed $25,000 for the construction of their Camp NYLIC. In 1932, they gave it up, and it became Camp TERA for unemployed woman (Temporary Emergency Relief Administration), sponsored by Eleanor Roosevelt. During 1936-37, the National Youth Administration used the camp; from 1938 to 1944 it was used by the Metropolitan Jewish Center. It was then demolished.

In 1935, the beach and a refreshment stand were built near Tiorati Circle. At present, Lake Tiorati is extensively used for group camping and public recreation.

It was 80 degrees with rolling clouds and a nice breeze, really a beautiful day. The Lake Tiorati Trail climbed a bit steeply but soon leveled out at a road grade. Eventually, the trail splits, and it was unclear which direction was correct. I went left, which looked more traveled, which turned out to be wrong (oops), but they both linked up with the Ramapo-Dunderberg/Appalachian Trail. This spur led to two water towers, one new and one spooky and old.

I had the heartbreaking experience of watching a bird with a broken wing try to fly away from me with little success :(. I wanted to try and help it at least stand up, but it hobble-flew away into the bushes. Honestly hearbreaking. ANYWAY. I followed the Ramapo-Dunderberg/Appalchian Trail to Arden Valley Road and then followed that down to where the Long Path crosses. The road was quiet with only a few annoying gnats.

The road has a sharp turn and then the Long Path crosses - I turned left onto the Long Path. The trail descended slightly I was NERVOUS it would be horribly buggy, but to my delight it never got too bad. The footing on this area of trail was flat and rocky. I passed a couple enthusiastically taking a photo of a toad, which was cute.

Care needed to be taken in a muddy spot, not becuase of the mud, but because there was virtually no footbed to follow. I did end up putting some bug spray in my hair to hopefully deter the gnats while down here. The Long Path crossed a series of mystery pipes, entered a thorny area, and slowly began to climb a little bit. I remembered to put ice in my water bladder for this hike and it was LOVELY. 

The trail began to get grassier and grassier as I ascended, and a gnat made its way into my eye - fun! I had a heck of a time getting it out, and my eye was watering for truly the entirety of the rest of the hike. The grassiness was a bummer on my ankles, which hate being tickled, but it was beautiful!

The Long Path skirted a meadow and then crossed its two-pronged outflow easily. A footbed was a little confusing to follow, but thankfully it was well-blazed. The trail crossed an unblazed woods road and then began to climb up to the unmaintained Cohassett shelter in the grassiest area yet.

The shelter was neat and different - a long wood structure with a metal roof. There was a painting inside and a sign that said "Owlsville."

Just above the shelter there was a partial view toward a lake, and then the trail continued meandering through the open woods and endless grasslands. After reaching a height-of-land, the trail descended, grassily (is that a word?), and skirted around another meadow in a very claustrophobic area of trail. 

Following the meadow, the trail ascended again and somehow got grassier - thank goodness it was at least pretty! The grass was almost waist high at the next height of land. From here, the trail steeply descended away from the grass to a really nice trail sign at the junction with the Appalachian Trail - only 1.5 miles to the Fingerboard Shelter!

The Appalachian Trail stays in this delightful sag before ascending up the same landmass the Long Path just descended after crossing a stagnant brook. There was a steady incline up to the next height of land, and this bit of trail appears to be a reroute after last summer's torrential storm - it was nice! I was soon back in the grasslands, but the footbed was actually present. Still very beautiful!

The trail descends to rejoin the old route momentarily before continuing on a reroute that has been expertly crafted with stonework. I also encountered some flying bug I've never seen before. About 1-1.5 square inches, loud, slow moving/hovering, and its abdomen hung low while the wings flapped. Not sure!

Continuing on, I wrote down "interesting rock piles that must be from aliens," which I now know is the site of the Greenwood Mine.

"Greenwood Mine" from Harriman Trails, 4th Ed. (2018)

The Greenwood Mine is located where the Appalachian Trail (white) comes down from Fingerboard Mountain and runs along teh Surebridge Mine Road. There area extensive dumps of broken stone and a large opening in the hillside. Remains of the foundation of a pumphouse can be seen near the shaft, as well as a piece of large pipe. A second pit may be seen a bit higher on the hillside.

Also called the Patterson Mine, the Greenwood Mine was worked as early as 1838, a year after Peter Parrott bought the furnace at Echo Lake (the Greenwood Furnace). The ore was used during the Civil War in both the Greenwood and Clove furnaces. Unused from 1870 to 1879, the mine was last worked in 1880.

Now officially back on the old route, the Apppalachian Trail begins to climb more steeply, first via switchbacks, then just steadily. Thankfully the breeze was back, though! After some more climbing, we were officially out of the grasslands and back in the berrylands with EXCELLENT blueberries!

Soon enough, the Ramapo-Dunderberg joins the Appalachian Trail on a beautiful open slab. Very soon after, the Fingerboard Shelter is a short walk down the blue Hurst trail, which was a little grassy but clear to follow. It was set up similarly to the Bald Rocks shelter with an extensive bear hang area. Someone was there, so I didn't stick around after taking my photo.

Back on the Ramapo-Dunderberg/Appalachian Trail, I enjoyed the slow, gradual descent back toward the water towers. There was many almost views towards the Hudson Valley through the trees and many blueberry fields. I did see the LARGEST beetle I've ever seen, and I'm pretty sure something hissed at me from a bush, but besides that it was pretty relaxing! 

My legs were starting to feel tired, I passed some bear poop, but soon enough I was back at the water towers and heading toward to Lake Tiorati! I could hear people enjoying their day and the delicious smell of barbeque began to fill the air. Five shelters down!

A note from the future... That bug that flew into my eye early into the hike? Apparently, it never actually came out. Not until HOURS later in a Walmart parking lot when I was rubbing my eye like my life depended on it...

Step-By-Step

- Park at Lake Tiorati parking area ($10).

- Start hike on Lake Tiorati Trail (blue), heading uphill.

- At confusing split, follow left fork to water towers.

- At terminus, turn right onto Appalachian Trail/Ramapo-Dunderberg Trail (white & red dot/white rectangle).

- At road, turn left onto Arden Valley Road.

- At Long Path crossing, turn left onto Long Path (teal).

- Follow side path to Cohasset Shelter, continue along Long Path (teal).

- At jct. with Appalachian Trail, turn left onto Appalachian Trail (white).

- At jct. with Ramapo-Dunderberg Trail, turn left where trails coincide.

- At jct. with Hurst Trail (blue), follow briefly downhill to Fingerboard Shelter, then turn around.

- Continue on Appalachian Trail/Ramapo-Dunderberg Trail.

- At water towers, continue a but further.

- At Lake Tiorati Trail trailhead (marked), turn left onto Lake Tiorati Trail (blue).

- Return to car.

"Long Path" from Harriman Trails, 4th Ed. (2018)

[...]. At 12.75 miles, the Appalachian Trail crosses. Winding now through groves of maple and hemlock, LP climbs the eastern side of Echo Mountain. At 13.6 miles, there is a view of Upper Lake Cohasset, and just below is a shelter that was built in 1937 for the girls' camps on the lake. From here, LP goes down to Surebridge Mine Road and joins a woods road that goes northeast around the end of a swamp. This road is part of the abandoned section of the Hurst Trail (see p. 49). A bushwhack left uphill away from the swamp will take you to Paradise Rock on the summit - a beautiful spot for lunch.

        At 13.9 miles, the old Hurst Trail goes right. LP continues northeast along the western edge of Fingerboard Mountain to Arden Valley Road, which it reaches at 14.9 miles. LP crosses the road and follows a woods road to the north. [...].

"Appalachian Trail" from Harriman Trails, 4th Ed. (2018)

[...]. Proceeding now along the ridge of Fingerboard Mountain, AT/R-D passes a telephone line and two water tanks. The concrete water tank on the left was built in 1927 to supply water to the facilities at Lake Tiorati and the camps at Lake Cohasset. It was replaced in 2006 by the green circular tank on the right. At 14.55 miles, half a mile from Arden Valley Road, the trail passes a stone fireplace. Here was the beginning of the Fingerboard-Storm King Trail (FB-SK), which was blazed north to Storm King Mountain in 1922 by J. Ashton Allis and Raymond H. Torrey.

        At 15.15 miles, the Hurst Trail (blue) begins on the left. It passes the Fingerboard Shelter (built in 1928) and goes down to the Seven Lakes Drive. In another 500 feet, R-D continues straight ahead, while the AT turns right and begins to descend towards Surebridge Mine Road. The last part of the descent follows a relocation built by the Long Distance Trails Crew in 2016.

        The AT turns sharply left onto Surebridge Mine Road at 15.9 miles, passing the shafts of the Greenwood Mine on the left. During the Civil War, the ore from this mine was brought to the Greenwood Furnace at Arden. In 500 feet, the AT turns right, crosses Surebridge Brook and climbs the 1,240-foot Surebridge Mountain. It then goes down to cross a brook. At 16.75 miles, the Long Path (aqua) crosses. [...].

Map of Harriman State Park (2023)
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