Tom Quinn is in his 31st year as a geometry and calculus teacher at Northern Valley/Old Tappan High School. He was the Golden Knights’ girls soccer coach for 23 years, has been the boys golf coach for 12 seasons and is now back on the sidelines as the JV girls soccer coach. He took his first steps on the Appalachian Trail on January 1, 2019.

Quinn has logged a lot of miles since. He has walked the entire New Jersey, New York, Connecticut sections of the AT and is now about halfway through Massachusettes & Pennsylvanis. He shares some of his experiences, tips and tricks in our semi-regular Down The Trail feature.

Some amazing views from the Storm King loop up near the Bear Mountain Bridge.

There are plenty of places to hike in the NY area.  I have written about the Appalachian Trail many times, but I have been to other places too.  One area that continually draws me back are the mountains near the Bear Mountain Bridge.  I am glad that I found yet another hike to share; Storm King Mountain and the Storm King Loop, which is about 8-10 miles north of the Bear Mt. Bridge, right along Route 9W.

Getting to the parking lot itself is a treat, as the final climb up and down 9W North rewards the driver (and passengers) with tremendous views of the Hudson Valley to the right.  Be careful; however, as the parking lot to the right sneaks up on you and missing the parking lot probably means a 15-20 minute detour to get back to the same spot.  Keep your eyes on the road here!

The hike itself is awesome; the correct flow of the hike is the orange trail, blue/yellow trail, white trail (clockwise direction). You can start and end right at the parking lot, but make sure you are stretched out and ready to go immediately because the beginning is the best, and toughest part.

Walk to the left side of the parking lot and look for the start of the orange trail.  After a couple of minutes, the climb begins up Butter Hill.  There are quick ascents, and a couple of flat parts, with a bonus of some rock scrambling and open views as you ascend.  Right out of the gate you are getting some fantastic views.  As the hike continues, the ascents become even harder and the views as you climb even better.  Some parts of this ascent I would rank pretty tough in comparison to other climbs I have done.  After a solid 40-45 minutes, you eventually reach the top of Butter Hill (1375 feet elevation, though most of the elevation was done prior by your car).  A great heart-pumper to the start of your hike!  Yes, the mountain you see right in front of you upon parking is the one you will eventually climb!

Some amazing views from the Storm King loop up near the Bear Mountain Bridge.

The rest of the hike is fairly normal.  The orange trail changes to the blue/yellow trail (there are names of these trails but I will stick to the colors).  The blue/yellow trail becomes a nice walk in the woods with occasional small ascents and descents and rock hopping.  After 25-30 minutes, you will get to another amazing viewpoint overlooking the Hudson River, Catskill mountains in the distance, and Hudson Valley below and to the right.  This is aptly called the Storm King Lookout.  After the initial climb, and a woods walk, this view just jumps out at you big time and was the view of the day.

The remainder of the hike continues in a clockwise direction as the blue/yellow trail becomes the white trail.  Take the white trail south back to the parking lot.  This trail has some cool minor ascents and descents, and edges along a rock wall for a little; however, it’s not a difficult trail at all.  Stay on the white trail here and after another 25-30 minutes, you will make it back to the parking lot.  There is one climb at the end of the white trail just for good measure.

Soup to nuts, this is a hike that will take you less than 2 hours.  It’s a quick hike that I will definitely do again.  There are other fantastic places to hike in this area.  On the other side of the river (East of the Hudson River), Bull Hill is a great hike I would recommend.  Also, google “Anthony’s Nose” for yet another awesome place to hike around here.  

TO BUY A COLLECTOR'S PRINT OF THIS STORY PLEASE VISIT 4-FeetGrafix.com.