Bear Mountain Major Welch is a 4.1 mile moderately trafficked out and back trail located near Bear Mountain, New York that features a lake and is rated as difficult. The trail is primarily used for hiking and nature trips and is accessible year-round. Dogs are also able to use this trail.
There is a fee of $10 per vehicle. Fees are collected on weekdays between 6/22-9/2. For the rest of the year, fees are only collected on the weekend. Empire Passholders can get in for free. This is a direct, rugged, alternate route up Bear Mountain which is the north side of the extended loop trail. It is an in-out challenging scramble. Crampons are essential after snowfall. Fantastic views of the Hudson River Valley, with the great enclosed Perkins lookout tower on top. Trailhead on west side of Hessian Lake, parking at mountain lodges lot.
April 14, 2021this is one of my favorites trails near me. it is a steady incline 95% of the time. Some parts you are going up rocks. Takes me about 45mins to go up. Total time out and back is 1 hr and 30 mins.
March 14, 2021March 14, 2021Windy! Very light snow made some rocks slippery. Beautiful weather and not overrun with people yet
March 14, 2021March 14, 2021Clearly marked, lots of fun, and great views throughout the hike. Snow/ice still in spots but not a ton so we were able to get around it. Started at 9am and the parking lot and trail was basically empty. Got back to the car at 11:30 and parking lot was packed.
March 13, 2021February 24, 2021Absolutely wonderful, but lots of packed snow and ice... footwear spikes are highly recommended.
January 16, 2021Great hike! The fog rolled in while at the top of Bear Mountain and gave it a mystical appearance. It was so much fun!
January 14, 2021One of my favorites
January 2, 2021
January 2, 2021Great hike. Very crowded in the fall. Don’t like how a few people played their music while they hiked the trailed Really rude
December 28, 2020November 28, 2020Just challenging enough
November 28, 2020This is a great hike, enough of a challenge to make it fun, without being overly difficult. Once you summit I recommend taking the easier way down, to cut down on congestion on the major Welch trail.
November 27, 2020This is one of the tough ones. Climbs are steep. PLEASE DONT BRING YOUR DOGS ON THIS HIKE. I saw so many exhausted dogs being dragged by their owners. Smh. We went early, parking lot was packed when we returned.
November 17, 2020November 8, 2020November 8, 2020November 8, 2020Easy to get lost and hard to find the major welch trail (It was at the top of the tower). We parked for free at the bottom of the Perkins Memorial because the parking lot at the tower was blocked off due to COVID. The trail markers were really difficult to look for from where we started. Overall, the hike was not too difficult just really steep since we went down from the top of the tower. The staircases to the tower was more tiring. There was also a lot of people on the hike especially after 12PM (warning: many people did not wear masks). If you want to miss the crowd and find parking easily, go hiking at 7-8am. Start from the inn parking lot (the one you pay $10 for) and you can go up the welch trail from there.
November 7, 2020November 7, 2020Crowded in the beginning on the ascent, cleared out after the lookout and tower. Enjoyable slow descent with pretty valley views
November 7, 2020Nice.
November 7, 2020Get out of here with your mask nonsense come on
October 26, 2020Beautiful trail but extremely crowded and 75% of those on the trails did not wear masks or even attempt to keep six feet of distance from others. Large number of inexperienced and unprepared hikers caused a long queue up Major Welch and we were trapped around hikers without masks and no distance. Lots of inexperienced hikers huffing and puffing in your face without masks. Views were incredible but not worth the risk and wish we would have known ahead of time how unsafe it would have been.
October 25, 2020October 24, 2020October 22, 2020
