Home ⎟ Hikes & Wanderings ⎟ New York ⎟Hudson Valley⎟ Harriman⎟Claudius Smith’s Den

Distance: 4.25 miles

Time: 2 hours

Difficulty: Moderate

Elevation Gain: 1000 feet

Driving Directions: From the northbound New York State Thruway, take exit 15A for NY-17/NY-59.  Turn LEFT onto NY-17 North and follow for 4.96 miles.  At East Village Road (just past Tuxedo’s Metro-North Station, turn RIGHT, cross the tracks and park in the State Park Parking area on your RIGHT (the first parking area you see is the train parking, but the State Park Lot is just beyond).

Hike Directions: Look for the RED BLAZED Ramapo-Dunderberg Trail along East Village Road and follow them away from NY-17, crossing the New York State Thruway underpass just a quarter mile past the parking area.  Follow the red blazes veering LEFT for a quarter mile beyond the Thruway, to then enter the woods on your RIGHT.  Staying with the red blazes, you’ll reach a fork in the road in 0.72 miles.  Turn LEFT in the fork and keep to the Ramapo-Dunderberg Trailfor another 0.71 miles.

At an intersection with the blue-blazed Victory Trail and blue-blazed disc trail, you’ll cross a stream over rocks and turn RIGHT to take the blue-blazed BLUE DISC Trail.  If the stream is too high, don’t cross; instead, just before the stream, while still on the red blazes, walk directly to your RIGHT with the stream in full view, and you’ll see the blue blazes coming in from the right and left.  Follow the BLUE-BLAZED Blue Disc Trail RIGHT for 0.63 miles to an open, rocky outcropping looking south and west over Harriman State Park and Tuxedo, NY.  At this point you’re standing directly above Claudius Smith’s Den.

Move to the LEFT as you keep to the blue blazes, descending now to the Den, an open cave under a large rocky overhang.  Turn RIGHT onto the RED-BLAZED Tuxedo-Mount Ivy Trail to continue around the cave. It could fit 20 people easily, and has proven to be perfect shelter in inclement weather.  Follow the red blazes for 0.32 miles, passing the cave and eventually turning LEFT on the RED-BLAZED Ramapo-Dunderberg Trail.  After 0.72 miles on the Ramapo-Dunderberg Trail, you’ll reach paved Grove Drive (the road on which you began).  Turn LEFT here to follow the red blazes over to the Thruway underpass. Keep RIGHT, crossing the underpass and arriving back at your car in a quarter of a mile.