Preparing for a 2 Day Trip to Bear Mountain

Last Updated on April 7, 2024 by Adam Watts

Good news everyone! We’re venturing out, out of our apartment, out of our neighborhood, out of New York City even. We’re planning a 2 day trip to Bear Mountain.

It’s been more than three months now since I’ve even left a few square mile radius around our apartment in Queens. But it’s my better half’s birthday at the end of the month, so what better time to abandon all pandemic precautions and go on a massive celebratory bender?? 🥂🍾🥂🍾

I kid, I kid.

We’ll be a good boy and a good girl and wear our masks whenever we’re outside and avoid people as best as we can. Which isn’t hard. People are the worst.

Our plan for the final weekend of June is to first venture into Manhattan to see Central Park. Thinking about that feels like being a pair of survivors after a nuclear war venturing back out to see what remains of society. Thankfully (or regretfully, if you really hate people), this pandemic hasn’t quite wiped out all of humanity.

Then the next day we’ll rent a car and drive out to Long Island to hang out with a friend who abandoned the city at the first sign of trouble. I’m definitely not jealous or anything, but I will say that they have a garden.

Then it’s a 2 day trip to Bear Mountain, which is what this post is about. Sorry for making you read all that other random stuff first.

We’ve been quite attached to Bear Mountain since we visited in the fall of 2016 as a day trip. We’ll be staying at the Bear Mountain Inn and Overlook Lodge, which, among other highlights, is only seven miles from the United States Military Academy at West Point. Only seven miles! From the Military Academy! Wow! What a treat!

The real highlights though are the hiking trails, Hessian Lake, the outdoor pool, the cute little zoo, and not forgetting the fresh air, so hard to come by in the city.

It’s taken us four years to finally plan this 2 day trip to Bear Mountain, even though it’s less than an hour’s drive north of New York City. But hey, better late than never, right?

The elephant in the room with all this is the C word. It’s the main thing anyone has been talking about in terms of anything really, but especially recently. So we’ll report back on the availability of Croissants.

No, but seriously, Coronavirus is a thing. The 19th COVID. We’re taking as many precautions as is reasonable to stay safe: masks, hand-washing, going to a place where it should in theory be social-distancing-friendly.

We considered taking a bus to Bear Mountain but then we remembered that buses are virus-infected hives of disgusting-ness at the best of times. (Although I do generally really, really love bus rides; the longer the better.)

We’re also staying there Sunday and Monday night, so that fact, plus the lack of other travelers because of the pandemic, means we’re supposing it’ll be a very people-free few days. But how do we know if literally everyone and their dog’s best friend is also supposing the same thing?

So, friends, that’s the plan for our 2 day trip to Bear Mountain.

Please wish us luck, and if anyone has been traveling recently and has any advice on how to stay safe, please let us know!

For more info about Bear Mountain, read this post.

For more COVID-related travel posts, have a gander at this tongue-in-cheek about traveling while quarantined.