Delaware County High Point Trip Report
Bearpen Mountain
Date: July 2000
Author: David Galvin
I had climbed Bearpen three times before this but had never bothered to walk the three quarters of a mile
from the true summit (which is in Greene County) to the Delaware County high point. After my climb of
Huntersfield, I climbed Bearpen with the express purpose of finally reaching this high point on the
northwestern ridge of that mountain. This is the same false summit that is marked on the USGS quad
with the mountain's name. The logical way to get to this point is from Ski Run Road to the northwest, as
Dan Case describes in his trip report. I went via Mountain Road on the southeast. I justified this by
telling myself that I really wanted to climb the whole mountain and check directions. The real reason,
though, was that I knew this route and I didn't want to figure out a new one.
To get to the Mountain Road you can get on Greene County Rt. 2 either from just north of Prattesville on
Rt. 23, or by crossing the bridge north of Lexington next to the snack shop on Rt. 23A. The turn for the
Mountain Road is about two miles from Rt. 23A when coming from the south, and about 4 miles past Ski
Run Road when coming from the north. Ski Run Road, which is the route Dan Case describes for this
high point, now has a sign. Mountain Road does not. When you reach a three way intersection and note
that the road heading roughly south almost immediately divides, you have found Mountain Road. Take
the left fork. The pavement ends after about a mile, and the road goes past a pond on your left and starts
to climb the Vly-Bearpen col. You can drive the mile to the col, but it will require four wheel drive and
lot of road clearance. Park your Miata where the pavement ends.
Take the road about a mile up to the col. You gain about 1000' of altitude, so it is a relatively steep climb.
In the col there is a hunter's shack finished tastefully in black building paper. Take the driveway past this
shack and generally west (magnetic) to a switchback. Climb the switchback and find a herd path marked
with a stone cairn above the switchback on your right. Follow this herd path over the summit (good
views) and past a muddy pond to the Delaware County line.
The damage on this mountain from ATVs and other off-road vehicles is extensive. I picked up one
recently chewed area after climbing the switchback. The ATVs had crushed down the ferns and briar in a
six foot wide swath from the switchback to the summit. This certainly eases the difficulties of
bushwhacking but does nothing for the aesthetics. A number of lesser trails have also been created,
apparently by riders motoring aimlessly around the landscape. Northwest of the summit, down on the
ridge, the old trails and woods roads have been widened to as much as thirty feet. Deep, muddy pools
created by the traffic have inspired riders to take bypasses around them, creating further damage. The
pond in the defile below the summit appears to be a magnet for the things. ATV trails encircle it and its
water is brown and turbid from the mud loosened along its banks.
The Delaware County high point is about a half mile beyond the pond, a short bushwhack east of the main
thoroughfare. The point nearest the high point is marked by a state forest sign on the road. The climb
from there is less than forty feet and the distance is perhaps a fifth of a mile. I could find no marker for
the actual spot, but I walked around in the waist deep ferns that covered the area and I think I hit the
actual high point at least once. Ironically, my little walk added to the human impact in the area. Worse,
some ATV rider might notice my trace in the foliage and take his machine up it to investigate.