The New York herald., 1922-06-04

largest lighthouses in the country.
capable Of accommodating 1000 per-
sons. The stone for the bathhouse
at Hazards Beach was quarried from
the base Of the cliffs, the posts were
taken from Hartman Park and the
lumber from the commissions saw
mills. A five hundred foot artificial
beach was built here under the direc-
tion of the commission. This is the
nearest of the larger recreation CEN
ters to New York city, being easily
reached by the 15Sth street ferry.
The Englewood Basin, one Of the
largest belonging to the park is just
north of the Dyckman street ferry slip
on the west side Of the river. There
are roomy pavilions at the ends Of the
basin. A short distance north is
Boomers Beach and still further along
the shore is Undercliff Beach. The
canoe beach stretches above this point.
Next in point Of recreation interest
is Huyler's Beach and beyond is the
Alpine Basin with Alpine Beach to
the north and both close to the
Yonkers ferry slip. Continuing north
ward one comes to the camp sections
and Forestview playground and ad-
joining basin. All of these points Of
interest are in New Jersey.
A Break mt the Nyacks.
Then the park bends inland to
Sparkill and Orangeburg, from which
point one reaches Blauvelt, where
there is q large reservation. The three
Nyacks, South Nyack, Nyack and Up
per Nyack, make a break in the con-
tinuing system at this point, after
which one reaches Hook Mountain.
The Commissioners now own the en-
tire face of this landmark. which ex-
tends a distance Of about five miles
along the Hudson River between
Nyack and Haverstraw.
At present the automobile road
diverges at Nyack, going inland, and
it is the hope Of the Commissioners
some day to have funds at their dis
posal with which to purchase lands
and continue uninterruptedly the Hud-
son River drive along the shore here.
1t took six years to complete the pur-
chase Of the land and quarries Of Hook
Mountain. The purchase price Of the
last quarries taken over by the Com
missioners was about 100000. This
portion. Of the park Is half way be-
tween New York city and Bear Noun
tain Park. Hook Mountain overlooks
Rockland, Conger and Swartwout
lakes.
From this point the property ex-
tends along the river to Snedecker's
Landing. Here the park system Is in
terrupted by the Haverstraws, Stony
Point, which is separate park, and
Tomkins Cove. Then comes the largest
unit of the park system, which is
Bear Mountain Park. the gift of Mrs.
Hartman. Since she presented the
s., 100000 fund and 10000 acres OF
forest land they have acquired some
10000 additional acres. which have
helped to- round out Hartman Park.
or Bear Mountain Park, as 1t Is more
generally called. Some of this acre.
age was detached land which has been
connected with the park system.
One Of the first developments OF
Bear Mountain Park was the con-
struction Of a dock projecting into
the river and affording facilities at all
tides for the accommodation of large
river steamboats,. Next came the
construction Of the park playground,
a level field seventeen acres in extent.
now sodded and laid out in baseball
diamonds, tennis courts. running
track, football field, a 220 yard
straightaway cinder path, a broad
jump takeoff and landing pit and an
open space for novelty races.
The north and south entrances to
the park were then built and the inn
was erected. This provides three
types of restaurant service. The most
expensive is called the park dining
room, where one receives additional
service for the additional price. The
next is slightly cheaper and offers
practically the same food, but with
less service, and the third is a cafe
terra Those who bring their own
lunch baskets are provided with all
the essentials for enjoying a meal
comfortably in the open air in an ad-
jacent grove.
Hot Meals Sent to Campers.
Major ]. A. Welsh, an ingenious
engineer, added new lakes to the
mountain and forest reserve. One is
on the north side Of Bear Mountain
Inn. Free boating Is provided. AT
Hessian Lake water enthusiasts may
take rowboat for half an hour. pay
ing deposit Of 25 cents. If the boat
is returned within the half hour the
money is refunded. If it Is kept out
longer the deposit is forfeited as a
fine. The fines go toward the cost OF
operating the service.
There Is dancing free of charge in
the open pavilion on the lake shore
and there are sightseeing buses.
maintained by the commission, which
make daily scenic mountain trips into
the interior Of the park, which
stretches seventeen miles westward
toward the Ramapo Mountains. These
trips are from ten to thirty miles and
the cost ranges from SO cents to $3.50.
Mr.. Perkins considered Bear Noun
tain Park the greatest camp park IN
the world. The food problem has ap-
parently been solved by the commits
sion. Hot meals are delivered to any
camp in the park. The food, which Is
cooked at the inn, is placed In heat
retaining receptacles and delivered to
the various and sometimes well scat
tered camps at a reasonable price by
the week. In one summer more than
10000 such meals were distributed
by the park automobile service.
Because the majority of the camp