page_title: Doodletown, New York
section_title: Hiking
hierarchical_section_title: Doodletown, New York / Hiking
caption_attribution_description: View of the bridle path that transects Doodletown, an abandoned town within Bear Mountain State Park, NY. Photo taken February 25, 2007 by Jim Harper (Pixel23).
context_page_description: Doodletown was an isolated hamlet in the Town of Stony Point, Rockland County, New York, United States. Purchased by the Palisades Interstate Park Commission during the 1960s, it is now part of Bear Mountain State Park and a popular destination for hikers, birdwatchers, botanists, and local historians. It is located north of Jones Point, west of Iona Island, and southeast of Orange County. The former settlement is now a ghost town.
  Members of the first family to settle in Doodletown during the 18th century, Huguenots whose last name was anglicized to "June", were also the very last to leave it in the 1960s.
context_section_description: Today, many foundations, walls, and staircases are still visible. The area is accessible by various trails and former roadways. The town's cemeteries contain graves ranging from centuries old to much more recent years, as former residents and their relatives can still choose to be buried there. Steel signage has recently been installed by the park service, listing which families owned each property and often showing photographs of former buildings. Orientation signs are located at intervals throughout the area.
  The simplest and most direct access for hikers is from a small parking area on Route 9W near Iona Island. From here one follows the Cornell Mine Trail to the 1777 East Trail, which runs directly into the heart of the area. Doodletown may also be approached from the south end of the parking lot at Bear Mountain Inn via an underpass beneath Seven Lakes Drive. Other approaches include from the Palisades Parkway side, taking the Fawn Trail to the Bridle Path, or from Jones Point and over Dunderberg Mountain, taking the Ramapo-Dunderberg trail to the Cornell Mine trail. One may also enter the area from the Long Mountain Parkway side, which is a more direct route to the 1777 West Trail or the Bridle Path. Hikers are urged to be wary of rattlesnakes, copperheads, black snakes and garters still prevalent in the area.
caption: View of the Bridle Path in the winter
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