Harriman State Park is a wonderful place, full of history and natural beauty. Some of Harriman Park's treasures must be hiked into, others can be reached by car or by easier trails and woods roads. Silvermine Lake and vicinity are on Seven Lakes Drive in Harriman State Park. Silvermine has a myth behind it - while there are truly many historic iron mines in the park, as well as an old mica mine and an old nickel mine, Silvermine was reputed to be the site of an actual Silver mine. However,...
more »Harriman State Park is a wonderful place, full of history and natural beauty. Some of Harriman Park's treasures must be hiked into, others can be reached by car or by easier trails and woods roads. Silvermine Lake and vicinity are on Seven Lakes Drive in Harriman State Park. Silvermine has a myth behind it - while there are truly many historic iron mines in the park, as well as an old mica mine and an old nickel mine, Silvermine was reputed to be the site of an actual Silver mine. However, all that has ever been found in this area is a smallish iron mine, just like others in the park. Silver mine was also the site of a ski slope. The lake, like most of the others in the park, was formed by a dam. There are many CCC buildings in the area, as well as trails, woods roads and picnic areas. This is still the woods though, and proper safety precautions are always required. Once in this area I saw a snake that may turn out to have been a coperhead, which is one of the two venomous snakes that live in some locations in the park. Unfortunately, ticks, and the Lyme disease they carry are also in the area, and bears are now here as well. Of course the usual fox, coyote, etc., are also here too. With proper woods safety taken care of, I love spending time in Harriman, photographing, walking, geocaching. Here are some photos from Silvermine and vicinity. These photos focus on the plants and water features in the Silvermine area, plus a little bit of the history too. Enjoy.
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