As America marks its 250th anniversary, the America250 initiative calls us to honor the people whose foresight and dedication preserved the natural wonders we cherish today. At Bear Mountain, a proud member of the Adventures Unbound family, we are honoring Women’s History Month by celebrating two extraordinary women whose legacies are inseparable from the Hudson Highlands themselves.
The Women Who Saved a Mountain
The story of Bear Mountain State Park might look very different today were it not for Mary Averell Harriman. In 1910, when commercial development threatened to transform the Hudson Highlands beyond recognition, Harriman made a decision that changed everything, donating 10,000 acres of land and nearly $1 million to ensure the area would be protected for generations to come. It was an act of extraordinary generosity and vision, and every hiker, family, and visitor who has ever stood at the summit of Bear Mountain owes her a quiet debt of gratitude.
Long before the park existed, another woman was already writing herself into the valley’s history. Jane Colden grew up near Newburgh and devoted herself to studying the native flora of the Hudson Valley at a time when science was considered out of reach for women. Her work earned her recognition as Colonial America’s first female botanist, a remarkable distinction that endures nearly three centuries later. Today, a garden at the Trailside Museums and Zoo inside Bear Mountain State Park bears her name, a fitting tribute to a woman who saw this landscape with uncommon clarity and care.
Walk in Their Footsteps
This Women’s History Month, every trail you hike and every view you take in at Bear Mountain exists in part because of women who loved this land enough to protect and study it. We invite you to experience their legacy firsthand. To learn more about how we are celebrating the diverse stories woven into America’s national heritage, visit America250 at Adventures Unbound and explore the full history of Bear Mountain at Visit Bear Mountain.