Anthony's Nose, together with Dunderberg Mountain, comprises the South Gate of the Hudson Highlands. It forms a ridge running northeast and southwest, being separated from Canada Hill to the northeast by Copper Mine Brook and the "South Mountain Pass", and being bordered on the southwest by the Hudson. The Hudson makes a turn around the southwestern tip, so that the northwestern side also slopes down to salt marshes along the river. On the southeastern side are Mine Mountain and, across Broccy Creek, Manitou Mountain. Most of this land is part of Camp Smith, a New York National Guard reservation. US 6/202 crosses the Hudson on the Bear Mountain Bridge to the western tip of the mountain, where it meets NY 9D. 9D runs northeast along the northwestern flank of the mountain to Garrison, New York, while 202/6 runs southeast, hugging the cliffs, towards Peekskill. The main line of the New York Central Railroad, now Metro-North'sHudson Line, runs along the mountain and passes under the western tip and the Bear Mountain Bridge through a tunnel bearing the peak's name.
History
The peak has been known as Anthony's Nose since at least 1697, when the name appears on a grant patent. The eponymous Anthony may be St Anthony, as a rock formation called "Saint Anthony's Face" existed on Breakneck Ridge nearby before its destruction by quarrying. Pierre Van Cortlandt, who owned this mountain, said it was named for a pre-Revolutionary War sea captain, Anthony Hogan. This captain was reputed to have a Cyrano de Bergerac type nose. One of his mates, looking at this mount, as they sailed by it, compared it to that of the captain's nose. He said that they looked similar in size. This good-natured joke soon spread, and the name Anthony's Nose stuck to this peak. Washington Irving's History of New York, a satire, attributes the name to one Antony Van Corlear, who was the trumpeter on Henry Hudson's ship. Other traditions name Anthony de Hooges, a deacon of the Dutch Reformed Church and early settler of Rensselaerswyck, as the source of "Anthony's Nose" – supposedly after de Hooges' own prominent nose. One of the Hudson River Chains was stretched from Fort Montgomery to the foot of the mountain. The Bear Mountain Bridge was later constructed along approximately that alignment. An airway beacon was once located on the summit.
The Appalachian Trail crosses the Bear Mountain Bridge and follows 9D for a short distance before turning east and climbing the side of the mountain. It skirts the summit ridge, descends into the clove between Anthony's Nose and Mine Mountain, and from there into South Mountain Pass. The blue-blazed Camp Smith Trail leaves the AT southwestward just above the descent to 9D, and runs along the ridge to reach the summit. From there, it runs along the border of Camp Smith to reach parking along 202/6 on the south side of Manitou Mountain.
