At Dunderberg's immediate southern slope is the Hudson River, while to the southwest are outlying neighborhoods of Tomkins Cove, a community or segment of Stony Point.

But several summits lying still farther to the west and southwest are evidently part of the Dunderberg formation, or massif, as described by at least some editions of an influential area hiking guidebook.

Dunderberg was a landmark for British forces during the American Revolutionary War, as troops moved over a pass to the west of the mountain while marching to attack Forts Clinton and Montgomery in 1777.

[7][8] In a report to General William Howe several days after the Oct. 6, 1777 attack, the British commander Sir Henry Clinton wrote that at daybreak, 2,100 troops disembarked from vessels at Stony Point: The Avant Garde of 500 Regulars & 400 Provincials ... began its March to occupy the Pass of Thunder Hill; this Avant Garde after it had passed that Mountain, was to proceed by a detour of seven Miles round the Hill [Bear Mountain], and Debouchée in the Rear of Fort Montgomery, while General Vaughan, with 1200 Men was to continue his March towards Fort Clinton ... Major General Tryon with the Remainder, being the Rear Guard, to leave a Battalion at the Pass of Thunder Hill to open our Communication with the Fleet.

[9] Sir Henry's "Pass of Thunder Hill" apparently stood between what is now called Bald Mountain and the Timp, about a mile southwest of the westerly summit of Dunderberg.

The route was determined by Jack Mead of the Trailside Museum at Bear Mountain from British military records and maps drawn by Major Robert Erskine, Surveyor General of the Continental Army.

[10] Anthony Wayne, in his successful attack on Stony Point in 1779, used a route that entirely avoids the Dunderberg area, passing nearly two miles to the west of the Timp.

For the descent, the cars would be powered simply by gravity as the 12-mile (19 km) track wound its way back to the base of the mountain, like a roller coaster, affording scenic views of the Hudson and reaching speeds of up to 50 miles per hour (80 km/h).

Mumford, operated the former Mauch Chunk Railroad of similar design as a successful and well-known tourist attraction during the 1870s in what is now Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania.

[21] In 1890 Thomas Edison began to establish an iron mine by acquiring nearly 200 acres (0.81 km2) on the north slope of Dunderberg and the base of Bald Mountain.