3.0 miles | 705 ft gain | Difficulty: Moderate | Rating ★★★★★

Anthony’s Nose is a Hudson Valley classic hike, yet somehow it’s taken us this long to finally experience it for ourselves. Part of it is the crowds. Classic hike = well known = all the people. So while we’ve considered it on weekends, driving past the LOOOONG stretch of cars on Route 9D at the trail head usually deters us. However, a Friday drive up to the Catskills with no where to be until sundown gave us the perfect opportunity.

Technically, Anthony’s Nose isn’t on the Appalachian Trail. It starts on the AT, after you’ve walked across the Bear Mountain Bridge, up Route 9D and turned back into the woods. However, with it only being a half mile out of the way, why wouldn’t you want to climb up to a vantage point, showcasing the splendor of the Hudson Valley, as well as Bear Mountain and the bridge, where you just came from on the west side of the Hudson.

From the road, the trail climbs moderately steeply up the AT for .8 miles, gaining about 550 feet. When the AT bears left and the trail to Anthony’s Nose heads right, you’ve already done most of your climbing. There’s a short 100 ft or so gain up a wide carriage-like trail, then mostly flat until you hit the summit.

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Not only are the views from the summit amazing, but there’s room to spare. When we arrived, we saw a couple of people ahead of us, but it was only after we took some photos (including the perfectly timed freight train!) that we noticed several other groups off to the side occupying the summit. In total there must have been 10-12 people on the small stretch of rock, but somehow it never felt crowded.

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