5.6 miles | 656 ft gain | Difficulty: Medium | Rating ★★★★ A couple of weeks back, we skipped out on the city for a much needed r&r weekend. Staying only 20 minutes from Minnewaska State Park, I knew we needed to visit Gertrude's Nose, one of my favorite hikes in the area. Unfortunately, due to a late start, the daylight hours were weening and we needed to find an express route to the lookout.
Fall
Hike 49: Hemlock Falls
7.2 miles | 820 ft gain | Difficulty: Easy | Rating ★★★★ I have mixed feelings about the cooler temperatures. On one hand, the crispness is perfect hiking weather. I love being bundled and even more importantly, not sweating. But on the other hand, the muted colors of grey dampen otherwise spectacular views. Not wanting to journey too far last weekend, we decided to explore Hemlock Falls in South Meadow Reservation. The falls were nice, but the discovery of a fairy village made the hike all the more worth it.
Hike 48: Giant Stairs
4.4 miles | 764 ft gain | Difficulty: Moderate | Rating ★★★★ When I see hikes ranked difficult, it usually means one of two things. It's often way harder than I expect, or sometimes, way easier. Of course, there's a different in difficulty depending where you are. Mount Beacon hard isn't quite the same as Plateau Mountain hard. The giant stairs was rated hard and with a rock scramble along the shoreline, I was a bit hesitant. However, end ended up being much easier than expected. Long, but straight forward.
Hike 47: Mount Beacon Fire Tower
4.5 miles | 1,394 ft gain | Difficulty: Moderate | Rating ★★★★ We squeezed in the last of the Hudson Valley's foliage colors last weekend hiking Mount Beacon. The colors were a bit muted due to the grey skies, but still a fantastic day for a hike. Beacon is a mountain I love being on top of but hate to climb. The first mile is grueling - 1000 feet in a mile via stairs and steep, uninteresting switchbacks. The second mile, much less demanding as you wander along the ridge to the fire tower.
Hike 46: Letchworth State Park
4.6 miles | 892 ft gain | Difficulty: Easy | Rating ★★★★★ Letchworth State Park. The Grand Canyon of the east. And apparently USA Today's top state park in the United States. The Genesee River runs straight through the park, with waterfalls as high as 600 feet in some places. It's not prime for challenging hikes, but accessibly and effort bang for your buck, it's way up there.
Hike 45: Taughannock Falls
2.5 miles | 217 ft gain | Difficulty: Easy | Rating ★★★★★ On our way up to the Finger Lakes for a long weekend, we stopped at Taughannock Falls. At 400 feet in height, Taughannock falls is more than double the height of Niagara Falls, though not nearly as wide. Best of all, the hike is relatively accessible for all skill levels and just 20 minutes north of Ithaca.
Hike 44: Old Croton Aqueduct Part 3
6.5 miles | 328 ft gain | Difficulty: Easy | Rating ★★★★ The Old Croton Aqueduct trail traces the waterway from Croton Dam to Bryant Park, and provided clean water to New York City in the 1800s. In 2019, we finished our 3-part hike of the Westchester trail and earlier this year, we opted to start the remaining ~15 miles of the urban trail, from Bryant Park to Yonkers.
Hike 43: Pyramid Mountain and Tripod Rock
3.8 miles | ~600 ft gain | Difficulty: Easy | Rating ★★★ Last weekend was a perfect fall day. A little crisp but not the kind of chill you feel in your bones. Back from the Catskills, we were excited for the local foliage, but unfortunately that was still to come. Instead, we headed out to New Jersey, to Pyramid Mountain National Historical Area in Montville for a gentle forest walk with a few views.
Hike 42: Vanderbilt Mansion
3.0 miles | 223 ft gain | Difficulty: Easy | Rating ★★★ On our way home from the long weekend, we decided to stop for one final hike - a stroll along the Vanderbilt Mansion grounds. Just across the Hudson River, and a bit south, is Hyde Park - home to the Roosevelt Presidential Library, CIA and Vanderbilt Mansion. The grounds are beautiful, overlooking the Hudson River, with the Catskills in full view.
Hike 41: Windham High Peak
6.7 miles | 1,476 ft gain | Difficulty: Moderate | Rating ★★★ With only a few days left of our trip, we wanted to conquer one more peak. Unfortunately, we left some of our navigation tools back in Brooklyn, so a trail-less peak did not seem wise. And with the weather being a bit iffy, we opted for a shorter, less challenging hike, so as not to get stuck in a (rain) cloud. Windham was a bit of a drive from our place in Woodstock, but seemed to meet every other requirement.
Hike 40: Diamond Notch Falls
2.0 miles | 226 ft gain | Difficulty: Easy | Rating ★★★★ After conquering Twin and Indian Head, we needed a recovery hike. And who can turn down a waterfall. Diamond Notch Falls were a bit of a drive, but I've found (as with the Adirondacks), it's sometimes challenging to find a scenic hike in the Catskills, unless you're willing to put in the work. Many hikes are under .5 miles, a "look at the thing on the side of the road" hike, or "moderate" 1,000 ft climbs. Diamond Notch Falls offered a moderate distance and relatively flat trail.
Hike 39: Twin Mountain and Indian Head
9.0 miles | 2,198 ft gain | Difficulty: Moderate | Rating ★★★★ Heading up to the Catskills for the long weekend, we had worried we made a mistake. We first debated going up to the Adirondacks, but we have another road trip coming up and wasn't up for two 5+ hour drives so close to each other. So we settled for the Catskills. The weather promised clouds, lots of them, and the photos I've seen this past week were still quite green. Luckily, the foliage sped up just for our arrival.
Hike 38: Anthony’s Nose
3.0 miles | 705 ft gain | Difficulty: Moderate | Rating ★★★★★ It's 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.
Hike 37: Pochuck Valley via Appalachian Trail
4.8 miles | 302 ft gain | Difficulty: Easy | Rating ★★★★ We went apple picking last weekend in the far corner of New Jersey, a stones throw across the border from Warwick, New York. The orchards at Pochuck Valley Farm, were a hike of their own. With acres of land and nearly 2,000 trees, you could always find your own corner of solitude. It was a bonus when we learned the AT was right down the street, including the Stairway to Heaven, a hike that's been on our list for some time now.
Hike 36: Anthony Wayne Recreation Area
5.4 miles | 909 ft gain | Difficulty: Easy | Rating ★★★ It's FALL! No other season even comes close. And it's not just because it's my birthday season. Crisp evenings, chilly mornings, ideal hiking weather, apples, cider, fire colors, leaf peeps, Halloween, oh my! What's not to love?! While we didn't get to actually hike on the first day of fall, it's first Saturday brought ideal conditions.
Fifty-Two Hikes 