4.35 miles | 213 ft gain | Difficulty: Easy | Rating ★★★★ With a Friday off, I planned to attempt my first solo hike. But a couple of things changed my mind. I'm a bit clumsy so the idea of being in the woods, alone, and spraining my ankle or worse didn't really appeal. Plus for the first time in 15 months, I wanted to be with all the people. A wild, yet urban stroll through Prospect Park seemed to fit the bill.
Spring
Hike 19: Clarence Fahnestock State Park
7.0 miles | 591 ft gain | Difficulty: Easy | Rating ★★★★★ Fahnestock is a beautiful, surprisingly quiet park. We had only been there once a few years back. It was a holiday weekend and we didn't see anyone in our 10-mile journey. Up by Cold Spring, New York, the Appalachian trail runs the length of the park. When my boss insisted we had a two week window to see the mountain laurel blooms, we knew we had to go.
Hike 18: Plateau Mountain
6.0 miles | 1,998 ft gain | Difficulty: Difficult | Rating ★★★★ 2000 foot gain didn't seem that bad over 6 miles. Until we realized the gain was all in that first mile. Aptly called Plateau, the mountain steeply climbed but then leveled out to a plateau, the wooded summit being less than spectacular. So why five stars? Well...sometimes it's not all about the destination.
Hike 17: Teatown – Kitchawan Trail
3 miles | 400 ft gain | Difficulty: Easy | Rating ★★★ We've adopted! We're already members of the New York New Jersey Trail Conference, but considering how much we depend on them for great trails, maps and resources, we wanted to give back a little more. So, after training and volunteer orientation, we have adopted the Teatown-Kitchawan Trail, affectionately called the TKT.
Hike 16: Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge
3.7 miles | 62 ft gain | Difficulty: Easy | Rating ★★★★ It was a lazy weekend and we wanted to stay close to home. The idea of driving an hour or so up to the Hudson Valley, again, felt daunting. Little did we know that the 19 mile drive to Queens would still take us nearly as long, thanks to horrendous traffic. But with the temperatures in the 70s on the first day of May, it felt like a good time to head to the beach.
Hike 15: Bear Mountain
4.4 miles | 1,165 ft gain | Difficulty: Moderate | Rating ★★★★ Bear Mountain. THE New York City hike. And we felt like we were there, right along side every one of them, especially on the way down. Somehow in my 14 years as a New Yorker, and nearly 2 decades of living next door in New Jersey, I never visited Bear Mountain. Not for a hike, not for the carousel or zoo, not even for the annual Oktoberfest.
Hike 14: Vernooy Falls
3.7 miles | 659 ft gain | Difficulty: Easy | Rating ★★★★ I have trouble understanding where the Hudson Valley ends and the Catskills begin. Staying in New Paltz for the weekend, we wanted to get in one last waterfall before heading home. We decided to head to Vernooy Falls, a moderately easy hike recommended in one of my hiking groups. Just 15 miles away but apparently we were now in the Catskills.
Hike 13: Bonticou Crag
4.7 miles | 925 ft gain | Difficulty: Medium (Hard w/ Scramble) | Rating ★★★★ As a kid, I visited Mohonk Mountain House at least once a year, just for a day trip. We'd wander around the grounds, paddle the lake and scramble up the Lemon Squeeze to Sky Top Tower. In fact, it's after a scramble up the Labyrinth to the tower (I remember it being much easier as a small child!), that Sean proposed to me nearly 12 years ago.
Hike 12: Rainbow Falls (Minnewaska)
7.2 miles | 858 ft gain | Difficulty: Medium | Rating ★★★★ Spring brings high water and mud. While hiking might be a bit dirtier than other times of the year, it is the perfect time for chasing waterfalls. We took a few days up in the Hudson Valley to do just that. Rainbow Falls in Minnewaska State Park, not to be confused with Rainbow Falls in the High Peaks region, feeds into Peter Kill. While the falls can be dry in the summer, snow melt and saturated land allows for a brilliant cascade.
Hike 11: Dennings Point
5.3 miles | 150 ft gain | Difficulty: Easy | Rating ★★★ The plan was to hike Mount Beacon, through the casino ruins and up to the fire tower. We got as far as the top of the metal steps and I couldn't shake the growing shin pain in my right leg. Was it from yesterday's run? I'm not sure. But what was clear was that hiking such a steep climb, starting from a place of pain, was probably not a good idea. Beacon will have to wait.
Hike 10: Wawayanda State Park
7.8 miles | 1,309 ft gain | Difficulty: Medium | Rating ★★★★★ It was nearly a virgin trail. Last October the New York New Jersey Trail conference reblazed the blue trail, making it a full loop around Terrace Pond. Previously, you would have to take the blue to the yellow to the white...there was some red it there...and even still, not a full loop. This new trail was gorgeous and provided a variety of woods, water crossings and wide carriage like meadow paths, pretty much everything you can ask for in a single trail.
Fifty-Two Hikes 