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.
Hudson Valley
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 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 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 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 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 9: Butter Hill + Storm King Mountain
3.8 miles | 1,014 ft gain | Difficulty: Medium | Rating ★★★★★ "Bring spikes!" they all said. "Lot's of ice!" I trust my hiking community and arrived at the sunny, mostly dry trailhead prepared with our crampons, but couldn't figure out why. We tucked them into our backpack and started up the steep assent to Butter Hill, on our way to the top of Storm King mountain, with stunning view points along the way.
Hike 8: Newburgh-Beacon Bridge
4.2 miles | 352 ft gain | Difficulty: Easy | Rating ★★ The kinda hike. Last week I was super excited to hike Storm King. We arrived around 10am to a mostly empty parking lot. The weather was bright and sunny, with just the right amount of winter nip. As I prepared to put my spikes on, Sean shared the horrifying news - his boots were still in Brooklyn.
Hike 7: Bull Hill
5.7 miles | 1,391 ft gain | Difficulty: Moderate | Rating ★★★★ This was our first real climb we did this year. After almost a year of living mostly in a single floor apartment during the pandemic, climbing is HARD. Sure, when we're not hiking, I'm out walking or "running" (read: super-slow trot) but the reality is, my new normal is pretty flat. Running up or down flights of stairs to catch a train seems like a distance memory.
Fifty-Two Hikes 