A Hudson Highlands State Park Collection

Some walks I've done (and blogged about) in Hudson Highlands State Park, on the east side of the Hudson River across from Storm King.  It is one of the most accessible scenic hilly areas within easy striking distance of NYC by public transportation.  Distance between the train station to the trailhead ranges from "just across the street" (Breakneck), to 0.8 - 1 mile (Cold Spring), to 1.8 - 2.4 miles (Beacon; the longer route takes you down through downtown Beacon for your choice of restaurants after the walk).

Some trail map options:

• Trail Map 102 (East Hudson Trails, published by the NY-NJ Trail Conference)
• free full-color PDF map with mileage (from the NYS Parks website)
• free full-color PDF map (Friends of Fahnestock and Hudson Highlands State Parks)

Where available, I've provided my best guess as to total mileage including road-walking.   [Road mileage, in brackets, is from google maps.]  Total time, where provided, includes breaks for lunch, snacks, and photo shoots. My pace can vary a lot, depending on my fitness level, my companions, and the itchiness of my shutter finger.  My favorite walks (so far) are in bold below.


A.  Loops/Lollipops

1) Cold Spring (1.6 miles total road walking - Main St to Fair St & 9D [0.8 mi to trailhead])

• Bull Hill (Mt. Taurus) with Undercliff Extension Lollipop ~7.4 miles
• Route: Washburn (w) - Notch (b) - Brook (r) - Undercliff (y) - Washburn (w)* 
• Official scenic overlooks: 8 (two are repeats on the way down)
• Jun 2011 
• Bull Hill (Mt. Taurus) Loop ~7 miles
• Route: Washburn (w) - Notch (b) - Brook (r) - Cornish (b) 
• Official scenic overlooks: 5
• Official length 5.4 mi
• Official elevation gain 1,391 ft
• Apr 2014 
• Nov 2011 (3.5 hours, but this may have been trail only) 
• NYNJTC description is a "strenuous" 4.8 mile trail in four hours. 
• Shortest Loop 
• Route: Washburn (w) - Undercliff (y) - Brook (r) - Cornish (b)
• Official scenic overlooks: 3
• Official length 4.3 miles
• Official elevation gain 1,131 ft
• Oct 2013 (2 hours) 

* People usually go the other direction on Washburn; this direction involves some steep descents.

2) Cold Spring/Nelsonville (1.8 miles total road walking - one end Main St to Pearl St [1.0 mi to trailhead], the other end via 9D [0.8 mi to station])

• Full Undercliff / Breakneck Loop ~9 miles 
• Route: Undercliff (y) - Breakneck Ridge (w) - Notch (b) - Brook (r) - Cornish (b)
• Official scenic overlooks: 6
• Jan 2012 (4.5 hours) - highlight: frozen waterfalls! 
• Apr 2014 (6 hours) 
• Undercliff / Bull Hill (Mt. Taurus) Loop
• Route: Undercliff (y) - Washburn (w) - Notch (b) - Brook (r) - Cornish (b)
• Official scenic overlooks: 5
• Oct 2013 (3 hours) 
• May 2014 (5 hours) 
• Nov 2014 (3.75 hours) 
• Undercliff Loop ~6.5 miles (per Google Maps)
• Route: Undercliff (y) - Brook (r) - Cornish (b)
• Official scenic overlooks: 3
• Nov 2014 (3 hours) 
• NYNJTC description is a "strenuous" 6 mile circuit in four hours.

• Nelsonville Loop ~6.5 miles
• Route: Nelsonville (g) - Notch (b) - Brook (r) - Cornish (b)
• Official scenic overlooks: 0
• Dec 2011 
• Nelsonville with Undercliff Extension ~7.9 miles (per Google Maps)
• Route: Nelsonville (g) - Notch (b) - Brook (r) - Undercliff (y) - Washburn (w)*
• Official scenic overlooks: 3
• Apr 2015 (4.5 hours) 
• Nelsonville / Bull Hill (Mt. Taurus) with Undercliff Extension 
• Route: Nelsonville (g) - Washburn (w)* - Undercliff (y) - Brook (r) - Cornish (b)
• Official scenic overlooks: 4
• Nov 2011 
• Bull Hill (Mt. Taurus) / Nelsonville ~ 6.5 miles
• Route: Washburn (w) - Nelsonville (g)
• Official scenic overlooks: 5
• Apr 2014 

* People usually go the other direction on Washburn; this direction involves some steep descents.

3) Beacon (Wolcott Ave/9D [1.8 mi to trailhead] or Pocket Road/Main St [2.4 miles])

• Casino (r) - Wilkinson Memorial (y) - Crossover/Blue - Fishkill Ridge (w) (Wolcott Ave/9D [1.8 mi to trailhead]; return via Pocket Road/Main St [2.4 miles])

4) Garrison 

• blue/white trails across 9D to Sugarloaf (r) to the top of Sugarloaf Hill to Osborn Loop (b) to unmarked "woods road" around the base of Sugarloaf Hill to Sugarloaf (r) ~7 miles

B.  Traverses
1) Breakneck to Beacon

• Wilkinson Memorial (y) to Crossover/Blue to Fishkill Ridge (w) to Yellow to Casino (r) ~12 miles (7 hours)  (return via Wolcott Ave/9D [1.8 mi to station]) [Oct 2011]
• Wilkinson Memorial (y) to Breakneck Bypass (r) to Breakneck Ridge (w) to Wilkinson Memorial (y) to Casino (r) (return via Wolcott Ave/9D [1.8 mi to station]) [Oct 2011]

2) Cold Spring to Beacon

• Cornish (b) to Brook (r) to Notch (b) to Breakneck Ridge (w) to Casino (r) (6.5 hours) (return via Wolcott Ave/9D [1.8 mi to station]) [Apr 2015]
• Washburn (w) to Notch (b) to Breakneck Ridge (w) to Casino (r) (6.25 hours) [May 2014]

C.  Additional Hikes  
Most of these are from my pre-map days.  I am fairly sure we drove to the trailhead for each of these trips.

• Mt Taurus October 2010 - Although details of the exact route are shrouded in mist, I know we took Brook Trail up to a little lake.  At that point, the leaders planned to split the group in two, sending the novice hikers back the same (easy) way, while the more advanced folks would take Notch to the Washburn Trail, tackling Mt Taurus from the north (not the typical approach).  Ultimately, the novices decided they didn't want to be left out and we all stuck together.  The trail proved more challenging than some of the novice hikers anticipated, and there were some bitter words en route.  Everyone survived, but the leaders mentioned that if they'd know everyone would want to try Mt Taurus, they would have approached it the standard way, from the south.    
• Breakneck Ridge June 2010 - just a quick 3-mile loop with some folks from RPC.
• Breakneck Ridge November 2010 - with folks from FAPC.

Mileage reference chart
(NYS Parks Map, March 2014)

The NYS Parks and NY-NJ Trail Conference do not always seem to concur about trail length; for example, NYS Parks says Undercliff is only 3.9 miles long in its entirety, whereas NYNJTC says in one hike description that it is about 4 miles from the Undercliff trailhead in Nelsonville to the junction with the Brook trail.