BEACON, Dutchess County (1,011 acres) — Welcome to wilderness, Hudson Valley style. Highlights along the rugged (but well-marked) trails include an impressive waterfall and rock outcroppings that afford breathtaking long-range vistas, including a glimpse of the Manhattan skyline. The ridge is also a great destination for exploring the Hudson Valley’s geological past — its rounded boulders and bare summits were sculpted by glaciers 12,000 years ago. And don’t be surprised if you’re being watched — by turkey vultures, bald eagles and falcons doing aerial reconnaissance.
Fishkill Ridge is owned by the NYS Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation; trails are maintained by the NY-NJ Trail Conference.
Free and open year-round, sunrise to sunset.
Check out the shops and eateries along Beacon’s vibrant Main Street and Dia:Beacon, a world-class museum featuring late-20th-century art housed in a former factory. Learn more about the remarkable life of Catheryna “Madam” Brett, Beacon’s first European settler, by visiting her 1709 house.
