Or you can go to Sam’s Point, the highest point of the Gunks at 2255 feet, with 5400 acres that connect to Minnewaska State Park’s southernmost part in Cragsmoor (off of Route 52 near Ellenville). The world famous Ice Caves are there, and a Sam’s Point loop runs through Minnewaska for ten miles. It’s a moderate hike with a little easy climbing.
The newest man-made walking and biking venue is the popular Walkway Over the Hudson, stretching a mile and change from Highland to Poughkeepsie. There’s nothing quite like watching the boats go by underneath while you are standing a couple of hundred feet above the middle of the Hudson River checking out the colors on the river’s banks and in the Catskills far beyond. It’s the longest elevated pedestrian bridge in the world.
A new and more modest walkway is the suspension bridge at the Black Creek Preserve in Esopus (off Route 9W). This beautiful 120-foot wood and rope footbridge hovers over Black Creek, a bubbling, clear swath of water at the entrance to the 130-acre Scenic Hudson preserve. Three interconnected hiking trails (2.5 miles in total) run through the hemlocks and hardwoods to the banks of the Hudson.
It’s all out there waiting to be “peeped” — by car, bike or on foot. For more specific information and fees call the Mohonk Preserve at 255-1000, Minnewaska State Park at 255-0752, Steve Densmore at the Walkway Over the Hudson at 234-8713 and the Black Creek Preserve at 473-4440.
