Hudson Highlands State Park — Attraction in Town of Philipstown

NOTE: NOT for The Faint of heart ! Such an amazing experience!! A group of strangers who got together to do the impossible! A lot of us were new to climbing and hiking all together. The terrain is rugged just like the beautiful slopes of the unique mountain side. Be prepared to wear PROPER shoes for extremely steep uphill rock climbing. There is a good hour -two hour uphill climb filled with nooks, and crevices of large sloapy rocks in order for you to get to the peak of your destination. Length of time definitely depends on how advanced you are in your climbing capabilities. We saw so many families, and some children climbing like spider monkeys past us as they must do this trail very often. Tips to ALL. Make sure you are well prepared during cold seasons with feet, and hand warmers , layers, water, sunglasses, food, back up battery, and safety kits just in case. Trails can get very bumpy , and hard to navigate. Luckily we had people within the group that have traveled the trails before. Also, keep your eyes out for groups of people and try to stay on the path. You'll notice yellow green and red markers along with yellow and white spray painted arrows to keep you in the right direction. Remember to start your day bright and early so that you can beat sunset as it could get dangerous . You may even notice park rangers that teach classes on survival around the way, as and even maybe an officer or two. We felt extremely safe in any case . the rangers helped us find the easier paths , and told us more about the beautiful land. This was not only my proudest moments , but we all proved to our selves what we could accomplish with positivity, and patience! Highly recommend this trail!!! Travel at your own risk. Be prepared, and trust your climbing insticts. You...

Pics don’t do this place justice. I get that the Breakneck Ridge is most popular due to the rock scrambling, but because it’s closed until 2027 we had to go with the standard Bull Hill hike - and I can’t stress enough how beautiful and underrated it is.

There’re 2 trails you can choose: clockwise loop - Cornish trail (blue) minimal elevation counterclockwise loop - Washburn trail (white) uphill It doesn’t really matter which you choose since you’ll loop through both either way.

You can do either the full loop (get across Bull Hill peak) or a short loop (take a more scenic, and more flat, detour via the [yellow trail]). This yellow trail (Undercliff Trail) was a worthy tradeoff for the Bull Hill peak because it takes you through some of the best views of the Hudson and is filled with jaw dropping photo-ops.

I went with what other reviewers recommended - white - yellow - blue.

For those who want to get to the Breakneck Ridge for a longer hike, turn right on the blue trail. For those who had enough (like us) turn left and finish the hike off exploring the stunning ruins of the Cornish Estate on the way back to the starting point/parking lot. There’s plenty left in those ruins to get a feel for how jaw dropping that place was before it went up in flames in 1958.

Food after tip: we skipped on the cash-only “Riverview” restaurant and went with walking 10 minutes further to a joint called J. Murphy’s On Main - some of the best steak and eggs I’ve ever had and seemed more...

Lots of hiking trails and scenic overlooks with some of the most beautiful views of the Hudson River Area. The Breakneck Ridge trail is very steep and super challenging. It is not to be taken lightly and should be avoided in wet or icy conditions. There is a bypass trail you can take which leads to the top for the same beautiful views without taking on the steep ridge trail if you aren't up for the challenge. You can get to the bypass Trail by starting at the Wilson Memorial Trail (yellow) about a quarter mile up the road north from where the Breakneck Ridge Trail (white) begins. Take it up up to the Breakneck Bypass Trail (red) and follow up to the top with a much more gradual and manageable ascent. But if you do decide to hike up to the top of the challenging Breakneck Ridge Trail, I suggest you do not reverse your path and climb back down. For most people, it's too steep for that. Instead, although it may seem counterintuitive, continue upwards a bit further until you reach an intersecting trail with a sign pointing you in an easier way back around to the bottom. Doing it this way is not only easier and safer, but it will also give you a few more beautiful overlooks to see on...