Tag: #Outdoors

  • Hiking Review: Mianus River Gorge Preserve

    It had been a month since we had last been hiking. July was pretty busy with camps and trips and visiting friends, so as this weekend approached, I was pretty adamant that we were going hiking, damn it! Not that I had to coerce my family, but there was a thought that they might not be that into it. So, I went looking for a trail that wasn’t too far from home, which meant finding a place that was only about an hour drive time from the City. That’s how I chose Mianus River Gorge Preserve in Westchester County.

    My go to for trail finding is still the AllTrails app on my phone, and the site has not steered us wrong on our search of hiking spots. The app rated Mianus as “easy,” and I wouldn’t go that far, as there were some ups and downs on the trail for the gorge. “Moderate” might have been a little more accurate.

    That have been said, this place was a jewel. We got there at 11am, an hour later than we normally like to start a hike, but the trails were empty of people. Though we were not too far from a major road and a neighborhood, it was silent out there except for the sounds of the river and the forest. I actually found it hard to believe that a forest this untouched, it is one of the last old growth forests in the area, could exist so close to New York City. The river cutting through the land, and the embankment of the gorge was just beautiful to experience. Sadly, my pictures don’t do the Preserve justice.

    It had all the things we have come to like about hiking; the trails were all well maintained, which was good for the kid, the solitude of the forest was impeccable, and the trail head had plenty of parking.  The kid enjoyed spotting fish in the river, and the diversity of the fungi on the forest floor. For me and the wife, we enjoyed that the trails were rugged enough so that we felt like we were getting a work out.

    When we finished our hike, and had a picnic out of the back of our car. It was a littler after twelve noon, when people started to arrive and began to hike the trail. That lead us to believe that the late afternoon is the popular time there. As we watched other couples and families head out on the trails, we decided that Mianus River Gorge Preserve is trail that we want to do again. Maybe in the Fall.

  • Hiking Review: The Cornish Estate Trail

    This week’s hike was the Cornish Estate Trail at the Hudson Highlands State Park and Preserve, just outside of Cold Springs, NY. This one had been on my radar for a while, as AllTrails and many other hiking sites have rated it highly. The trail leads to the Cornish Estate, which was built in the 1910’s, but burned down in the late 50’s, which eventually lead to the land being donated for a park. My hesitancy for going there was that all the reviews mentioned that it was a busy and popular trail. When we started this Summer project, we had wanted to find out of the way trails, that don’t get much foot traffic.

    We went out on Sunday morning, and made the park around 10:45am. The parking lot for Little Stony Point Park was packed, and we got the last spot. At the trail head, there was a tent with, what I assume were, volunteers who offered maps, guidance, and bug spray. There were also some port-o-potties, a sanitization station, water for dogs, and a display for wildlife in the area. It was a nice way to start our hike.

    The Cornish Trail starts off running somewhat parallel to Highway 9D. In some areas it’s only one person wide, and as we were a group of two adults, a kid and a dog, we let people pass us, so we could take our time. After a short hike, the trail runs into the concrete driveway that leads up to the ruins of the estate. And you are going uphill. Not that it was a difficult climb, but for our six-year-old, it seemed to go on forever! Once we made it to the top, our daughter loved exploring all the ruins. The park does a very good job having markers all around explaining the different parts of the estate, which did help conceptualize what it was like to live on that hilltop a hundred years ago. We had a picnic lunch in the ruins of the main house, overlooking the abandoned swimming pool, all the while wondering what it is like up there in Fall when the leaves change.

    All in all, I get what the hype is all about. In one sense, the climb to the ruins does make you feel like you have found a lost gem of the Hudson Valley. The downside is that there are always people around you. Secluded, it was not. But even with that, it was a place we enjoyed exploring, and all wanted to come back again.

  • Hiking Review: Leon Levy Preserve and Loop

    This weekend, the hike we chose was the Leon Levy Loop in Westchester County, near the Connecticut border. This was a little father out than we normally go, an hour from the City. Also, we went out on Sunday, instead of our normal Saturday, due to errands, such as going to REI to exchange my boots for a half size large, (And true to REI’s policy, they exchanged the boots, no questions asked) and I wanted to get a proper daypack for our hiking adventures.

    Another reason I picked the Leon Levy Preserve was that there were the “ruins” of the Black Mansion on the trail. I thought that this would be a little more exciting for the kid. Such as “discovering” some ruins and exploring the grounds sounded like a fun adventure for her. The land used to be a summer home estate, but fell in to disrepair, then was ravaged by a fire. The Jerome Levy Foundation donated the money to the Town of Lewisboro to purchase the land, and to create the preserve and trails.

    The Leon Levy Loop was the type of trail we were looking for. The was rated as “easy” and I will agree that it was, which makes it very kid friendly. The main Blue Trail was wide and well maintained. The canopy of the forest made the hike cool on a very hot and humid day. We saw a handful of other families on the trail that morning, but by no means did it feel crowded, which let us feel like we could explore unencumbered. We ventured off on the Pink Trail to take a look at the ruins of the guest house, which the kid loved. Her imagination was intrigued, and she came up with wild stories of what happened at the house, long ago.

    In our one hour+ hike, we didn’t even cover half of the Preserve, which was great, as we all enjoyed it out there. As we returned to our car at the trailhead, we decided that this was a place we would like return to, and explore the other trails around the Preserve.

  • Day Trip Out of New York

    I decided that I was going to take the weekend off from writing anything, with the exception of journaling. That lead to an exceptionally lazy Saturday, where none of us did anything. As for Sunday, we planned a hike outside of New York City, at the Great Hollow Nature Preserve in Connecticut. We went looking for a place that had an “easy skill level” that was kid friendly, but still had enough of a hike to make us feel like we had accomplished something. Great Hollow checked all the boxes, and we had a wonderful afternoon of hiking, which ended with a picnic on the lawn.

    As we are now in the middle of August, the last month of Summer before school starts, the idea that we will be able to get away for a vacation is no longer even remotely a possibility. To make the best out of this situation, we are planning more day trips upstate, and seeing if we can find a few more easy trails to tackle. This has been the third time this Summer that we took a short excursion to get out to a park or preserve to do some very easy hiking, and it has been a welcome relaxation for us. 2020 has thrown us so many curveballs, car trips to break up to monotony of being stuck at home have helped.