Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
5-10pm Wed-Thu, to 11pm Fri & Sat, 1-10pm Sun)
, a pillar of the farm-to-table movement
and a locavore's dream.
A pristine forested wilderness with miles of hiking trails is just 40 miles north of New
tp://nysparks.state.ny.us/parks
)
covers 72 sq miles and offers swimming, hiking and camp-
8am-dusk)
offers great views from its 1305ft peak, with the Manhattan skyline loom-
ing beyond the river and surrounding greenery; and there's a restaurant and lodging at the
inn on Hessian Lake. In both parks there are several scenic roads snaking their way past
secluded lakes with gorgeous vistas.
Not far to the north in Highland Falls and occupying one of the most breathtaking
bends in the Hudson is
West Point US Military Academy
, open to visitors on
guided
ter is a fascinating
museum
(open 10:30am-4:15pm; free admission) that traces the role
of war and the military throughout human history. Nearby and west of Rte 9W, the
Storm King Art Center
( 845-534-3115;
www.stormking.org
;
Old Pleasant Hill Rd; admission
$10; Apr-Nov)
is a 500-acre outdoor sculpture park with rolling hills that showcases
stunning avant-garde sculpture by well-known artists; a free tram gives tours of the
grounds.
At Beacon, a fairly nondescript town north of here, fashionable regulars of the interna-
11am-6pm Thu-Mon mid-Apr-mid-Oct, 11am-4pm Fri-Mon mid-Oct-mid-Apr)
, a gallery featur-
ing a renowned collection from 1960 to the present, and huge sculptures and installation
boutique-gallery where you can buy artfully designed, hand-crafted pieces or sign up for
a class to learn how to do it yourself.
Middle & Upper Hudson Valley
On the western side of the Hudson is
New Paltz
, home of a campus of the State
University of New York, natural food stores and a liberal ecofriendly vibe. In the dis-
tance behind the town, the ridge of the Shawangunk (Shon-gum or just the 'Gunks')
mountains rises more than 2000ft above sea level. More than two-dozen miles of nature
trails and some of the best rock climbing in the Eastern US is found in the
Mohonk
Mountain Preserve
( 845-255-0919;
www.mohonkpreserve.org
;
day pass for hikers/climbers
& cyclists $12/17)
. Nearby
Minnewaska State Park Preserve
has 12,000 acres of wild
landscape, the centerpiece of which is a usually ice-cold mountain lake. Contact
Alpine
