The falls are truly incredible…read more The trail down to the bottom of the falls, is a bit tricky. But so incredibly worth it. I would suggest not to believe the sign saying 189 steps.... it is definitely more! Take drinking water because you'll need that for sure. We went back in August and the heat was definitely there. The parking lot was pretty packed but throughout the trails people were pretty evenly spaced out. Not so much at the base of the falls themselves but there was still plenty of room to move around freely.

A very mild and easy hike with a beautiful payoff! Definitely bring your bathing suits because you…read morecan take a dip in the water--it's cool, refreshing, and perfect for cooling off after the walk. The waterfall and surrounding scenery are absolutely beautiful, and you can easily spend some time relaxing on the rocks and taking in the view. You don't have to get in the water if that's not your thing; there are plenty of rocks around the area where you can sit and enjoy the scenery. There are both upper and lower sections of the waterfall, so depending on how much walking you want to do, you can choose which area to explore. We walked to the lookout point first, which gives you a view of the waterfall from above. From up there, everyone below looks like little ants! Before reaching the bridge, there are stairs that lead down to the actual waterfall, which I definitely recommend checking out. Overall, it's a beautiful spot, and the hike is very manageable!

Just camped here again and was extremely impressed with the cleanliness of this campground. The…read morebathrooms and showers were meticulous, and every campsite in loop 4 was flat and well-maintained, perfect for any tent. While we were here, we saw staff removing tree roots that were impeding the campsite next to ours. I also appreciate that the DEC drives around and ensures that campers are abiding by the fire and bear safety rules and wish that other NYS parks did the same. There was SO much wildlife we saw just on the grounds - friendly deer, baby turkeys, and baby ducks. We were fortunate to have a few nights here without any neighbors and it was so serene and beautiful even in intense rain and fog. There are boat and canoe rentals on South Beach, and so many hiking trails that lead to breaktaking views. I really can't say enough good things about this campground and am already looking forward to our next trip here!

My friend loved camping here and invited me for a day trip which was nice. It was $10 a car. If you…read morewant to have a gathering, you have to get in super early to get picnic tables because they are first come first serve. We went to the north lake, and there are bathrooms and changing rooms near the lake for convenience. There are grills for your cooking needs. If it's a hot day where the lake is a nice temperature, that is a great way for the family to spend their day. There is also kayak rentals and hiking trails if you want to capitalize on the outdoors activities. It's a nice way to spend a day if you plan ahead with snacks, water, and sunscreen.

Live this tranquil wooded lake. So calming to get there early am and just sit and gaze across the…read morelake and beautiful surroundings

Love going here. Such a nice place. Dog friendly if your…read moredog is well behaved. Some people don't watch their dogs and the run wild but it's been getting better.

This arboretum is free to enter. It has several walking trails with distinct trees in each section…read more The East Meadow takes you through pine alley and was sunny and grassy. The Hemlock Trail was dense with trees and most of the trail was covered in roots. It led to the Hidden Marsh, which had a nice little boardwalk to walk out into the bright, vast marsh. We also checked out Woodlands Walk, which was a short set of loops, with fun little signs that told a cute children's story along the way. There were a few signs on the trails, but there wasn't quite as much information about the trees and plants as I would have expected. Still, it was great for a stroll and some sections felt like easy hiking, so it's a very pleasant place to wander for a few hours.

Mhew! This place is ok if you want to kill time and take a stroll in the woods. While I do…read moreunderstand the term "arboretum" means various trees and plants, I hoped to see some flowers in the mix. I've been to other arboretums in NYS and they have flowers that add to the appeal of visiting these places. I stopped in to kill time since I was early for checking into my camp site nearby. This arboretum had a few miles of trails with various facts about the trees and plants they care for. If you visit be sure to donate to help the staff maintain the property. While it didn't blow me away I do understand and appreciate the hard work that goes into maintaining places like this.

This is an extremely good walk/hike. "Easy" in terms of difficulty, this trail starts off on an…read moreeasy 1/4-mile walk down a meandering crushed-gravel path to a wooden gazebo, then down some grassy hills to the Hudson River "lookout" point. From there, you can venture into the woods for a 3/4 to a mile "easy hike" surrounded by trees, trickling stream & a few furry animals, like squirrels & chipmunks, collecting acorns. Kid friendly, this is a great walk/hike for the whole family.

Dreamy any walk you choose to start on during any season. Beginner's level. Nice view of the Hudson.read more

Since my wife and I became parents, I feel like we've both become playground connoisseurs. We've…read moremade quite a list of good playgrounds in the tri-state area, but one of our absolute favorites is Julie's Jungle in Hopewell Junction, New York. Inceptioned in 2012, the playground was named after Julie Keating. Young Julie was afflicted with both physical and cognitive disabilities and was often unable to join in on the fun at her local park. She tragically passed away in 2007 at the age of 15. Her younger sister Natalie later wrote a letter to the East Fishkill recreation committee asking them to build a handicapped-accessible playground. The town accepted the proposal. Phase I of the playground opened in 2016 and Phase II was completed in 2018. Julie's Jungle was the first fully accessible playground built in Dutchess County. It was built for children of all abilities to play and learn together. It's equipped with accessible routes and paths throughout, ramps, spacious decks, short stair heights, Braille play panels, and even a sensory garden. Whenever my family and I are passing through the area, we always make a point to stop at Julie's Jungle. Both of my sons love playing here. They have so much fun that our visits seem to end in the blink of an eye. We wish that more playgrounds were like this. FUN FACT: For those parents like me who enjoy good craft beer and wood-fired pizza, Sloop Brewing Company is just a three-minute drive away!

An amazing playground with something for everyone! My 2,3 and 4 year old grandchildren were…read morethrilled. The only hard part is getting them to leave!

A peaceful, pristine, little bit of paradise on a hot summer's day. The water is so crisp and cool…read more Parking is limited and the walk down can be a bit for some, .20 miles down a rocky incline, but once you get here it's worth it. This is a take in/take out facility-please take your trash with you. No public facilities so plan accordingly. This is NATURE, enjoy

Whether it's a full swim, wet our toes or be near water (even in winter), hubs is forever finding…read moreany body of water to explore. I had read about Big Deep- but we never found it in all the years we've visited Woodstock, NY until the Summer of '22. Big Deep reminded me of the movie, 'The Beach'. Wait up though- this is a much smaller, smaller, smaller, smaller, smaller and rugged version of the movie and a farrrrrrrrrr stretch from that lush and tropical beach setting. So paradise, is not. At its best, Big Deep is only (and I mean only) a patch of some water (a lot of it has receded), lots of trees blocking the Sun and a bunch of rocks. Get some legit water sandals to avoid walking bare feet on rocks, scraping your skin- otherwise, pray you don't break a toe. Don't drive too fast or you'll miss it. Big Deep has designated paved drivable entrance and exit paths. After you're parked, it's a trek on more paved paths to get to 'the beach', lake or whatever you wanna call it. I'm not glorifying Big Deep- but it is secluded in its own bizarre way. Some blogs have mentioned this may be/will be closed off. If you feel like you want to put up with this scene, by all means. It's $0 to get in (from the last time we were here).

This is a well under rated waterfall hike in the Catskill…read more We mistaken took the Overlook trail thinking that there is a "overlook" for the waterfall. I was wrong. We did found some stone made into chairs on one of the walk out. That was really cool. Took a little break there and enjoyed the cool wind. Was nice. After finding out that there was no Overlook to yhe waterfall, we head back to the start and took a left this time, the Waterfall trail. It was a ln easy hike down. A good 5-10 minutes down. If it rained before, it could be a messy down as the trail is not paved. It is a little slope down as well but not that bad. We stayed there for a long time enjoying the waterfall cause there was really not alot if people and after at last we actually had the waterfall to ourselves. Though the parking lot was small. You just basically pull your car over to the side. Just try to avoid the "No Parking" signs and you good to go. I pick this waterfall to go then the Kaaterskill as it's very crowed and there was a wait to park to car.

A group of sister friends and I decided to do a hike to Huckleberry point. There are many trails…read moreas you can see in my first photo ( more in other parts of the park). It took us an an hour from the Latham area it was a great drive down the Thruway on to 87 and we exitEd on to exit 21 from there you have to pay attention to the go's because there is a number of twist and turns. Parking is a bear. The parking lot is small and not enough room for all of the hikers. A number of drivers had to park on the side of the road. You have to be careful because drivers on that stretch of Platte Clove Road are driving quite fast. The climb is up most of the way and narrows and the elevation from the parking lot to the top is 644 ft. It gets quite muddy in spots and you have to cross a creek so waterproof hiking boots are recommended. There are many spots where there are steady inclines so you have to be prepared for that. The beauty of the park and nature was beautifully overwhelming for me yesterday. The many cascading waterfalls and the sounds of nature were refreshing and peaceful. You need to bring water and fuel for the ascending and descending. I'm looking forward to my next hike. You need to be carefully looking for the trail markers. There were spots you really had to search for them when the path wasn't as obvious. The park need to put a bit more in.

I made my Gunks debut yesterday and was pretty impressed despite the very meh weather situation…read more This is about 90 minutes from my HQ so probably right at the limit of a convenient day hike, and somehow I've never really been in this area before beyond travelling past it going up and down the NY Thruway. Definitely returning when the sun is actually out. I did the 8.7-mile Castle Point hike (my gut says it wasn't QUITE that long, but I don't want to argue with my book) from the Awosting parking lot down the Mossy Glen Trail (yellow blazes), making a left onto and up Blueberry Run (blue) to Castle Point itself, and then went basically straight down the cliff on the Scenic Trail (lavenderish and formerly light blue), down the Rainbow Falls Trail (orange) and finally making a right on the Lower Awosting Carriageway back to the parking lot. Wasn't crazy about the $10 fee to park - nature shouldn't cost anything - but it is what it is. It's really a shame the weather was crappy because I could tell that viewpoint at Castle Point is legit - it's sprawling and you can see for miles in almost every direction. That's a very cool spot and easily the highlight of the hike. There are some interesting viewpoints throughout the rest of the adventure, but I'd say they're primarily of rock formations and water features, which have their selling points but nothing beats a view at the top. I'm in decent hiking shape right now, and this was just not particularly challenging for me. The only part where I was even a little out of breath (and it was humid, so grain of salt in that regard) was on Blueberry Run, which was a pretty steady incline up, but really not hardcore at all from my perspective. The drop down from Castle Point on the Scenic Trail IS a little tricky and you really want to spend some time there figuring out where your foot is going to go next. Compared to other parks in the tristate area, this one definitely has more hazards, cliffs you could potentially fall down, etc. But same token, it has a ton of these completely flat carriageways as well. It rained while I was on the Rainbow Falls trail and I DID slip/fall on some of the rocks at one point, but that's on me since I willingly came over here knowing what the forecast was. Wasn't impressed by the Rainbow Falls themselves, and neither were the other hikers who were there at the time. Maybe it was just not an ideal situation for them, but it's been rainy the last few days so unclear when you should take advantage of the optics there. The trail blazes were EXCELLENT, easily some of the best I've ever encountered. Each official trail had an accompanying sign that not only gave you the name of the trail, but a map of the nearby area, the grade profile so you can see what types of inclines/declines you'll experience on that trail and tons of basic facts. Really well done stuff. The bathroom situation was pretty good as well, with ample restroom options in the parking lot albeit without plumbing. You get what you get, but I'll take a clean bathroom situation in a heartbeat, regardless. Okay wildlife sightings. The rain I'm sure kept some of the good quality shizzle away, but I got a cool shot of a black vulture and saw an edgy newt. Worth the trek and will return for further investigation shortly.

I think this may be my favorite state park within a short driving distance from my home. There are…read moreso many hiking trails of different levels, and carriage road trails too! And the views are amazing, plus there are a bunch of waterfalls! While it does get crowded, especially in the parking lots, I find the hiking trails to be a little less crowded than the parks that are a little closer to NYC. Even though I am not a rock climber I do also enjoy seeing the climbers out there doing their thing.