Bushkill Falls: Waterfall hiking less than 2 hours from NYC

We spent weekends in June outside of Otisville, NY- a delightful area of Orange County just near the intersection of NY, PA and NJ. We went to PA to see Bushkill Falls, often touted as the "Niagara Falls of Pennsylvania." While this is perhaps a bit of an exaggeration, we really loved this scenic little park, full of roaring streams leading to pretty waterfalls.

The main waterfall is right at the beginning of all the trailheads, so if you aren't much a hiker you can see the big falls right away.

But I highly recommend taking the time to meander through the Swiss Family Robinson-esque staircases to view the falls from other vantage points, and then embark on one of the 3 main hikes.

Swiss-Family-Robinson-Esque walkways & bridges, just like at Disneyworld

Since I was 7 months pregnant, we took it easy on the Yellow Trail, which was about an hour. It followed a roaring creek through the woods. We ran into very few people, but we went on a day that was a bit rainy so perhaps that deterred the tourists. There are other trails that range from 15 min to 2 hours.

A few more shots of our hike through the woods:

Ferns... lots of 'em

Bushkill Falls is easy to find, and costs $12.50 per adult. All the logistics can be found on their website.

After our hike, we had a delicious lunch at the Waterwheel Cafe, in the cute town of Milford, PA.

It has a breezy outdoor eating area alongside a stream, but the indoors next to the old Waterwheel encased in glass was also charming.

From Waterwheel's site

It has a lot of typical lunch foods like sandwiches and salads. I really enjoyed the Vietnamese Noodle Salad and rhubarb pie for dessert. Lots of homemade dessert options.

Last but not least, my husband couldn't resist the temptation of purchasing fireworks at PA's branch of famous firework chain Phantom Fireworks ... which you have to have an out-of-state license to buy as you can't actually shoot them in PA.

We both had to show IDs and sign waivers to get in this high security spot, manned by a slew of bored looking 16-year-olds on summer break.

Phantom rewards big spenders with a shout-out. I'm glad we didn't make the list:

I'm also glad my husband didn't buy this package for $1499. As the name suggests, it really might have been grounds for divorce.

Norwalk Islands: Your own private beach near NYC!

Recently, we discovered where to have your own private beach near NYC! I almost hesitate to publish this because it was so remote and wonderful. But... it's your lucky day, if you are willing to embark on a rigorous kayak journey to get there. 

The Norwalk Islands are a little chain of over 25 islands just off the coast of Norwalk Connecticut... right off of Calf Pasture Beach. Hop on a train from Grand Central to East Norwalk, and you'll be there in about an hour. The walk to CPB is about 20 minutes. We rented kayaks at Norwalk Sailing School (cash only!) and set off on a 3 hour journey around the islands. Paddling out was relatively easy. We travelled to a few of the nearby islands... most had rocky shores but were easy to land on. (I recommend wearing water shoes like Keens - it was hard to walk on the rocks barefooted)

We discovered one little uninhabited spot and set up our umbrella and chilled out. The water was pretty cold, and smelled a bit lake-ish, but was still nice to take a dip in on a hot summer day.

The ride back was a bit challenging, since we caught high tide and a bit of wind. I'd suggest checking tide times online prior to renting, so you aren't trying to paddle against the tide.

Calf Pasture Beach looked pretty nice and not too crowded - and you can rent chairs for $5! There was a nice burger joint and clean restrooms. We didn't really spend much time here, but plan to return.

Calf Pasture Beach 

After our big kayak adventure, we hitched a ride to a little area by the water where there were seafood shops, a pizza joint (Partners Cafe) and ice cream stands. This is also walkable from Calf Pasture Beach - probably about 20 minutes, and about a 10 minute walk from the train station. We enjoyed pizza followed by shakes from Mr. Frosty's ice cream stand:

 (photo credit: Videler photography)

Beacon, Take 2

About a year and a half ago, I went to Beacon in the Hudson Valley for the first time (initial post here). I absolutely loved Dia Beacon, and was looking for an easy, car-free escape from NYC over President's Day weekend so a friend and I made the trek up there on the Metro-North. I spoke a bit about the museum in my initial post, and I'll just reiterate that it's such a cool experience for those who are not only art fanatics but also those who fall more along the lines of "art curious." The installations are somewhat interactive as they require walking around and through them... Richard Sera's giant works look different from every angle, so that it's impossible to get a sense of what they look like from any one vantage point. They made me think a lot about space, presence and what it really means for an object to occupy space. (perhaps because I read that on one of the placards...)

Richard Serra, Torqued Ellipses, 1996-2000 (Image from Dia)

My friend Kristin joined me, and fell in love with Sol LeWitt's work - a series of full wall drawings of geometric shapes. 

I also liked these installations, but realized at this point that no photography was allowed... so this is my last photo!

We hiked up a little hill to the town - about a 10 minute walk from the museum - and went to a delicious cafe! Homespun Foods had healthy and hearty soups, salads, sandwiches and baked goods. I had a tomatillo soup that hit the spot on a chilly afternoon. 

Cross-Country Skiing at Fahnestock

When I mentioned to friends I was planning to go cross-country skiing, everyone shook their heads in disbelief, wondering why I would want to do something so boring yet utterly exhausting. So I viewed this adventure as an intense work-out that could perhaps merit a week off from the gym, but wasn't sure whether it would actually be enjoyable. Turns out, cross-country skiing is indeed tough work, but also a surprisingly fun & relaxing way to spend a winter afternoon.

We headed up north to Fahnestock Winter Park, about an hour and twenty minutes north of the city, near Cold Spring. Boots, skis & shoeshoes are available for rental at the park, but they can run out of boots in certain sizes so I advise getting there before noon, especially on a holiday weekend.

Small hill in woods - harder than it looks

There are 9 miles of trails at the park, graded by level of difficulty from "easy" to "black diamond." Easy is really quite easy even for a beginner skier; black diamond is hard for even the advanced. While the black diamond hills were barely even hills, the skis are incredibly long and the snow is icy in parts which makes even a small hill challenging. Fun for me, but maybe not so much for a beginner skier. The scenery was nice - we circled through a wooded trail and then skied across a large frozen lake.

To complete my Fahenstock experience, I couldn't resist falling flat into a foot deep of snow and making a 6 foot snow angel. Try it sometime - it's just as fun as when you were 8 years old.

Two hours is more than enough time to feel like you've seen some nature, gotten a workout and have earned some pints of beer & pub food... so we headed to Nyack, NY for dinner on the way back. Nyack is a cute little town in the summer with not so much going on in the winter, unless you find yourself eating chicken pot pie and drinking 2-for-1 draft beers at the Monday night hot-spot O'Malley's. 

While we rented a car for this day trip, but there is also a train from Grand Central to Cold Spring. At Cold Spring, you can call a taxi to take you to the park. 

Autumn at Storm King

Sometimes in NYC I forget it's even fall. There are a few trees turning on my West Village block, but it's hard to get that full autumn effect without getting out of the city. So this weekend we journeyed out of the city to the Storm King Art Center and saw a magnificent fusion of natural and man-made wonders:

The Storm King Art Center is, according to its website, "one of the world's most oustanding sculpture parks" and includes works dating from 1945 to the present in a beautiful 500-acre setting. It's a wonderful place to explore on a sunny afternoon, and I'd suggest allowing three hours to casually wander throughout the park. The website notes that it is also beautiful under cloudy or rainy conditions as the sculptures take on a whole new meaning. That could be cool too.

This off-kilter lighter-like structure is an architectural enigma (at least to us):

Many of the sculptures were created to summon UFOs:

 Although we didn't connect with UFOs, the waves spoke to us:

There is also a little cafe with coffee, gourmet sandwiches and other delicious treats. Food must be eaten in two designated picnic areas. We thought it could be nice to pack a bottle of wine and drink along the way, but you'd probably have to be stealthy about it.

Getting there: 

Storm King is an easy one-hour drive from NYC via the Palisades Parkway. Alternatively, the Short Line Bus offers a day trip for just $45.

Overlook Mountain Hike near Woodstock, NY

A 90 minute drive from NYC will bring you to the Catskills, a land of fresh heirloom tomatoes from roadside markets, clear night skies filled with stars, ice cold swimming holes and views like this:



This video was taken at a scenic overlook point on Overlook Mountain, reached via a steady uphill climb along a gravel road- about a 3-hour round trip journey. The trail head is easy to find - from the center of Woodstock, drive up Meads Mountain Road and it is across from the Tibetan Buddhist monastery of Karma Triyana Dharmachakra.  The entrance sign cautions to be wary of rattlesnakes (seriously?) ... fortunately we didn't see any.

At the top of the hike are the remains of the Overlook Mountain House, a prestigious old Catskills resort from 1820-1920. According to the www, in the 1800's it was allegedly "fashionable to take a vacation to the Catksills instead of Europe."

We stopped by the North/South Lake for a picnic lunch - great setting with boat & canoe rentals - though the beach was a bit crowded so we left in search of a swimming hole.

There are several great swimming holes around Woodstock - get ready for ice cold water. This swimming hole with a rock to jump off of is relatively easy to find - continue along 23A past Kaaterskill Falls and park in the small gravel lot on the right. Another one just outside of downtown Woodstock has a rope swing - turn right into the gravel parking road across from Gallo's nursery on Route 212.

Don't leave the Catskills without stopping by Vinnie's roadside farm stand on Route 32 to get amazing heirloom tomatoes to bring back to the city.

Catskill trees. Lots of 'em.

Dia Beacon

I can't believe I am just finally getting around to visiting Dia: Beacon. It is one of the coolest museums I've ever been to, located in a little town on the Hudson River called Beacon. Beacon is about an hour and twenty minutes from the city, with trains leaving hourly. As I mentioned in the Cold Spring post, this train ride is beautiful. The Dia has a variety of important works, which you can read about on Dia's Website but if you are not that knowledgeable about art they have works by Warhol - heard of him?

An aerial shot of the museum below (photo courtesy of Dia). You can see the train tracks to the right of the museum, alongside the river. It's easy to walk to Dia from the train- signs are everywhere.

Below is a temporary instillation featuring tons of line drawings by Sol LeWitt, custom made for the Dia space.  I asked the museum guide what would happen when the exhibit was over, as these were drawn right on the walls, and he said they'd be painted over. Kind of sad. Photo courtesy of Dia.

Much of the Dia work revolves around the concept of space, which is why Michael Heizer created these holes in the floor of the museum. I love his quote in reference to this work: "Awe is a state of mind equivalent to religious experience, I think if people feel commitment they feel something has been transcended." Also, check out this very cool shot on Smithsonian Magazine. I'm not sure I have the rights to share.

On the topic of space, this sculpture is meant to feel awkward within its confines (Richard Serra sculpture, courtesy of offmanhattan)

The town of Beacon was nice  - not quite as quaint as Cold Spring but there were definitely some nice features. There was a great little waterfront with a Sunday farmers market and a big grassy area to picnic (with playground for kids.) There is allegedly a roped-off area to swim in the summer on the river.

There was a Puerto Rican Day parade in Cold Spring, same day as the NYC parade.

Finally, I had a delicious white bean & tomato soup at this artsy cafe called The School of Jellyfish

Beacon also has a monthly festival called "Second Saturday" ... on the second Saturday of each month... which is a citywide celebration of the arts. I'll check it out sometime and let you know what that's like!

Kayaking in Cold Spring

It was about 85 degrees out, compelling me to get out of Manhattan and cool off. So my friend and I journeyed up the Hudson River to kayak in Cold Spring, NY. Trains leave about every hour from Grand Central Station, and take about an hour and twenty minutes. The ride is gorgeous, as the train snakes up the Hudson River, providing views of the river and hills beyond. Once at Cold Spring, the kayak shop Hudson Valley Outfitters is less than a 10 minute walk from the station, on Main Street. (make a reservation in advance.) They have lots of cool outdoor gear for sale which I restrained myself from buying as I have zero room in my miniature NYC closet.  You'll sign waivers and pay and then walk down to the water to get fitted for your kayak. Kayaks are about $20 per hour, and they also offer fully guided tours. We just rented on our own and were fine.

Getting hooked up with kayaks (put your stuff in a plastic bag and you can store it in the kayak)

The scenery is beautiful, and the bay is calm and easy for beginner kayakers like myself.

You can also kayak in Constitution Marsh - enter under a very low bridge to get there. We kind of had to duck to fit under since it was getting close to high tide.

We saw a bit of the marsh, including these ducks and some crazy flying fish and want to come back to explore further (there is a lot to see- it is fairly extensive with lots of wildlife)

After, we chilled at a park along the water, and then went for some beers at the Cold Spring Depot, an outdoor restaurant/ bar in the old train station. 

The waterfront was charming with a little gazebo and some B&Bs. We ate dinner at the Hudson House Inn (blue building) which had a pretty cool little bar area & fireplace that would be super cozy in the wintertime.

Cold Spring is a super-easy, relaxing day trip! Anyone have any additional Cold Spring tips?