View Full Version : Trail town near Albany, NY
I want to do a day hike on the AT after flying into Albany. My wife and I have a goal to do at least a day hike in every state the AT goes through. We are on our way to Lake Placid, and want to do a day hike and head north after that. It has to be in NY as we have already done Mass and VT before. I would like to do the hike and go to a nice small NY town (shopping for my wife) to spend the first night before heading on up north. Any advice appreciated.
Kerosene
06-11-2011, 11:27
You could hike the easternmost part of the NY AT while your wife shops in nearby Kent, CT.
Another alternative would be the AT around the Bear Mountain Bridge, perhaps while your wife tours West Point.
A third option might be the westernmost part of the NY AT around Greenwood Lake, leaving your wife to sun along a beach and hang out at an outside bar.
I covered NY through a series of day hikes in 2001 (http://www.trailjournals.com/entry.cfm?id=261533) and 2002 (http://www.trailjournals.com/entry.cfm?id=261553) that you might reference for hike ideas.
Blissful
06-11-2011, 11:36
Closest to Albany I'd think would be Salisbury, CT - you said it had to be NY but it would take some time for you to drive all the way back down to southern NY for just a day hike where the AT is then all the way back up to Lake Placid (!). I might opt for CT if you haven't hiked in that state yet.
Too bad you aren't flying to Newburg NY - hike, then go to Lake Placid from there. Only one trip needed.
But if you insist on NY - I'd make it easy on yourself, take the Thruway to where the trail crosses, get dropped off and your wife go into Paramus NJ for shopping there. Tell her to get you some stuff at Campmor. :)
My wife is going with me on the hike. It is a day hike because of her, the shopping will come the day after the hike. She hikes with me, I have to shop with her!
Closest to Albany I'd think would be Salisbury, CT - you said it had to be NY but it would take some time for you to drive all the way back down to southern NY for just a day hike where the AT is then all the way back up to Lake Placid (!). I might opt for CT if you haven't hiked in that state yet.
Too bad you aren't flying to Newburg NY - hike, then go to Lake Placid from there. Only one trip needed.
But if you insist on NY - I'd make it easy on yourself, take the Thruway to where the trail crosses, get dropped off and your wife go into Paramus NJ for shopping there. Tell her to get you some stuff at Campmor. :)
We have not done Conn yet and that is an option. I chose flying into Albany as that seemed to be the closest decent airport, but I can fly in anywhere.
Snowleopard
06-12-2011, 13:14
The nicest hike for Conn. would be the AT from Salisbury, CT north, going over Lion's Head and Bear Mt. If you want to spend a day in a town, perhaps Great Barrington MA.
Definitely hike in the Adirondacks if you're going to Lake Placid.
The nicest hike for Conn. would be the AT from Salisbury, CT north, going over Lion's Head and Bear Mt. If you want to spend a day in a town, perhaps Great Barrington MA.
Definitely hike in the Adirondacks if you're going to Lake Placid.
+1 on this. Lion's Head has great views, as does Bear. I'd park at the Lion's Head trailhead at Bunker Hill Rd in Salisbury (a nice town with several nice restaurants and merchants, pricey but friendly and high quality food and goods). Take Lion's Head Trail to A.T., about 2/3 mile, then A.T. over Lion's Head, up to Bear Mountain, and descend, carefully, Bear's steep and tricky north side.
Atop Bear, after taking in views from summit rock pile, also trek 100 yards westward off A.T. to true summit and more nice views north and west into New York and Mass. (From summit cairn, you can see downtown Albany to the NW on a clear day.)
If you have time and energy, continue north into Sages Ravine for a fairly unique, steepwalled gorge with a delicate old growth forest environment and a beautiful stream with lots of falls and cascades. From Bear/Sages, you can take the Undermountain Trail down to Rt. 41 (linking to it from Paradise Lane Trail or the A.T. as is fitting), it's a quick lift if you can get the ride from someone to the Bunker Hill Road Lion's trailhead.
Finally, sorry to babble on, but if you have spare time headed north out of Salisbury, an hour or two on the Race Brook Falls trails taking in the views of about 5 main waterfalls, each 30' or more high, the highest about 75', is highly recommended - one of my favorite trails anywhere, about 5 miles north of Undermountain Trail in Sheffield, Mass. on Rt. 41, Undermountain Road. It duplicates hiking effort in Mass, true, but trust me, you'll thank me for recommending it if you can do it.
+1 on this. Lion's Head has great views, as does Bear. I'd park at the Lion's Head trailhead at Bunker Hill Rd in Salisbury (a nice town with several nice restaurants and merchants, pricey but friendly and high quality food and goods). Take Lion's Head Trail to A.T., about 2/3 mile, then A.T. over Lion's Head, up to Bear Mountain, and descend, carefully, Bear's steep and tricky north side.
Atop Bear, after taking in views from summit rock pile, also trek 100 yards westward off A.T. to true summit and more nice views north and west into New York and Mass. (From summit cairn, you can see downtown Albany to the NW on a clear day.)
If you have time and energy, continue north into Sages Ravine for a fairly unique, steepwalled gorge with a delicate old growth forest environment and a beautiful stream with lots of falls and cascades. From Bear/Sages, you can take the Undermountain Trail down to Rt. 41 (linking to it from Paradise Lane Trail or the A.T. as is fitting), it's a quick lift if you can get the ride from someone to the Bunker Hill Road Lion's trailhead.
Finally, sorry to babble on, but if you have spare time headed north out of Salisbury, an hour or two on the Race Brook Falls trails taking in the views of about 5 main waterfalls, each 30' or more high, the highest about 75', is highly recommended - one of my favorite trails anywhere, about 5 miles north of Undermountain Trail in Sheffield, Mass. on Rt. 41, Undermountain Road. It duplicates hiking effort in Mass, true, but trust me, you'll thank me for recommending it if you can do it.
Salisbury it is. Which is the closest airport? Also we usually take a shuttle out of town and hike back, is this hike such that it crosses a road 6-7-8 miles out?
Actually, your closest & most convienent spot is just past BENNINGTON, VT. You can make the drive from Albany in just 75 min. The AT is @ 8 miles past downtown Bennington. Going sobo you will head up the rocks to Harmon Hill for great vies of Benny, and then its onto Congdon Shelter, great spot for the night.
CT is also nice, but the trail past Bennington is closest. ENJOY!
Snowleopard
06-13-2011, 11:12
If you're going on to Lake Placid, Albany is the easiest airport. Salisbury is about an hour and a half from Albany, and if you go take the Taconic State Parkway to smaller roads (rte 23, etc.) it's a pretty ride.
For the shortest drive from the airport (for NY/CT), consider Westchester County airport. Albany is 2+ hrs from Salisbury.
Salisbury it is. Which is the closest airport? Also we usually take a shuttle out of town and hike back, is this hike such that it crosses a road 6-7-8 miles out?
I agree that Albany is probably your best airport, given that Lake Placid is in one direction on your trip and Salisbury in the other. Also viable, and probably with a lot more flights, including many direct ones from Charlotte, would BDL, Bradley International between Hartford, CT and Springfield, MA. It would be a little over an hour's drive to Salisbury from Bradley, then from there you can take Rt. 7, if you want the slow, scenic route, or find the Taconic to interstates.
The key here is that from Lake Placid, you can get interstate all the way down to Bradley, though it might be an hour's more drive. I'll leave that call to you.
As to the recommended hike. You could probably arrange a shuttle as you like. Lion's Head to Bear summit is about 5 miles one way (gently uphill except in the first mile and the last half mile or so, total elevation gain of about 1300 feet), then 2.7 miles down to the valley via the A.T. and the Undermountain Trail from Riga Junction (about an 11% grade, quite rocky for the first 2/3 mile, then mellow). The shuttler could drop you at start and pick you up at finish. I don't know of shuttlers in the area, but I bet the outfitter in Salisbury, Pete Feen at Peter Beck's, could help you find someone: 860-596-4217, www.peterbecks.com (http://www.peterbecks.com). Someone else here could probably also recommend a shuttler for you.
You could also do the there-and-back loop hike from Undermountain Trailhead on Rt. 41, up to Bear, either via A.T. (5.4 mi. roundtrip) or via Paradise Lane Trail to A.T. (6.5 miles or so, with quite a steep 0.3 mile ascent of Bear's north side, about 40% grade) descending via A.T. southbound and Undermountain Trail from Riga Jxn.
The Race Brook Falls trails, time and energy permitting, are about a mile up and back, depending on your routing. Quite steep terrain, trails of varying difficulty, from moderately difficult to difficult, with easy stretches at lower elevation.
Trillium
06-13-2011, 18:15
Maria McCabe was doing shuttles back a few years ago when my sister & I did this dayhike. We stayed at her house the evening before then left our car at her home and hiked 1/2 mile up to the trailhead and then up the AT over Lion's Head and on to Bear Mountain, descended Bear Mtn to the junction w/ Paradise Land and looped back on Paradise Lane to Under or is it Over Mountain Trail back up to the AT and then back to Salisbury. This was 16 miles. To shorten it up you could come down the Under/Over Mountain Trail back to the highway and get a pick-up from Maria. Her number has been posted on WhiteBlaze a number of times so I'm sure if you search, you can find it.