Five Interesting Things To Do In The Hudson River Valley

Despite numerous visits to New York, I had never been just a few hours north to the Hudson River Valley. On a visit to see my daughter I finally remedied that situation and we enjoyed a few days in Hudson exploring the river valley. Come along as we discover five fun things to do there!

About the Hudson River Valley

The Hudson River is considered to be one of the prettiest rivers in the United States. It's only a 45 minute drive from the busy streets of Manhattan (barring legendary NY traffic, of course) which makes for the perfect weekend getaway. It's named for the explorer Henry Hudson, who was sailing for the Dutch East India Company, when he discovered it in 1609. The Valley has long been a getaway for NYC dwellers - in 1895 the New York Times called it "the little colony of millionaires up the river." It's recently undergone a renaissance of "hipsters" from Brooklyn and beyond, making it quite the cool place to be and live.

Walkway Over The Hudson State Historic Park

The world's longest elevated pedestrian bridge, 1.28 miles from side to side, is located in Poughkeepsie, New York and it's called the Walkway Over The Hudson. There are breathtaking 360 degree views of the Hudson River and the surrounding valley from 212 feet above the water. (And for those of you who aren't keen on heights, there is a chest high railing on both sides of the walkway for safety) It's free to all, too! 

The Walkway is open from 7am until sunset - weather permitting - and has ADA handicapped accessible entrances with a 21 story glass enclosed ADA compliant elevator. And there are restrooms located on each end of the walkway in the visitor centers. 

There are annual events such as Walktoberfest, Mayfest and 4th of July fireworks and if you really enjoy your time there, then you can get a yearly membership to help offset the cost of some 600,000 visitors per year.

The day we went was a very cold, blustery day - especially once you got out to the unprotected part of the bridge. (We were there in the springtime but I think that fall would be gorgeous) We did it, though, I wasn't sure how I would feel about being that high up. I had no problem with it even though I'm usually leery of being high up and not enclosed. They're right - the views are awesome.

If you'd like to extend your experience, then you can visit any one of 9 Discovery Zones in Poughkeepsie including the Poughkeepsie Waterfront, historic neighborhoods and the Walkway Loop Trail, a 4.2 mile loop trail crossing two bridges with river views and points of interest.

Storm King Art Center

Storm King Art Center, named after close by Storm King Mountain, is an open air museum in New Windsor, New York. It contains the largest collection of contemporary sculptures in the United States. From that statistic you can surmise that it is large. Very large. 500 acres large. I'm thinking that you could spend an entire weekend just seeing Storm King. We, unfortunately, had only an afternoon. But we did our best!

Mirrored selfie fence

Founded in 1960 to be a museum dedicated to Hudson River Valley School painting, a year in the organizers decided the museum would be better off concentrating on modern sculpture.

Open Wednesday through Monday with timed entry tickets required, Storm King is open rain or shine. We found that out first hand as it started to rain when we were there. Luckily, we were almost done with our tour. But it did give us two sides to the museum - sunny and moody. (The museum isn't kidding when it says it's open "rain or shine" - visitors may be encouraged to shelter in one of the buildings during storms though)

Visitor Center

Bike rentals are available - you can't bring your own bike in though - maps are given, picknicking is allowed as are strollers but parking can be difficult - they have on site parking and off site with a shuttle. 

I'd highly recommend visiting Storm King if you're in the area. Especially if you are museum averse. Here you can walk - or ride - a million steps while seeing art, and all of it is outside.

Home of Franklin D. Roosevelt National Park

Birthplace and home to the 32nd and longest serving president of the United States, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Springwood is located in the town of Hyde Park in New York state. The grounds feature the house, outbuildings, flower gardens, walking trails and the graves of Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt. (There are 898 acres run by the National Park Service with a good place to start, as at any national park, being the Visitor Center.)

 Tours of the house are given daily. Unfortunately for us the house was not open when we visited. We did, however, get to take a walk around the exterior of the house with a park ranger giving a history of Springwood and telling many interesting stories about FDR's life here.( He was an extremely interesting man - as was his wife an interesting woman - and I learned a lot from our visit)

 The house was a simple farmhouse purchased by Franklin's father in 1867. By 1915, FDR and his mother did a major renovation adding two large wings and updating the entrance portico to befit his growing family and political aspirations. 

Nearby are the Franklin D Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum, the Eleanor Roosevelt National Historic Site, Val-Kill and the Vanderbilt Mansion National Historic Site. 

Lyndhurst Mansion

Lyndhurst Mansion was our first stop out of the city on our way along the Hudson River. Also known as the Jay Gould Estate, Lyndhurst is a Gothic Revival house on 67 acres on the Hudson River about 1/2 mile from the Tappan Zee Bridge. Unfortunately, there were no tours on the day we were there (they were preparing for a huge event - scroll down to see what it was ) but we were able to tour the grounds and gardens- a grounds pass is available for $10 - while taking in the view of the widest point of the Hudson. And we were the only people there!

First constructed in 1838, it has been the home of the Paulding, Merritt and Gould families. What started out as a country summer villa became one of America's finest examples of Gothic Revival architecture. At times it has been a summer home, a site of classes for the impoverished, and a home for soldiers and seamen. It became a museum and historic site in 1965.

Now the site of film, television and photography exhibits, Lyndhurst has been in film (House of Dark Shadows, Gloria, and even a Radio Shack commercial)and is currently the spot where The Gilded Age is filmed. And it is regularly the spot for wedding photography. You can attend many events here including the Sherlock Holmes Mystery Theater and, on the day we visited, the 146th Annual Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show - actually they were building and preparing for the show which was to happen that weekend.

At first I was concerned that we couldn't see inside the mansion but after visiting the grounds and seeing the views, I don't think we missed out.The garden itself is quite spectacular - at the time it was built the conservatory/greenhouse was the largest in the country at 19,000 square feet and 380 feet long. 

Quite simply, a beautiful spot with beautiful views.

Dia: Beacon 

In a former Nabisco box printing factory, Dia in Beacon, New York, is a collection of art from the 1960's to present day. Nearly 300,000 square feet, and located on the Hudson River, this site of contemporary art has 34,000 square feet of skylights.

Divided into several, single artist galleries, Dia Beacon is known as a "daylight museum" (due to all of the skylights) and a 21st century art museum. It is only open from Friday through Monday and admission is $20 general, $18 for seniors and $12 for students. 

It's probably the kind of place that I only need to go to once - and I'm certain that's true for Mr. UR. If you're old school, you would call this avant garde (or maybe not even old school but just old) But I'm glad I experienced it. I'm sure it broadened my horizons which is good to do sometimes.

So there you have it. Five interesting - and unique - things to do in the Hudson River Valley. Only a few hours north of the city - driving or by public transport - and it's a whole new world to explore.

Linking up with: My Corner of the World at Photographing New Zealand!