Hiking Leon Levy Preserve in New York

Leon Levy Preserve is another one of those hiking locations you may have never heard of. I say that mainly because we have lived within an hour’s drive of this location for the past 3 years and just now noticed while fumbling around on Google Maps.

It isn’t a location with breathtaking views of the Hudson Valley and doesn’t have any epic water features, but it does have a certain charm to it.

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NATURE IS NICE.

Deanna is at it again with her beautiful photos (gallery above)! As soon as you enter the preserve’s parking lot there is a small flower garden nearby I recommend you check out. It is filled with beautiful flowers and there is a short little path taking you through. Obviously if you head there in the winter time it may be a bit different scenery. 🙂

THE BLACK MANSION

After hiking most (not all) of the trails at Leon Levy Preserve, we noticed the main scenic features besides the beautiful woods, are ruins from an old mansion. The Black Mansion was built in 1899 and obviously had some issues in 1979.

If you want to learn a bit more about these ruins and the park from the official site, click here. On top of the Black mansion ruins, there are also various outbuilding ruins scattered throughout the property.

HAUNTED!?

Apparently some locals say the area is haunted, but the only thing that caught us off guard on our visit was this young buck hiding in the bushes. He didn’t move a muscle as we walked around admiring the stone work within the remaining standing structures. It is always fun stumbling across woodland animals, especially the ones that don’t have humans on their menu.

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I FOUND YOU

After viewing the scenic meadow lands near the Black mansion ruins, we headed off to see what else this preserve had to offer. Some of the trails are open to horses (solid lines on the map) and others are only intended for hiking.  We mainly stuck to the solid lines on the map while we were exploring with the exception of the dotted yellow, yellow-purple, purple, and silver trails.

FUN TRAILS!

We did sidetrack ourselves to a less than exciting dried up pool called a “Vernal Pool.” Apparently these are just defined as low lying areas of land that can seasonally collect water and are beneficial to the wildlife in the area.

Well, we must have showed up a tad late because it looked like some mud with leaves on it. Then again, we at least got to read an interesting sign so not all was lost.

SHADE ON A HOT SUNNY DAY

The more we strolled into the woods the heavy the vegetation seemed to get. Makes sense right? We were seeing many signs of early autumn as the path was covered in multi-colored leaves.

Nowadays it seems like they should just name the season pumpkin spice. We are getting fairly excited for all the fall foliage though, one of the main advantages of living in the northeast.

WOODSY VISTAS

In the image directly above, you can see what is one of two vistas located in the park. Like I said in the very first paragraph of this blog, it is not the most exciting vista. However, it is a pretty cool lookout over a valley between two decent sized hills. Again, not really the preserve’s main attraction, but at least offers some elevation changes right?

THE LARGEST ROCK IN THE PARK

After climbing the largest rock and to the highest point I could find in the preserve, I still couldn’t see Hudson River as mentioned in this website. However, maybe in a prime time of the year…aka winter, late fall, or early spring when the leaves are all down and on a VERY clear day, you might be able to see the Hudson River.

I honestly am going to make this a goal of mine to come back here and check. I still think they are pulling my leg, but like I said, within an hour’s drive is worth seeing the Hudson River from that distance.

We hope you enjoyed our miniature adventure through Leon Levy Preserve in New York. If we do come back to this preserve when the leaves have all fallen, I will update this post on our findings of the views.

OTHER NEARBY HIKES

Ward Pound Ridge Park

Mountain Lakes Park

Teatown Lake Reservation

Seth Low Pierrepont State Park

Weir Farm National Historic Site

NOTE FROM WRITER

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Adventure On!