Hiking Mount Beacon in New York
Hiking Mount Beacon In New York? Ok! Today we are going to be sharing with you another adventure we recently took in the Hudson Valley within the state of New York. This strenuous hike took us all the way to the top of Mount Beacon and up a fire tower!
Before you head to this park I recommend a few things.
1) You are in better shape than I was when I first hopped on this mountain. You may want to tackle a few shorter elevation hikes in the area first to get yourself in shape.
2) Wear boots that support your ankles as this is a very rocky terrain and has quite a few loose rocks laying around.
–> MOUNT BEACON TRAIL MAP <– (Link to www.scenichudson.org)
TIME TO REALLY HIKE
After making your way up the red trail from the parking lot, the trail wastes no time gaining elevation. I hope these photos (above) give you a general idea of how strenuous this trail really is.
There were some parents taking their younger kids up this trail at a snails pace, but definitely use your best judgement on whether or not you can take this mountain on. (Totally worth all the hard work if you think you can!)
WHEEL HOUSE & LOOKOUT
After only about a mile hike up (granted a very steep mile up) you already get some awesome views overlooking the nearby city of Beacon, NY as well as the Hudson River and various hills/mountains in the distance.
It seemed as though most people did call it quits around this area the day we went hiking as the rest of our hike we were mostly on our own. However, if this is as far as you want to go, you will not be disappointed in all the fantastic panoramic views you get to enjoy!
CASINO REMAINS
It doesn’t look like we got a picture of the wheel house, but if you check out the video embedded at the top of the post, we do show a couple short clips of that area. The wheel house and casino remains have some interesting history behind them.
There used to be a cable car taking people up and down from the side of the mountain (very steep portion of Mount Beacon’s north side) up to a casino. I won’t go into the details as I am not an expert, but I did find a really cool website that has some awesome historic pictures and information you can visit if you click here (www.inclinerailway.org).
After enjoying a short snack and rest at the top of this first overlook, it was time to keep on trekking up the mountain towards the fire tower. Luckily, there is a short flat area between these two peaks so you can rest your legs and catch your breath before you head upwards once more.
EPIC TOWER
Although the fire tower did seems like ages away from the casino ruins, it honestly didn’t take us all that long to get up towards the fire tower. There was so much beautiful scenery around to look at, I think it distracted us long enough to kind of forget about the distance we had traveled.
Oh, and check out the photo Deanna took (above) of the little group of stacked rocks. Kind of reminded me a bit of the Rock Lot we visited over in Connecticut but on a much smaller scale. 🙂
FALSE PEAK…
After reaching what we thought was close to the peak, we soon realized there was still one more climb upwards needed to reach the fire tower on the very top of the mountain. This section of the hike could be a bit more slippery after a rain just FYI as there are a lot of smooth rock faces to climb over.
STRENUOUS BUT WORTH IT
After a good hour and a half (probably a bit slower mostly due to the fact we were filming and taking photos on the way up) we had finally reach the top of the mountain. The views at this elevation were simply fantastic overlooking and higher up than any of the surrounding peaks.
The next challenge however was to make our way up to the top of the fire tower, which can be interesting when you have a mild fear of heights. (My advice is to concentrate on the metal stairs in front of you until you reach the very top if you are a little scared of heights and avoid looking around until you are at the top).
EPIC VIEWS
I added 9 photos in the above gallery for you to enjoy…and some may say that isn’t even enough to capture all the beauty to be seen at the top. Some of these photos Deanna took after climbing to the top of the fire tower, others are along side it. It is very neat being able to see miles and miles off into the distance.
Even though it was a relatively cloudy day, we could still see the outlines of the skyline in NYC down south of the fire tower. If you aren’t sure which way is south, there is literally a compass painted on the rock below you can use as reference. 🙂
OTHER HIKES NEARBY
NOTE FROM WRITER
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Also be sure to check out Deanna’s food blog when you get the chance! A lot of awesome and healthy recipes to use there!
Adventure On!
