Transit Accessible Hikes from NYC

Living in the city for someone who enjoys being in the outdoors, away from crowds of people can be tough. Lucky for us, although the sprawling city might feel all-consuming at times, majority of the state of New York (and New Jersey!) is full of lush forests and moderate to difficult trails.

The first option is to take the Metro North from Grand Central. I've only been to Cold Spring and Beacon via the train, but along the way I've definitely scouted out hikes at the Peekskill and Garrison stops. The train ticket is about $17.50 one way.

The train takes about 1.5 hours from GC to Cold Spring, and there you can hike all the way to Beacon or do some shorter loops like Bull Hill. Difficulty can be anywhere from easy to difficult as you can wander and add elevation to your hike. Breakneck Ridge was my favourite hike in the area, but that's closed for the next two years until 2027 for trail maintenance and improvements to the infrastructure. You can find the trail update here.

Cold Spring has a cute town with places to eat and ice cream to enjoy, so it makes for a great stop as well. The best time to visit would be Spring (May in particular) when the weather is still cool and not too buggy yet, and Fall when the leaves have changed colour.

Beacon is another great place to get a moderate-difficult hike in. With a charming main street filled with breweries, coffee shops and bread galore, you should leave some time afterwards for post-hiking snacks. The trailhead is a bit further from the train station (almost 2 miles), but hiking on a Monday morning, it was just us and the birds. I highly recommend stopping at Barb's Butchery for their burgers, The Hudson Valley for brews and Beacon Creamery for the delicious ice cream!

Another option is to hop onto the NJ transit and make your way to Harriman State Park. Make your way to Harriman Station and hike the Sapphire Trail until you get to the Appalachian Trail. It was such a surprise to see how close to the famous AT you could get via public transit! You'll have to cross Arden Valley Rd and walk towards the Lemon Squeezer Rock Gap. I do not recommend doing this hike in the rain. The path down the AT was steep and rocky and on our way back to the train we opted to walk along the 17 to avoid slipping on rocks.

These are my top three recommendations for transit-accessible hikes. If you have access to a car, I do also recommend Gertrude's Nose - that one is a lot of fun. Anyways, happy hiking and remember to practice good trail etiquette!