Rural getaways near NYC???

[Barcode]

I live about an hour from the White Mountains, and while I love them to death, don't go hiking there in April. May, or better yet early June, is alot safer. The weather turns on a dime up there, and every year people get lost, sometimes dead, usually because they weren't prepared for sudden changes in the weather. Mt Washington gets snow into May (sometimes June, but not often).

I hike Tuckerman's Ravine on Mt. Washington every April, and I'm not dead yet. However, I do agree with Nell. You need to be smart and prepared for the worst or else ye'll be jumped by Mr. Dead.

 

[Eridanis]

Another possibility is to drive up to Bear Mountain, about 45 miles north of the City (I grew up in Highland Falls, right nearby.) You can stay at the Bear Mountain Inn, go skiing on the mountain if that's your style; take walks around Hessian Lake (the sidewalk should be shovled the whole way round); take a ten minute drive over to West Point, where you can spend a whole day walking the grounds, driving down to World's End (where the Hudson takes a rare bend; gave the Brits fits during the Revolution), walking around Fort Putnam, or spending a few hours at the West Point Museum (weapondry from anient times to modern - some swords and armor there, if I remember correctly). If interested in sports, you might want to check to see if Army hockey or basketball have home games. Have lunch at Schade's in Highland Falls, which makes excellent sub sandwiches. (Drive past the Parade Grounds, where I fired off model rockets as a lad. )

You could easily get 3-4 days of activities, especially if you just spend one of those days relaxing & reading in front of the gigantic fireplaces in the common area of the Inn. And the best part is, from Brooklyn, you'd only be spending at most two hours each way in the car (assuming bad traffic on the Hudson crossings - get the most out of your trip by crossing the GWB and driving up the Palisades Parkway).

Anyway, have fun!

 

[BMF]

I live about an hour from the White Mountains, and while I love them to death, don't go hiking there in April. May, or better yet early June, is alot safer. The weather turns on a dime up there, and every year people get lost, sometimes dead,...

That is very true. I used to live near there. Up state NY is a beutiful place but it can be dangerous, especially in the winter time. And winter lasts until April or even May some years. I can remember seeing 3+ feet of snow fall in one night when I lived there. And winter temperatures got as low as 30 below zero or more. It always reminded me of Hoth, in The Empire Strikes Back.

 

[Nellisir]

I hike Tuckerman's Ravine on Mt. Washington every April, and I'm not dead yet. However, I do agree with Nell. You need to be smart and prepared for the worst or else ye'll be jumped by Mr. Dead.

Well, my brother, sister, & various friends all ski Tuckerman's every year, and it's a very fun thing to do. I think I overreacted to the initial post -- I was reading a multi-day hike into it, which would require alot of preparation. Spending a long weekend in Franconia or North Conway in May would be really cool, though. Sometime before Memorial Day, when all the -real- tourists come up... ;-)

Nell.

PS - if you're into winter hiking, a few of the Appalachian Trail huts in the White Mountains are open over the winter. Can't recall which ones, but that's always an option.