Where Can You Join the Famed Appalachian Trail in the Hudson Valley?

If you consider yourself an outdoors person and spend time in the Hudson Valley, you probably spend every weekend out on a trail or on a lake enjoying yourself. Have you ever thought about walking or hiking the Appalachian Trail?

The Appalachian Trail is one of the longest trails in the United States, covering more than 2100 miles and spans 14-states, starting in Georgia and ending in Maine. The distance it covers in New York State is just under 94 miles total. Want to do it?

How much of the Appalachian Trail goes through New York State?

There are many spots to join the trail (all 94 miles of it) including spots in the Hudson Valley. In fact (another point of fact from their website), New York has the lowest elevation on the entire trail, ranging from 124' to 1433'. Think you are up for it? The trail rating in NYS has a difficulty of a 2 up to an 8.

Where can you join the Appalachian Trail in the Hudson Valley?

Depending on how you are hiking, say you only want to do a day or two of it, there are parking areas along Route 52 in Stormville. There are other spots, including the Zoo at Bear Mountain, and in Pawling, that you can also do just a day hike from. You can park your car (limited spots) and then enjoy your hike. If you are looking at this as your US El Camino, you might want to allow the months it will take to hike the entire path and the 14 states.

How long would it take to hike the entire Appalachian Trail, start to finish?

The obvious answer is that depends on you. If you are a 'Thru-Hiker' and do the whole trail, expect it to take about 7 months. You will need to get into shape for it. You can also do a section a year, covering as many days as you can, while camping on the trail. So what do you think? When do you want to start?

Think the Appalachian Trail is too much for you? Here are a few more hikes that will take less time