Breakneck Ridge | |
---|---|
Highest point | |
Elevation | 1,260 ft (380 m) |
Prominence | 527 ft (161 m) |
Coordinates | 41°27′35″N73°57′32″W / 41.45972°N 73.95889°W |
Geography | |
Location | North Highlands / Fishkill, New York, U.S. |
Parent range | Hudson Highlands |
Topo map | USGS West Point |
Climbing | |
Easiest route | Trail |
Breakneck Ridge is a mountain along the Hudson River between Beacon and Cold Spring, New York, straddling the boundary between Dutchess and Putnam counties. Its distinctive rocky cliffs are visible for a long distance when approached from the south, and together with Storm King Mountain on the opposite bank of the river forms Wey-Gat, or Wind Gate, the picturesque northern gateway to the Hudson Highlands.
It has several summits, the highest, some distance inland, reaching approximately 1,260 feet (384 m) above sea level. The southern face of the peak is known for its striking cliffs, the result of quarrying in past years. Lying within Hudson Highlands State Park, it offers views of the river and region and is quite popular with hikers,[ citation needed ] to the point that a rail flag stop has been established on the Metro North line which runs right by the base of the ridge along NY 9D. In 1932 a road tunnel was dug below the western slopes of the peak; it is now designated as part of Route 9D.
While several routes exist, most hikers take the white-blazed route up the mountain's west face that begins on the West (Southbound) side of Route 9D near the tunnel. After circling around to cross above the tunnels, it begins a steep, rocky and challenging climb up to the first bump of the mountain, about 720 feet (219 m) above the river, where there are views of the river and Highlands. It continues in a similar fashion over the remaining bumps until it reaches the summit, but keeps on going and becomes a trail that travels over several other summits, and eventually peters out at Beacon Fire Tower from which hikers have the option to turn around and return back the same way. [1] However, there are other small trails that lead down from the white trail, as there are blue, red, and green trails that ascend from the various other summits that the white blazed trail crosses over. They serve as a shortcut to the base of the mountain as well as trails which lead to other parts of the greater Hudson Highlands State Park area.
The Ninham Trail, named after former Wappinger chief Daniel Ninham, opened in July 2021 as an alternate route to ascend Breakneck Ridge and to provide a safer option for less experienced hikers to descend the mountain. The new trail has more than 500 stairs made from stones hand cut from Breakneck Ridge. After the opening of the Ninham Trail, the Breakneck Ridge ascent (white trail) was converted to a one-way, up only trail. [2]
Longs Peak is a high and prominent mountain in the northern Front Range of the Rocky Mountains of North America. The 14,259-foot (4346 m) fourteener is located in the Rocky Mountain National Park Wilderness, 9.6 miles (15.5 km) southwest by south of the Town of Estes Park, Colorado, United States. Longs Peak is the northernmost fourteener in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado and the highest point in Boulder County and Rocky Mountain National Park. The mountain was named in honor of explorer Stephen Harriman Long and is featured on the Colorado state quarter.
Hunter Mountain is in the towns of Hunter and Lexington, just south of the village of Hunter, in Greene County, New York, United States. At approximately 4,040 feet (1,231 m) in elevation, it is the highest peak in the county and the second-highest peak in the Catskill Mountains.
Hudson Highlands State Park is a non-contiguous state park in the U.S. state of New York, located on the east side of the Hudson River. The park runs from Peekskill in Westchester County, through Putnam County, to Beacon in Dutchess County, in the eastern section of the Hudson Highlands.
Storm King Mountain is a mountain on the west bank of the Hudson River just south of Cornwall-on-Hudson, New York. Together with Breakneck Ridge on the opposite bank of the river it forms "Wey-Gat" or Wind Gate, the picturesque northern narrows of the Hudson Highlands. Its distinctive curved ridge is the most prominent aspect of the view south down Newburgh Bay, from Newburgh, Beacon, and the Newburgh-Beacon Bridge. It can also be seen by southbound travelers on nearby sections of the New York State Thruway. This view was a popular subject for early artists of the Hudson River School.
The Long Path is a 357-mile (575 km) long-distance hiking trail beginning in New York City, at the West 175th Street subway station near the George Washington Bridge and ending at Altamont, New York, in the Albany area. While not yet a continuous trail, relying on road walks in some areas, it nevertheless takes in many of the popular hiking attractions west of the Hudson River, such as the New Jersey Palisades, Harriman State Park, the Shawangunk Ridge and the Catskill Mountains. It offers hikers a diversity of environments to pass through, from suburbia and sea-level salt marshes along the Hudson to wilderness and boreal forest on Catskill summits 4,000 feet (1,220 m) in elevation.
The Hudson Highlands are mountains on both sides of the Hudson River in New York state lying primarily in Putnam County on its east bank and Orange County on its west. They continue somewhat to the south in Westchester County and Rockland County, respectively. The highlands are a subrange of the Appalachian Mountains.
Slide Mountain is the highest peak in the Catskill Mountains of the U.S. state of New York. It is located in the town of Shandaken in Ulster County. While the 4,180-foot (1,270 m) contour line on topographic maps is generally accepted as its height, the exact elevation of the summit has never been officially determined by the U.S. National Geodetic Survey or its predecessors, and many informal surveys suggest the mountain may actually top 4,200 feet (1,280 m) above sea level.
New York State Route 9D (NY 9D) is a north–south state highway in the Hudson Valley region of New York in the United States. It starts at the eastern end of the Bear Mountain Bridge at an intersection with U.S. Route 6 (US 6) and US 202 in Westchester County, and follows the eastern shore of the Hudson River for 25.21 miles (40.57 km) to a junction with US 9 north of the village of Wappingers Falls in Dutchess County. While US 9 follows a more inland routing between the bridge and Wappingers Falls, the riverside course of NY 9D takes the route through the village of Cold Spring and the city of Beacon.
Schunemunk Mountain is the highest mountain in Orange County, New York. The 1,664-foot (507 m) summit is located in the town of Blooming Grove, with other portions in Cornwall and Woodbury. The community of Mountain Lodge Park is built up its western slope.
Anthony's Nose is a 900+ ft (270 m) peak in the Hudson Highlands along the east bank of the Hudson River in the hamlet of Cortlandt Manor, New York. It lies at the extreme northwest end of Westchester County, and serves as the east anchor of the Bear Mountain Bridge.
Beacon Mountain, locally Mount Beacon, is the highest peak of Hudson Highlands, located south of City of Beacon, New York, in the Town of Fishkill. Its two summits rise above the Hudson River behind the city and can easily be seen from Newburgh across the river and many other places in the region. The more accessible northern peak, at 1,516 feet (462 m) above sea level, has a complex of radio antennas on its summit; the 1,595 feet (486 m) southern summit has a fire lookout tower, which was built in 1931.
The Metacomet-Monadnock Trail is a 114-mile-long (183 km) hiking trail that traverses the Metacomet Ridge of the Pioneer Valley region of Massachusetts and the central uplands of Massachusetts and southern New Hampshire. Although less than 70 miles (110 km) from Boston and other large population centers, the trail is considered remarkably rural and scenic and includes many areas of unique ecologic, historic, and geologic interest. Notable features include waterfalls, dramatic cliff faces, exposed mountain summits, woodlands, swamps, lakes, river floodplain, farmland, significant historic sites, and the summits of Mount Monadnock, Mount Tom and Mount Holyoke. The Metacomet-Monadnock Trail is maintained largely through the efforts of the Western Massachusetts Chapter of the Appalachian Mountain Club (AMC). Much of the trail is a portion of the New England National Scenic Trail.
The Appalachian National Scenic Trail spans 14 U.S. states over its roughly 2,200 miles (3,500 km): Georgia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine. The southern end is at Springer Mountain, Georgia, and it follows the ridgeline of the Appalachian Mountains, crossing many of its highest peaks and running almost continuously through wilderness before reaching the northern end at Mount Katahdin, Maine.
Sugarloaf Hill is a 785 ft (239 m) peak along the Hudson River in Putnam County, New York, part of the Hudson Highlands. It was named by the Dutch for its resemblance in outline to a sugarloaf when sailing up the river towards it.
The Quinnipiac Trail is a 24-mile (39 km) Blue-Blazed hiking trail in New Haven County, Connecticut. It is the product of the evolution and growth of the first 10.6-mile (17.1 km) trail designated in Connecticut's Blue-Blazed Hiking Trail system, with its light-blue rectangular vertical painted blazes.
Brace Mountain is the peak of a ridge in the southern Taconic Mountains, near the tripoint of the U.S. states of New York, Connecticut and Massachusetts. Its 2,311-foot (704 m) main summit is located in New York; it is the highest point in that state's Dutchess County.
The Tanawha Trail, stretching 13.5 miles (21.7 km) from Julian Price Park to Beacon Heights parallels the Blue Ridge Parkway on Grandfather Mountain in North Carolina, in the United States. Tanawha, the Cherokee word for fabulous hawk or eagle is an appropriate name for this trail that offers hikers views of distant mountains. Completed in 1993, the Tanawha Trail, like the final section of the Parkway it mirrors, is unique in construction. The trail traverses a fragile and ancient ecosystem and leads hikers through a surprising range of biological and geological terrains. Some sections tunnel through thickets of laurel and rhododendron. Others dip down into remote hardwood coves and then ascend into evergreen glens. Boulder fields and cascading streams punctuate the landscape.
The Wilkinson Memorial Trail is a public footpath in the Hudson Highlands region of the U.S. state of New York. It generally follows the Dutchess–Putnam county line along the latter's northwest corner, from the banks of the Hudson River near Breakneck Ridge to North Highland, just south of the county line in Philipstown. At 9.5 miles (15.3 km) in length it is the longest trail in the Hudson Highlands State Park system; although parts of the trail are on other public and private parcels in the area.
Sugarloaf Mountain is a 900-foot (270 m) peak located in the town of Fishkill near the Hudson River and Breakneck Ridge. One of several similarly named mountains in the U.S. state of New York, it is part of the Hudson Highlands, located entirely within Hudson Highlands State Park.
Breakneck Brook, sometimes Breakneck Valley Brook, is a 1.7-mile-long (2.8 km) tributary of the Hudson River located entirely in the Putnam County town of Philipstown, New York, United States. It rises at Surprise Lake and flows southwest towards the Hudson from there, mostly through Hudson Highlands State Park. The name comes from Breakneck Ridge to its north.