Poughkeepsie, NY - Hudson Valley Trail (9/15 - 9/19/25)

Continuing our tour of the northeast US, we go back into New York and stay near Poughkeepsie at the Jellystone Gardiner. We came here to ride part of the huge Empire State Trail that stretches 750 miles across the state. The HoF Rail Trail, Hudson Valley Trail is only 7 miles long, but is connected to the Dutchess Rail Trail on the east side of the Hudson river. The trail was wide and fully-paved and was in good condition.

This is looking at the bridge (Walkway Over the Hudson) over the Hudson river. This is claimed to be the longest elevated pedestrian bridge in the world.

Looking west from that same spot, you see the Hudson Valley Trail. From here you ride west to New Palz where the trail begins. Across the bridge to the east you can take the Dutchess Rail Trail another 14 miles.

As you can see how big the overall Empire trail is, it does utilize quite a bit of on-road portions we tend to avoid in favor of rail trails.

From the bridge, you have spectacular views of the river valley. This 1.3 mile bridge was quite popular with walkers, runners, and cyclists.

Looking to the south, this waterway is only 60 miles from downtown Manhattan, NY. This bridge and park also had food trucks located at each end.

One day we drove up to the Minnewaska State Park Preserve, where you can see some amazing views of the Catskills.

Also while we were here we discovered a place called Hyde Park. Not only the home of FDR, there are several preserved mansions available here to tour. This was one of the many Vanderbilt mansions the family owned.

At the home of FDR you can also visit the presidential library also on the grounds.

Albeit a more modest home than the other mansions nearby, it looks more comfortable to live in this library room complete with a wheelchair ramp for the President.

At the Staatsburgh State Historic Site, you can tour the opulent mansion built by Ogden Mills. Many of these mansions were built during the Gilded Age (1876 - 1917) when American wealth began to expand greatly.

It is amazing to see all of this custom artwork throughout the rooms of these homes.

At the Vanderbilt mansion, you are told this was one of the smaller mansions of the Vanderbilts, but was used to stay when getting out of New York City for the spring, summer, and fall stays for a few family members.

This dining room has a dining table that expands to whatever size is needed for the occasion, although the owners did not like to entertain large groups.

Again, the ceiling art is so intricate and detailed.

Although this was not prominently displayed, this Orrery was made in the 18th century. It showed a mechanical movement of the known solar system at the time (1765). Included are 9 moons from Jupiter and Saturn.

When seeing the bed room of the lady of the house, it was made known to us that having a knee-high fence around the bed was a status symbol of the time.

Although they called this a smaller mansion, it was still 5 stories.

This area has incredible views of the Hudson Valley from these homes, which with it's location near NY City, made it a very desirable location for a summer home for the mega-rich.

From here we will continue moving back west to ride some more trails in PA. Check my next blog posts for what we saw there...