10 Most Spectacular & Best Hikes in Upstate New York – Complete Guide

Most people picture Manhattan when they hear New York. The state itself is another thing entirely: six million acres of protected Adirondack forest, a Catskills escarpment that launched American landscape painting, Finger Lakes gorges cut deep enough that the trail runs behind the waterfalls, and a 600-foot canyon out west that genuinely earns the Grand Canyon comparison.

The ten trails below cover five regions and run from a 0.3-mile paved path to an 11-mile day in the High Peaks. Fees, permit rules and closures were checked in August 2026, and one famous trail here is shut until 2027, which is exactly why it is still on the list.

These are the best hikes in Upstate New York, ordered by how much you get back for the effort you put in.

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Best Hikes in Upstate New York at a Glance

Trail	Region	Distance	Elevation gain	Difficulty
1. Kaaterskill Falls	Catskills	0.3 or 1.8 mi	400 ft	Easy / Moderate
2. Watkins Glen Gorge Trail	Finger Lakes	1.5 mi one way	425 ft	Moderate
3. Indian Head	Adirondacks	10.8 mi	1,975 ft	Hard
4. Letchworth Gorge Trail	Western New York	7 mi (or 1 mi)	Varies	Moderate
5. Bonticou Crag	Hudson Valley	3 to 4.1 mi	800 ft	Moderate / Difficult
6. Mount Beacon	Hudson Valley	4 mi	1,400 ft	Difficult
7. Ausable Chasm	Adirondacks	1.9 mi	Minimal	Easy
8. Mount Jo	Adirondacks	2 mi	700 ft	Easy / Moderate
9. Walkway Over the Hudson	Hudson Valley	2.6 mi	Flat	Easy
10. Breakneck Ridge	Hudson Valley	CLOSED	until 2027	See entry

The 10 Best Hikes in Upstate New York

1. Kaaterskill Falls

Region: Catskills  |  Type: Out and back  |  Distance: 0.3 miles to the viewing platform, or 1.8 miles to the base  |  Elevation gain: About 400 feet  |  Difficulty: Easy to the platform, moderate to the base

Kaaterskill Falls drops in two tiers for a combined 260 feet, 175 feet on the upper drop and 85 on the lower, which makes it the tallest waterfall in New York State. It is also the single most painted piece of landscape in American art history. Thomas Cole put it on canvas in 1826 and the Hudson River School followed him here for the next fifty years.

There are two entirely different hikes from the same parking area on Laurel House Road. The short one is a 0.3-mile crushed-gravel path at a gentle grade to an observation platform at the top of the falls, and it is the one to take if you have small children, a stroller or limited mobility. The longer route continues past the platform, crosses a steel footbridge, climbs a set of stone stairs onto the blue-marked Escarpment Trail and then drops steeply on the yellow Kaaterskill Falls Trail to the pools at the base. That version runs about 1.8 miles round trip with roughly 400 feet of descent and climb.

The base is where the falls actually earn the reputation. You stand in the amphitheatre with both tiers above you and the spray coming off the lower pool. It is worth the stairs.

One serious warning. People have died at Kaaterskill Falls going over the cliff edge at the top, and the Catskills Visitor Center is blunt about why: the rock at the rim is loose and unsupported, and stepping within six feet of the edge is both illegal and genuinely dangerous. Stay on the platform and behind the railings.

2. Watkins Glen Gorge Trail

Region: Finger Lakes  |  Type: One way or loop  |  Distance: 1.5 miles one way, or about 2.3 miles as a loop  |  Elevation gain: About 425 feet, most of it stairs  |  Difficulty: Moderate

Nineteen waterfalls in a mile and a half. The Gorge Trail runs along Glen Creek at the southern tip of Seneca Lake, and the trail does not just look at the water, it goes under it. At Cavern Cascade the stone path passes directly behind the falling water, and the spiral staircase through the tunnel at Jacob’s Ladder is cut into the rock itself. The stonework is Civilian Conservation Corps craft from the 1930s and it has held up remarkably well.

Roughly 800 stone steps stand between you and the upper entrance, spread across flights of 30 to 40 at a time rather than in one lung-burning push. You do not need to be a strong hiker to do this, but you do need to be steady on wet stone, because you are walking on wet stone the entire way. Waterproof boots with real tread or a pair of grippy water shoes make more difference here than on any other trail in this guide.

The gorge is seasonal. The Gorge Trail typically opens mid to late May and closes mid to late October, weather depending. The north and south rim trails stay open year-round from sunrise to sunset, but between November and May there is no access to the gorge floor or the waterfalls from them. Entry is $10 per vehicle.

One current caveat worth checking before you drive: the main tunnel entrance and Sentry Bridge at the bottom of the gorge have been closed for reconstruction since July 2025, with full reopening expected for the 2026 season. During the work, gorge access runs via the North Rim Trail from the Main, South or North entrances. Check the park page for status.

3. Indian Head

By Samantha of Seeing Sam

Region: Adirondacks  |  Type: Lollipop loop  |  Distance: About 10.8 miles  |  Elevation gain: About 1,975 feet  |  Difficulty: Hard, mostly on distance

The view from the ledges at Indian Head looks down the length of Lower Ausable Lake with the Great Range walling it in on both sides. It is the closest thing the Adirondacks have to a fjord and it is the picture most people have in their heads when they think about the High Peaks.

The hike is rated hard, but the difficulty is nearly all distance. There is no serious scrambling, the grade levels out repeatedly, and the total climb is just under 2,000 feet spread across almost 11 miles. If you can walk 11 miles you can do this, though it is worth planning to eat properly before you start rather than treating it as a casual morning out. Start clockwise, following Lake Road and then branching left onto the Gill Brook Trail, which is far more interesting than the road and passes a run of small cascades on the way up. Come back on the East River Trail and detour to Rainbow Falls and Beaver Meadow Falls.

The access rules are strict and they are the thing that catches people out. From 1 May to 31 October you need a free parking reservation from the Adirondack Mountain Reserve, booked at hikeamr.org. There are 70 spaces a day and walk-ins are turned away without one. The lot is open 5am to 7pm. Reservations open two weeks ahead on a rolling basis and cancellations do get released, so keep checking if your date is full.

The trail begins on private land under a public easement, so the rules differ from the rest of the Adirondacks. From the lot you walk about half a mile through the club grounds to the register, then a couple of miles up Lake Road before the trail proper. No drop-offs at the trailhead. Stay on marked trails, keep out of the water, and pack everything out.

4. Letchworth Gorge Trail

Region: Western New York  |  Type: One way  |  Distance: 7 miles for the full trail, or about 1 mile to Inspiration Point  |  Elevation gain: Varies by section  |  Difficulty: Moderate

This is the actual Grand Canyon of the East. The Genesee River has cut a gorge with walls up to 600 feet through Letchworth’s 14,427 acres, and three major waterfalls sit along the southern stretch of it. Middle Falls is the one everybody photographs, 107 feet high and 285 feet wide, and it is a reasonable candidate for the most impressive single waterfall in New York.

The Gorge Trail, Trail 1, runs 7 miles along the west rim and links Upper, Middle and Lower Falls with a string of overlooks in between. Allow four to five hours for the whole thing. Most first-time visitors are better off doing the southern section only, which puts all three waterfalls and Inspiration Point inside a couple of miles of walking, and saving the north end of the park for another trip.

If you have an hour rather than a day, park at Inspiration Point and walk the mile of easy trail that gives you the classic long view down the gorge to Middle Falls. It is the postcard shot and it takes almost no effort.

Entry is $10 per vehicle, collected daily from 9am to 5pm between early May and mid-October in 2026. The park itself is open year-round from 6am to 11pm. Letchworth was created in 1906 from land donated by the industrialist William Pryor Letchworth, and 66 miles of trail now run through it, so the Gorge Trail is a starting point rather than the whole story. If waterfalls are what brought you here, the waterfall trails near Bend, Oregon are the closest thing the west coast has to this.

5. Bonticou Crag

By Ian James of Hudson Valley Discovered

Region: Hudson Valley  |  Type: Loop  |  Distance: 3 miles, or 4.1 with the Northeast Trail  |  Elevation gain: About 800 feet  |  Difficulty: Moderate, or difficult via the scramble

Bonticou Crag is the best short scramble in the Hudson Valley and it is the reason people drive out to the Mohonk Preserve rather than one of the closer state parks. The route starts easily enough from the Spring Farm Trailhead, through open field and then woods along a section of former carriage road, and then it runs straight into a near-vertical rockslide of stacked boulders that you climb with your hands as much as your feet.

The scramble takes maybe twenty minutes and it is genuinely exposed on one side. If heights are a problem for you, the bypass around the rockfall reaches the same summit on a moderate-rated trail and you lose nothing but the adrenaline. There is no shame in taking it.

Do the loop counterclockwise so you climb up the scramble rather than down it. Downclimbing stacked boulders is harder, slower and considerably more dangerous, and it is the mistake most first-timers make.

The base loop is 3 miles. Extend it to 4.1 by adding the Northeast Trail along the ridge, which is worth doing for the run of viewpoints looking west to the Catskills. Day use for hikers is $15 Monday to Thursday and $20 Friday, Saturday, Sunday and holidays. Children 15 and under are free with an adult, which makes this a cheaper family day out than the sticker price suggests. If you have never done a scramble before, it is worth reading up on what scrambling actually involves before you commit to this one.

This is a popular trail and the scramble bottlenecks badly, so hikers end up queuing on the boulders. Weekday mornings are a completely different experience from Saturday afternoons.

6. Mount Beacon

Region: Hudson Valley  |  Type: Out and back  |  Distance: About 4 miles to the fire tower and back  |  Elevation gain: About 1,400 feet  |  Difficulty: Difficult

Mount Beacon is the highest point in the Hudson Highlands at 1,635 feet, and it is worth being straight about the grade: the Casino Trail climbs roughly 1,400 feet in about two miles. That is steep. Some guides call this a beginner hike and it is not one. It is a short, hard, rewarding climb.

The history is the reason to pick this over a similar-sized peak elsewhere. The mountain takes its name from the Revolutionary War signal fires lit on the summit to warn Continental troops of British movement on the river. From 1902 to 1978 the steepest funicular railway in the world ran up the north face at a maximum gradient of 74 percent, carrying visitors to the Beaconcrest Hotel and a casino at the top. The hotel burned in 1927 and the dance hall in 1968, and what is left is a powerhouse shell, the concrete foundations, and a viewing deck over the old rail bed about a mile up.

Keep following the red blazes past the ruins and you reach the Mount Beacon fire tower on the southern summit, which gives a full 360 over the Hudson Valley. On a clear day the Manhattan skyline is visible to the south. The turn-off to the tower is poorly marked and easy to walk past, so have a map open.

Plenty of people stop at the casino ruins and turn back. The views there are already good and it halves the climb, so it is a legitimate way to do this hike rather than a failure to finish it.

Beacon itself has a genuinely good main street of cafes and shops about ten minutes from the trailhead, and Dia Beacon is nearby if you want to build a full day out of it.

7. Ausable Chasm

By Kelly of Girl with the Passport

Region: Adirondacks  |  Type: Loop  |  Distance: About 1.9 miles on the main loop, 5 miles of trail in total  |  Elevation gain: Minimal  |  Difficulty: Easy

Ausable Chasm bills itself as the Grand Canyon of the Adirondacks, and while that is generous, the gorge is real enough: two miles of Potsdam sandstone walls, some of them 150 feet high, cut by the Ausable River through rock around 500 million years old. It opened to paying visitors in 1870, which makes it one of the oldest natural attractions in the country.

This is a commercial attraction rather than a state park, so there is an admission fee and the trails are private. What you get for it is a network of stone walkways, bridges and stairs built into the gorge that let you walk the rim and then descend to river level, past Rainbow Falls, Elephant’s Head and Column Rock. Around five miles of trail in total, with the main loop running about 1.9 miles.

It is the most accessible entry on this list by some distance. Sections are paved, the grades are gentle, and it works for visitors who would not attempt anything else here. That accessibility is exactly why it is worth including rather than dismissing as a tourist operation.

From roughly May to October you can add rafting or tubing down the river, guided rappelling, or a via ferrata course strung 60 to 80 feet above the water. Opening hours shift by season, typically 9am to 4pm in spring and 9am to 5pm in high summer, with last tour times an hour or so before the trails close. Check the schedule before you drive out.

8. Mount Jo

By Ruma of TheHolidayStory

Region: Adirondacks  |  Type: Loop  |  Distance: About 2 miles  |  Elevation gain: About 700 feet  |  Difficulty: Easy to moderate

Mount Jo gives you the best view-to-effort ratio in the High Peaks. The summit sits at 2,832 feet, roughly 700 feet above Heart Lake at its base, and from the top you look straight across at the MacIntyre Range with Heart Lake directly below you. Two miles of walking for a view that people work considerably harder to earn elsewhere.

Two trails run to the summit from the Adirondak Loj. The Short Trail is steeper with more rock to negotiate; the Long Trail takes a gentler line around the mountain. The standard approach is up the Short Trail and down the Long, which gets the hard work done early. They rejoin in the woods just below the summit.

It is a genuinely good first mountain for children, and there is often a summit steward at the top during the season who will happily explain what you are looking at. Dogs are allowed on leash, which makes it a useful alternative to Indian Head if you are travelling with one.

Heart Lake sits at the trailhead and you can swim in it afterwards, which in August is the main argument for doing this hike over any other.

9. Walkway Over the Hudson

By Kelly of Travel New York Now

Region: Hudson Valley  |  Type: Out and back, or loop  |  Distance: 2.6 miles out and back, or about 4 miles as a two-bridge loop  |  Elevation gain: Flat, or about 490 feet on the loop  |  Difficulty: Easy

This is a walk rather than a hike, and it is on the list because of what it is: the longest elevated pedestrian bridge in the world, 1.28 miles gate to gate and 212 feet above the Hudson. The views run north to the Catskills and south past the Mid-Hudson Bridge to the Highlands, with nothing in the way in either direction.

It opened as the Poughkeepsie-Highland Railroad Bridge on 1 January 1889 and carried freight until a fire twisted the tracks in 1974. It sat derelict for over thirty years before a community campaign reopened it as a state historic park in October 2009.

Crossing and returning is 2.6 miles on flat pavement. If you want more, a loop of about 4 miles crosses the Walkway, drops into Poughkeepsie and returns over the Mid-Hudson Bridge. The Walkway is also part of the Empire State Trail and connects the Dutchess Rail Trail on the east side with the Hudson Valley Rail Trail on the west, so it scales up as far as you want it to.

Entry is free, the park opens daily at 7am and closes at sunset, and dogs are welcome on leash. There is no shade anywhere on the crossing, which matters more than it sounds in July.

Metro-North runs to Poughkeepsie station, and from there it is a short walk to the glass elevator at Upper Landing Park, which rises 21 stories to the deck and is free to use. Note that the elevator shuts 90 minutes before the park does, which is well before sunset, so if you have timed the walk for golden hour plan on the Washington Street stairs for the way down.

10. Breakneck Ridge (Closed Until 2027)

By Anisa of Two Traveling Texans

Region: Hudson Valley  |  Status: Trailhead closed until mid-2027  |  When open: About 3.7 miles, About 1,400 feet, Difficult

Breakneck Ridge is the most famous hard hike in the Hudson Valley and it is currently shut. The Breakneck Ridge, Wilkinson Memorial and Lower Brook trailheads all closed on 21 April 2025 for construction of the Hudson Highlands Fjord Trail’s Breakneck Connector and Bridge, and the New York-New Jersey Trail Conference confirms they will stay closed until mid-2027. The Breakneck Ridge Metro-North station closed on the same date and is being fully rebuilt. Parking is prohibited along Route 9D north of the tunnel and cars are ticketed.

It is on this list because a lot of people are still planning trips around it. When it reopens it will be roughly 3.7 miles with about 1,400 feet of climbing, most of it in the first mile up an exposed rock scramble, and the payoff is the run of ledges looking down the river towards Storm King and Bannerman Castle. The work will add formal parking, restrooms and an off-road path so hikers stop walking along a 55mph highway, and the speed limit on that stretch of 9D drops to 40.

Until then, the state has confirmed which nearby trailheads stay open: Washburn and Cornish, which reach Bull Hill and the upper Breakneck viewpoints; the Notch Trailhead; Little Stony Point; and Mount Beacon, which is number six on this list. Bull Hill via Washburn is the closest substitute in character, with a comparable climb and views over the same stretch of river.

If you have a guidebook or a saved route that starts at the Breakneck trailhead, it does not work at the moment. Check the Trail Conference alerts page before you leave.

Where to Stay

Upstate New York is too big to base yourself in one place. These ten trails span roughly 350 miles east to west, so pick the region first and the town second.

Keene Valley or Lake Placid for the Adirondacks. Keene Valley puts you minutes from the Adirondack Mountain Reserve gate for Indian Head, which matters when your parking reservation has a time slot on it. Lake Placid has far more accommodation and is about 30 minutes from the Adirondak Loj for Mount Jo. Check availability in Lake Placid.

New Paltz or Beacon for the Hudson Valley and the Catskills. New Paltz sits at the foot of the Shawangunks for Bonticou Crag and is around 40 minutes from Kaaterskill Falls. Beacon puts you on the Metro-North line with the Mount Beacon trailhead in town. Check availability in New Paltz.

Watkins Glen or Corning for the Finger Lakes. Watkins Glen State Park has its own 305-site campground if you would rather sleep at the trailhead, and the town sits at the southern tip of Seneca Lake surrounded by wineries. Check availability in Watkins Glen.

Letchworth is the outlier, about 40 minutes south of Rochester and an hour east of Buffalo, so it usually works better as a stop on a wider Western New York trip than as a destination in itself.

If this trip is part of a longer run of East Coast hiking, the hikes around Boone, North Carolina make a good southern counterpart, and hiking in Colorado Springs is worth a look if you are heading west instead.

When to Hike in Upstate New York

Autumn (late September to mid-October) is the best window and everybody knows it. The Catskills and Adirondacks turn over first, the Hudson Valley about a week or two later. Indian Head and Kaaterskill Falls are at their best and at their most crowded simultaneously, and AMR reservations for October weekends go within minutes of release.

Summer (June to August) gives you the most reliable trail conditions and full access to the seasonal gorge trails. It also brings heat and humidity that people underestimate on exposed climbs like Mount Beacon, where there is little shade above the ruins. Worth reading up on what to wear hiking in hot weather before a July trip.

Spring (April to May) is peak waterfall season. Kaaterskill and Letchworth run hardest on snowmelt. The trade-off is mud, and the Gorge Trail at Watkins Glen usually stays shut until mid to late May.

Winter narrows the list considerably. The Walkway Over the Hudson stays open year-round and is genuinely good in the cold with ice on the river. Ausable Chasm keeps trails open. Mount Jo is popular in winter and usually has a broken trail, but you need snowshoes or crampons for it. The Watkins Glen Gorge Trail is closed and the rim trails give you no access to the falls.

Upstate New York Hiking FAQ