Hudson Highlands State Park, NY: Breakneck Ridge-Bull Hill-Cornish Estate-Little Stony Point

ABOUT THE PARK:
Hudson Highlands State Park - New York State Office of Parks and Recreation
Breakneck Ridge - Wikipedia
Cornish Estate - Hudson Valley Ruins
Little Stony Point - Paddle NY

DIRECTIONS:
GPS Coordinates 41.426706, -73.965436

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No sign for the parking lot, easy to miss. Heading north on 9D, drive slowly leaving the town of Cold Spring and watch for the lot on your right less than a mile out of town directly across from the Little Stony Point sign on the left.  Get there early - the lot fills up fast.

TRAIL MAP:
East Hudson Trail Map #102 - NY/NJ Trail Conference (best map)
Hudson Highlands North Trail Map - NY State Office of Parks and Recreation

HIKE DISTANCE:
Cornish Estates - Breakneck Ridge - Bull Hill Loop:  8 miles
Cornish Estates - Breakneck Ridge Loop: 5.5 miles
Little Stony Point:  1 mile

HIKE DESCRIPTION:
The most popular way to hike Breakneck Ridge is up the white-blazed Breakneck Ridge Trail a little farther north on 9D.  That almost vertical trail is beyond the capabilities of my dog and probably not a good idea for me with my fear of heights.  So we went the back way, still a strenuous hike, minus the crowds, same fantastic views.

From the north end of the parking lot, pick up the white-blazed Washburn Trail just beyond the trail map box.  After only a few steps, turn left on the blue-blazed Cornish Trail at the sign.

The trail is somewhat overgrown initially, but passable.  After a quarter of a mile the trail turns right on a paved drive, the original drive to the Cornish Estate.

Another half mile along go left at a fork to the mansion ruins.  (This link contains pictures of the original mansion.)

Continuing along the path through the ruins towards the sound of water, meet up with the red-blazed Brook Trail which leads to waterfalls reached by keeping straight a short distance when the trail turns right.

Breakneck Brook Waterfalls

Bridge over Breakneck Brook on yellow-blazed Undercliff Trail

The yellow-blazed trail ascends more steeply with some rock scrambles.  Going in this direction the trail is not well-blazed but it is in the opposite direction so if you are not seeing blazes, turn around to find them going the other way to be sure you are on track.

The yellow-blazed trail terminates at the white-blazed Breakneck Ridge Trail beyond the steepest parts of the Breakneck Ridge Trail.  Turn right and go up one fairly steep scramble to the views Breakneck Ridge is famous for.

Rock Scramble to Views

View from Breakneck Ridge

Panoramic View from Breakneck Ridge - Storm King Mountain in center (click to enlarge)

Bannerman Castle on Pollepel Island from Breakneck Ridge

Bull Hill (Mount Taurus) from Breakneck Ridge

Newburgh Beacon Bridge from Breakneck Ridge

Leaving the Breakneck Ridge Trail, turn right on the blue-blazed Notch Trail to ruins of the Cornish dairy barn.

The blue trail comes to an intersection with the red trail.  Turn left on blue to continue up and over Bull Hill or keep straight on red to connect with the blue-blazed Cornish Trail back to the parking lot for a shorter hike.

View South from Bull Hill

Washburn Trail over Bull Hill

Descending from Bull Hill, a short side trail loops around the inside of an old abandoned quarry.

Loop Trail through Quarry

After arriving back at the parking lot, it's worth taking a short trip over to Little Stony Point.  Cross over 9D and take the foot bridge over railroad tracks.  At the intersection with the "no swimming" sign there are 3 options.  The right trail goes directly to the north where the beach is - expect lots of people heading in this direction in the summer.  Left loops around south to north coming out at the beach and returning to this intersection.  The center trail goes up to the top of the cliffs for great views.  It's 1 mile total to walk both the lower and upper trails.

View north from Little Stony Point

"The Beach" at the north end of Little Stony Point

Breakneck Ridge (left) and Bull Hill (right) from Little Stony Point Cliffs

Unfortunately, because this area is so hugely popular, litter is abundant.  We packed out as much as we could and luckily were able to deposit it in the bins at Little Stony Point to lighten the load before finishing our hike.

HIKE SUMMARY:
[  0.00]  White-blazed trail briefly to right on blue-blazed Cornish Trail
[  0.25]  Blue-blazed trail turns right on paved drive (gates to left)
[  0.75]  At fork go left on narrower paved path to mansion ruins
[  0.90]  Beyond collapsed bridge with blowdown, right on red-blazed Brook Trail
[  1.00]  Red-blazed trail turns right but short out and back straight goes to waterfalls
[  1.30]  Cross straight over mowed grass road with old concrete pillars on either side
[  1.40]  Keep straight on red when blue terminates at red to the right.
[  1.50]  Turn left on yellow-blazed Undercliff Trail, cross bridge
[  1.90]  Yellow trail terminates at white-blazed Breakneck Ridge Trail, turn right on white
[  2.50]  Side trail to left with views
[  3.00]  Right on blue-blazed Notch Trail
[  3.50]  Blue trail turn right on woods road with view of reservoir ahead
[  3.70]  Cornish dairy barn ruins
[  3.80]  Left on blue when red goes straight***
                *** For 5.5 mile loop straight on red to left on blue Cornish Trail back to parking
[  4.90]  Straight on white-blazed Washburn Trail when blue trail terminates; trail crosses woods road - easy to miss, watch for blazes
[  5.40]  Side trails to views
[  6.15]  Keep straight on white crossing over yellow-blazed Undercliff Trail
[  7.25]  Turn right on unmarked side trail to loop around inside of old quarry
[  7.50]  Right on white at end of quarry loop
[  8.00]  Arrive back at parking lot

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