Across 11 counties, this region of the Hudson River National Heritage Area is home to world-renowned hiking trails, extraordinary architecture, and dozens of special towns. The area also boasts vineyards, orchards and sustainable-food champions like the Stone Barns Center for Food & Agriculture. The renowned Storm King Art Center sculpture park and Dia:Beacon, a museum in a former factory, display large-scale work by 20th and 21st century artists.
The sweeping landscapes of the Catskill Mountains and Shawangunk Ridge, a sliver of wilderness stretching up to the Hudson River, provide the backdrop for the Hudson Valley’s historic treasures. The region’s many estates are a reminder of the wealthy entrepreneurs who built them, and some—like Kykuit, the Rockefeller family’s country estate in Pocantico Hills—are open to the public. Visitors can learn more about the area’s storied past at the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Presidential Library, where artifacts reveal FDR’s life and presidency, from his paralyzing polio diagnosis in 1933 to his death in 1945.
History continues to shape the region. In the mid-19th century, landscape painters like Thomas Cole and Frederic Edwin Church started leaving their Manhattan studios to seek inspiration in the valley’s unspoiled natural beauty, and their works created the first American homegrown style of artistic expression—the Hudson River School.
The region’s natural splendor has always drawn families to its shores, and today the area attracts thousands of outdoor enthusiasts seeking a respite from the bustle of big-city living. The pristine beauty of more than 500 lakes and ponds and hundreds of miles of hiking trails—including six miles of the venerable Appalachian Trail—encourage outdoor adventurers to return year after year. And it’s not just the outdoors that draws people to the region; downtown Troy is a flourishing business, research and educational center thanks in part to its proximity to Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, while towns like Wallkill and Port Jervis have become shopping and dining destinations.
It’s easy to explore the Hudson Valley by car, with a variety of scenic byways and ferries connecting the region’s cities and villages. The Hudson Valley has two airports—Westchester County Airport near White Plains and Stewart International Airport in Orange County—and Amtrak intercity trains and Metro-North commuter rail service reach the region from New York City. The region is also served by regional bus transit providers such as Rockland Coaches, Short Line and Leprechaun Lines in Rockland, Orange, Rockland and Dutchess Counties.