A steep ridge above a small town, with a land manager and a map. A trail literally named Moon Mountain did not turn up in New Paltz guides. The local ridge paths that did are Mohonk and the River-to-Ridge trail.
Who is coming
Kids and big-group filters show the places marked for them.
Crowd level: Mixed. Go early, or pick a weekdayMixed
Best season Clear weekdays. Summer weekends and October foliage fill the lot. Scenic Hudson lists the park as free, dawn to dusk, year-round.
Drive About 1 hr 20–1 hr 45 min
General guidance from Midtown by car when the roads are moving. Metro-North to Beacon station is the calmer arrival. Times vary.
Parking. Use the marked trailhead lot. It fills on fair weekends. Do not invent a spot on a side street and call it overflow.
A steep ridge walk above a small river city. The staircase follows the old incline railway. The fire tower is the longer version. The casino ruins are the shorter turnaround.
Worth knowing
How far
Scenic Hudson calls the trail steep, with switchbacks, starting on the old railway stairs. The overlook is the short day. The fire tower is an extra walk along the ridge. Turn around if the tower is more than you wanted.
After the ridge
Eat on Main Street once you are down. The summit is not a restaurant, and October weekends fill the trailhead lot.
The short version
The mountain was a signal point in the Revolutionary War, and the city below took its name from that beacon. In the early 20th century an incline railway, called one of the steepest passenger funiculars, carried people to a casino and hotel. The railway burned. Scenic Hudson now holds a park on the ridge. The fire tower, on state park land, was restored and reopened in 2013.
Food nearby
Pizza & Stuff
There is no meal on the summit. Pizza & Stuff is at 332 Main Street in Beacon, independently owned by Ernesto and Lucy. Their site says Monday–Saturday 10:00 am–8:30 pm, closed Sunday, and that they have served Beacon since 2004.
The High-A affiliate of the New York Yankees plays at Heritage Financial Park in Wappingers Falls, south of Beacon. Their 2026 schedule release put the last home game on August 30, so October is after the regular season. Ticket office (845) 838-0094.
Farms and stands nearby
Beacon Farmers' Market
A Sunday market on Main Street, stewarded by Common Ground Farm, for local farms and food makers. The site does not print a standing vendor list this desk could copy. The tables hold whatever that Sunday's farmers brought.
Season. The market says every Sunday, 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., year-round, rain or shine, at 223 Main Street, Beacon.
The hike ends in town, and the market is the grocery stop if you are cooking in a rental. The site does not print a cash-only rule. Read beaconfarmersmarket.org for who is there.
Sunday concerts at 4:00 pm at the Howland Cultural Center, 477 Main Street, Beacon. The chamber-series page says tickets are generally $40, students $10, with a limited pay-what-you-wish release one week before each concert.
First-hand only. Be kind. No politics. You took the photos, and you grant Quiet Coordinates permission to publish them with your name or initials. Write [email protected] to ask for a removal.
Crowd level: Mixed. Go early, or pick a weekdayMixed
Best season Weekday spring and fall. Summer weekends and leaf season are busy. Winter is carriage-road quiet if the roads are open. Check the preserve for closures.
Drive About 1 hr 45 min–2 hr 15 min
General guidance from Midtown to New Paltz. The last miles up the ridge are slower. Weekend traffic adds time.
Parking. Pay at a staffed trailhead or the visitor center. A Mountain House gatehouse pass is a different lot and a different ticket. Do not park there on a Preserve day.
Carriage roads and cliffs on the Shawangunk ridge, above New Paltz. The Preserve is the public day. Mohonk Mountain House next door is a private hotel with its own pass. They are not the same ticket.
Worth knowing
Which ticket
The Preserve has published separate day fees for hikers, and higher fees for bikers and climbers, with weekends above weekdays. Those numbers move. Read mohonkpreserve.org the week you go. The hotel's own hiking pass is another product.
Pine Road
Mohonk’s alerts say Pine Road is closed for road work from October 13 until further notice. That lot is not the backup on a foliage weekend.
The short version
The Shawangunk conglomerate ridge west of New Paltz is the climbing ground called the Gunks. Mohonk Preserve is the land trust. Day visitors pay a fee that is higher on weekends and higher again for bikes, climbers, and horses. The Mountain House is a National Historic Landmark hotel. Its hiking pass does not let you into the hotel, and a Preserve pass is not a hotel reservation.
Food nearby
Main Street Bistro
The trailhead is not a restaurant. Main Street Bistro is at 59 Main Street in New Paltz. Their site prints breakfast and lunch Monday and Wednesday–Friday 8:00 am–3:00 pm and Saturday–Sunday 8:00 am–3:00 pm, closed Tuesday, and dinner Friday–Sunday 4:30–8:00 pm. The same page says Doug and Teresa Thompson bought it on July 1, 1993.
The Preserve's climber day fee is not the hiker fee. Their site has listed a higher rate for climbers than for walkers. Bring your own gear or book a guide you have actually checked.
Farms and stands nearby
Hudson Valley Open Market
The market calls itself the farmers and makers market for New Paltz.
Season. Their site says every Saturday, 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., May through October, at 196 Main Street, in the New Paltz Middle School parking lot.
The grocery stop if you are cooking in the village after the ridge. The site does not print a cash-only rule.
Last checked: 2026-10-16. We recommend; you book directly. Prices are nightly, low–high by season, with a source. “From” prices depend on your dates. Items we couldn't verify are marked †.
The quiet base: New Paltz for the ridge. Brookfield Farm is the farm stay, in Modena.
Know before you book: Gatehouse Gardens is open 3/29–12/2 and closed in winter. Haywood Farmhouse has no price.
Some links may earn us a commission.
A church
Reformed Church of New Paltz
The congregation’s history page traces the church to January 22, 1683, when Pierre Daille preached in the Huguenot settlement. Worship is at 92 Huguenot Street.
Their homepage prints Sunday worship at 10:00 am, and church school for ages 3 through 8th grade.
Their homepage says the sauna is now at Taliaferro Farm, 187 Plains Road, New Paltz, and that this stop begins October 24. Weekday social sessions are 90 minutes, communal, up to 8 people, and they ask for a minimum of 2.
Book ahead. The page says to wear a swimsuit or sweat-ready clothes and to bring two towels, one for the bench.
Sample, not a visitor submission. A weekday morning on the carriage road was the quiet hour. This row shows how an approved note will look.
J. · 2026-09
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Crowd level: Easy. Busy only at the obvious hourEasy
Best season A clear day any month. Mud in winter. Bluebells in Newton Wood in May, if you like the lower path.
A small, odd peak above Great Ayton. The shape is a geological fault plus a mining collapse in 1912. The National Trust holds it. The walk is short and steep.
Worth knowing
The last bit
The National Trust calls the climb steep and the paths muddy when wet. The last section is rocky. It is a short day and a bad place to be casual about shoes.
The short version
Roseberry Topping is 1,049 feet, about 320 meters. The National Trust says James Cook, as a boy on a nearby farm, climbed it. Great Ayton is the town. The car park is at Newton-under-Roseberry. It is a local hill, not a national-park honeypot on the scale of the lakes.
Food nearby
Great Ayton, before or after
The summit has no café. Eat in Great Ayton.
Share your experience
First-hand only. Be kind. No politics. You took the photos, and you grant Quiet Coordinates permission to publish them with your name or initials. Write [email protected] to ask for a removal.
Mr. Matté (if there is an issue with this image, contact me using this image's Commons talk page , my Commons user talk page , or my English Wikipedia user talk page ; I'll know abCC BY-SA 4.0 · source
New Paltz, New York41.752° N, 74.088° W
River-to-Ridge Trail
The free gravel loop when you want the ridge without a day-pass line.
Crowd level: Easy. Busy only at the obvious hourEasy
Best season March through November is the practical riding season. Mud and ice close the idea in winter.
Drive About 1 hr 45 min–2 hr 15 min
Same New Paltz drive as Mohonk, general guidance from Midtown. The trailhead is on Springtown Road, not at the hotel gate.
Parking. The Springtown Road lot is the main start. Do not block a farm lane. A Preserve permit is extra if you ride past the boundary.
A gravel path from the Wallkill River up through farmland to the edge of Mohonk Preserve. Walking and biking. It is the local ridge ride. A trail named Moon Mountain did not turn up in New Paltz guides.
Worth knowing
Two tickets, maybe
The trail to the Preserve line is not the same pass as riding the Preserve carriage roads. If you cross the boundary, pay the Preserve.
The boundary
The gravel path to the Preserve line is free. Riding or walking onto Mohonk Preserve is a separate day fee.
The short version
The Open Space Institute opened the River-to-Ridge Trail in 2018 so people could reach the Shawangunk ridge without riding the shoulder of Route 299. It runs from the Wallkill toward the Preserve boundary. Continuing onto Mohonk Preserve is a separate day fee.
Food nearby
Main Street Bistro
The trailhead is not a restaurant. Main Street Bistro is at 59 Main Street in New Paltz. Their site prints breakfast and lunch Monday and Wednesday–Friday 8:00 am–3:00 pm and Saturday–Sunday 8:00 am–3:00 pm, closed Tuesday, and dinner Friday–Sunday 4:30–8:00 pm. The same page says Doug and Teresa Thompson bought it on July 1, 1993.
Gravel and carriage-road riding, not a lift-served bike park. Helmets are required if you continue onto the Preserve's bike routes. Bring the bike. Rentals have existed at the trailhead. Confirm they still do.
Farms and stands nearby
Hudson Valley Open Market
The market calls itself the farmers and makers market for New Paltz.
Season. Their site says every Saturday, 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., May through October, at 196 Main Street, in the New Paltz Middle School parking lot.
The grocery stop if you are cooking in the village. The trailhead is not the market. The site does not print a cash-only rule.
Last checked: 2026-10-16. We recommend; you book directly. Prices are nightly, low–high by season, with a source. “From” prices depend on your dates. Items we couldn't verify are marked †.
The quiet base: New Paltz for the ridge. Brookfield Farm is the farm stay, in Modena.
Know before you book: Gatehouse Gardens is open 3/29–12/2 and closed in winter. Haywood Farmhouse has no price.
Some links may earn us a commission.
A church
Reformed Church of New Paltz
The congregation’s history page traces the church to January 22, 1683, when Pierre Daille preached in the Huguenot settlement. Worship is at 92 Huguenot Street.
Their homepage prints Sunday worship at 10:00 am, and church school for ages 3 through 8th grade.
Their homepage says the sauna is now at Taliaferro Farm, 187 Plains Road, New Paltz, and that this stop begins October 24. Weekday social sessions are 90 minutes, communal, up to 8 people, and they ask for a minimum of 2.
Book ahead. The page says to wear a swimsuit or sweat-ready clothes and to bring two towels, one for the bench.
First-hand only. Be kind. No politics. You took the photos, and you grant Quiet Coordinates permission to publish them with your name or initials. Write [email protected] to ask for a removal.
