Off Campus Attractions
The Hudson Valley offers a host of pleasurable pursuits, whether you
are an outdoors enthusiast, a wine connoisseur, a food lover, or a parent with kids.
If you are looking to enjoy the outdoors, there is great hiking in the
Shawangunks, the Hudson Highlands, or the Catskills, with many trail descriptions available from the NY-NJ Trail Conference (www.nynjtc.org/view/hike_ny).
The area rail trails offer beautiful biking, walking, and jogging paths (www.co.dutchess.ny.us/CountyGov/Departments/DPW-Parks/17055.htm, and www.hvrt.org/) and the Walkway Over the Hudson, one of New York’s favorite state parks, is located right here in Poughkeepsie (www.walkway.org/).
Garden enthusiasts should check out Innisfree Gardens — also great for picnics (www.innisfreegarden.com/) — or Stonecrop (www.stonecrop.org/).
Arts
Art lovers will enjoy the Dia Center for the Arts in Beacon (www.diacenter.org/sites/main/beacon) and the Storm King Art Center outdoor sculpture park (www.stormking.org/).
Summer theater and music are abundant, including the Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival (hvshakespeare.org/), Bard College’s Summerscape (fishercenter.bard.edu/summerscape/), the Maverick Concerts (maverickconcerts.org/), and New York Stage and Film’s Powerhouse Theater (on Vassar’s campus: powerhouse.vassar.edu/).
Throughout the
year, there are arts events at Bethel Woods (the original Woodstock location:www.bethelwoodscenter.org/), Beacon’s Howland Chamber Music Circle (howlandmusic.org/), Poughkeepsie’ Bardavon and the Ulster Performing Arts Center (www.upac.org/).
Families
Families will like Poughkeepsie’s Mid-Hudson Children’s Museum (www.mhcm.org/), the Hudson Valley’s numerous “pick-your-own” operations (www.hvparent.com/articlepost.aspx?id=972&c=0&t=ARTICLE), and the area’s parks and playgrounds, including Bowdoin Park in nearby Wappingers Falls.
Historical
History buffs will be interested in the magnificent Hudson River mansions, from those of the Roosevelts and Vanderbilts in Hyde Park (www.nps.gov/vama/parkmgmt/upload/ROVA_Plan_LoRes_2- 2011.pdf) to Wilderstein (www.wilderstein.org) and Olana (www.olana.org). There are also various Revolutionary-era and pre-Revolutionary sites around West Point and Newburgh, New Paltz’s Huguenot Street Historic District (www.huguenotstreet.org/), and Kingston’s Stockade or Rondout Historic Districts (www.fohk.org/).
Food
Gourmets will want to check out the Culinary Institute of America’s fine restaurants (www.ciachef.edu/restaurants/), the many local farmers’ markets (including the Monday/Thursday market on the Alumnae House lawn and the City of Poughkeepsie market at Pulaski Park & the Walkway over the Hudson on Friday afternoons beginning at 3 PM), and the Dutchess and Ulster County wine trails (www.ciachef.edu/visitors/hp/enjoyhv/winetrails.asp).
Travel
Of course, New York City is readily accessible via a beautiful 90-minute Metro North train ride (as0.mta.info/mnr/schedules/sched_form.cfm).