Madam Brett Park and Dennings Point State Park

It could be that I came to hike on a Saturday morning instead of my usual Sunday morning that there were already people at Madam Brett Park even at just after sunrise. Then again, the city the park is in, Beacon, is small and thriving so it probably wouldn’t be surprising to find people there even on Sunday mornings. People out for a stroll, a jog, a change of scenery, a breath of fresh air, or a walk with their dogs to complete their morning routines.

The out-and-back, 2-mile trail isn’t itself wild. (You can go for an additional 3 miles if you hike the loop around the adjacent Dennings Point State Park, a 64-acre peninsula that juts into the Hudson River.) You won’t be hiking in the wilderness with uneven and rocky terrain as in, say, the Catskills or the Shawangunks—the paths are flat some earth some paved and a portion of which with a boardwalk along Fishkill Creek on one side and ruins on the other, while crossing a railroad track and solar farm and passing through a Visitor Center—and you will constantly meet people doing pretty much the same thing as you. But you do get plenty of Nature along the way with a waterfall on one end and the Hudson River on the other.

So don’t expect immersive solitude in Nature away from civilization when you're at Madam Brett Park. Instead, expect the surrounding greenery, river, creek, and waterfall as spices to the already delectable stream of greetings, nods, and short conversations along the way when you encounter the warm residents of Beacon.