Just an hour and a half drive from NYC, you can begin to unwind and escape the confinement thrusted upon us by an unexpected pandemic this year. 2020 has certainly been an unpredictable year to say the least. Especially if you’ve had trips, weddings, events, or any other joyful moments canceled. Us New Yorkers stood in solidarity since the Spring, quarantining ourselves in our less than spacious apartments. However, this summer we found ourselves craving those moments of joy, such as eating outside at a restaurant, or getting away from our apartments that we’ve gotten to know a little too well these past several months.

This summer I decided to take a few long weekend trips in New York, and get to know the state that I’ve lived in my whole life for a change. Just outside of the Concrete Jungle, there is so much to discover, yet sparks of familiarity are not lost. Beacon embodies this best. There is ample forest greenery in this coastal town on the Hudson River, yet a stroll down Main Street emits the hipster vibes of Williamsburg, Brooklyn with trendy coffee shops and boutiques.   Take a break from your apartment and go out into the wilderness of Upstate New York, but don’t forget your mask!

Stay at The Roundhouse

Anthony and I decided to stay at The Roundhouse, the fanciest hotel in the neighborhood, because we were looking to pamper ourselves after a crappy year of quarantine and several cancelled trips. This hip boutique hotel is comprised of several old factory buildings with lofty high ceilings and spacious guest rooms. The rooms are chic and embody a design of simplicity with crisp white bedding, wood furniture, and modern bathroom fixtures. The hotel was very comfortable and also took a lot of COVID-19 precautions by cleaning the rooms well, prohibiting housekeeping in the room for your whole stay, and delivering bags of fresh baked goods to your door in the morning in lieu of a communal continental breakfast. These touches made our stay at the Roundhouse all the more comforting.

Things to Do

Storm King Art Center

You simply must visit this larger than life sculpture garden during your visit. Displaying magnificent sculptures and installations of famous artists from all over the world, the Storm King Art Center is a sprawling 500-acre art enclave. Keep in mind, going to Storm King Art Center is more like a hike, than a visit to a museum. Wear sneakers and a hat, and bring plenty of water for this visit. It can take several hours to walk around to each piece. I recommend setting aside about 3 – 5 hours depending on how much time you’d like to spend there so you can at least see all of the best pieces.

The sculptures there are gorgeous and all encompassing, so this visit is also a great photography opportunity. When you visit, you should also take advantage of the free audio guides you can access on your phone. Just text STORM to 56512 and you will get a link to audio guides for several exhibits on the property. Make sure you make a reservation before you go there as it seems it would be difficult to enter right now without one due to the pandemic. They are also not allowing bike rentals during the pandemic, so you will likely be walking through the whole center.

Hike Mount Beacon

This was a refreshing, yet challenging hike. Most of the trail was on a steep incline so prepare yourself for a great cardio workout. We started our hike by driving over to the parking lot at the base of the trail, right next to a convenient store called Bob’s Corner Store, a good place to get supplies. You take a short walk into the forest and come upon a set of stairs, which really does help avoid injuries on your way to the top of the mountain.

Make sure you come prepared. I recommend wearing pants and a long sleeve shirt made of breathable material to avoid bug bites and poison ivy. Also having a backpack with a water bladder was very helpful for this hike since it’s on such a steep incline. Check out my packing list below for my recommendations on hiking gear. Columbia makes a great selection of clothing made of light, breathable materials that are perfect for hiking. Last but not least, make sure you have hiking sneakers with a good grip on the sole so you can avoid slips up these steep trails. I swear by my Arc’teryx waterproof hiking sneakers. Check them out in my packing list.

It took us about an hour and a half to reach the top viewpoint of this trail and it was well worth the effort! Up there, you can take in a great view of Beacon Bridge over the Hudson river and the surrounding area. There’s also a cool abandoned brick structure up there with some kind of mechanics inside. It seems this may have been an old military fort. Nevertheless, it is a great spot for photos. We decided to go back down when we were done taking in the view, but there are more trails up there, such as the one to the Fire Tower. But you might be hiking for several hours more. Before you go, check out All Trails to see all your options.

There are also plenty of trails in neighboring towns to Beacon that seem great in Cold Spring and Fishkill. Just make sure you do your hikes in the morning to avoid the peak of heat in the afternoon.

Do a Tasting at Dennings Point Distillery

This cute little distillery is right off Main Street alongside a striking wall mural of a masked man, very timely. They offer tastings for $5 each to try three of their liquors. After the tasting, we decided to purchase their Maid of the Meadow vodka infused with honey and herbs, which was a great vodka for a simple cocktail pairing well with soda water or ginger beer. The Distillery also offers to-go cocktails, which we of course grabbed to go back to our room before our siesta.

Take a Kayak Tour to Bannerman Island with Storm King Adventure Tours

You can’t come to the Hudson Valley and not be curious about Bannerman Island. There is a mysterious castle on this island in the middle of the Hudson, which is a tourist destination today. The castle was built in the early 1900s by Francis Bannerman, an eccentric Scot who noticed the island during his visits upstate from NYC in the summer. Rumor has it, he did not build it very well. He didn’t hire an architect, built the castle without steel rods, with no right angels, and used river water to make bricks, which led to their disintegration due to the salt in the water. It’s nothing short of a miracle that this dreamy castle still stands. You can take a boat over to the island and walk around a bit there, but we thought that would be a little boring since there’s not much left to see. So, we thought why not kayak around the island instead.

We did a 9:30am tour with Storm King Adventure Tours with a launch point in Croton on Hudson at Donahue Memorial Park. This was a very well-organized tour company with quality equipment and kayaks, including adjustable seats and footrests. Our guide gave us full instruction on how to paddle and even showed us how to adjusted our life vests properly. The water on the Hudson was very calm and it was no struggle to paddle. From our launching point, it took about 30 minutes to get to Bannerman Island. Our guide told us the whole story about the island from its long chain of ownership, to the wacky persona of Francis Bannerman.

After we kayaked around the castle and took some great photos (bring a water proof camera along!), we paddled back to our launch point. The tour was about two and a half hours long lasting from 9:30am – 12pm, finishing just in time for lunch. The drive to Croton on Hudson from Beacon is about 30 minutes so set aside enough time to commute. There is another tour company called Mountain Tops Outfitters that does a similar tour from Beacon, but they are closed until further notice due to COVID-19. All in all, we thought Storm King Adventure Tours provided a great experience and charged $70 per person, so it didn’t break the bank.

The Dia Beacon

This museum is a must-see if you’re staying in Beacon. It’s located in the former Nabisco boxing factory and has some great pieces and installations. The art in this museum is very eye-catching and some large in scale, so it’s a great place for photo opps. I loved their basement exhibit by Carl Craig called Party/After-Party. It was like being at a rave all by yourself, glorious in times of pandemic! Make sure you make a reservation before going. Due to COVID-19, they are trying to limit the amount of people coming in and out, so if you don’t have a reservation, they probably won’t let you in.

Hike at Dennings Point

This trail is short by sweet on Dennings Point, a small peninsula of greenery right off of Beacon. It was a pretty wooded trail, but one cool thing we discovered about it was that there were small trails along the way that led to small beaches on the Hudson River. It seemed you could swim down there and have your own private beach for a while. It might be worth it to swim suit up and check it out. We hiked along the trail for about 45 minutes total. We decided to turn around and not do the full loop because the curve had a lot of brush and we already had a lot of mosquito bites, so we decided to cut our losses.

Take a Stroll down Main Street

There are so many things, such as restaurants, boutique shops, bakeries, breweries and coffee shops, to explore right along Main Street, and some side streets. You can spend a few hours exploring the stores and tastes of Beacon, and they’re all open at the moment. As you walk through town, you’ll notice Beacon is an up and coming town with new construction and trendy apartments going up on each passing block.

Where to Eat and Drink

There is a great selection of food and drink in this town, so you can enjoy some great dinners, lunches, and drinks here. Just make sure you spray some insect repellant on before eating outdoors here, we’re not in the city anymore!

Meyer’s Olde Dutch

This is a great stop for burgers and fries for lunch. I ordered the NY Special with munster cheese and garlic aioli and it was delectable. This joint is located on Main Street, about a 15-20-minute walk from The Roundhouse. They are not open for indoor dining, but you can order inside and take a seat on their back patio, at least for now due to the pandemic.

Roundhouse Restaurant

This restaurant definitely has the best view in town. It overlooks a beautiful waterfall that’s lit up at night. The food there is good, however, their service was a bit off. It seemed that their management structure may be flawed because there were several different waiters coming up to our table asking for our orders, which led to some mix-ups of course. Overall, the food was good though, and you can’t beat the view so I would still recommend this restaurant.

Draught Industries

This is a great place to enjoy a reward brew and meal after a nice hike. There is a great selection of beer here as well as surprisingly delicious Mexican grub. Anthony and I shared the al pastor quesadilla, carnitas tacos, and guacamole with chips, all scrumptious and definitely house-made, even the chips.

Melzinga Taphouse

This place had a great food and a nice outdoor covered patio. They had an amazing mushroom flatbread and I ordered their mussels dish with an amazing tangy broth made with locally sourced sausage made by a Polish couple in Astoria, Queens. The restaurant was located on Main Street, very close to The Roundhouse so it was very convenient. You can make a reservation directly on their website.

Smoke on the Water at The Roundhouse

This year, the Roundhouse opened a pop-up smoke BBQ restaurant with a very fitting name, Smoke on the Water. Situated near their event space on the water, right next to the waterfall, this is a scenic place to grab lunch or dinner. The BBQ was delicious. I got the ribs and Anthony got the brisket for lunch, which were excellent. For lunch, we were able to put in our order at the front of the restaurant and they brought out our drinks and food take away style. Not sure whether this is the same service for dinner, but it was quick. This restaurant is only open on weekends.

Cafe Amacord

If you’re looking for something a bit more upscale, compared to everything else in town, the Amacord is just the ticket. They had really good Mediterranean food and a nice ambiance inside. I would recommend eating inside, they have the tables spaced out well, and you can avoid the mosquitos in there while you enjoy the atmosphere.

Beacon Bread Company

This place is definitely the most popular spot for brunch in town. There were a lot of people waiting for a table there or taking food to go. After I ate their pancakes, I understood why. They were so delicious and fluffy. They have seating outside or you can take your breakfast to go and bring it to a nearby coffee shop.

Dogwood

This charming bar/restaurant is just a few steps from The Roundhouse and has a great beer selection. It’s a great place to grab a reward burger and fries after a long hike. Plus they took a lot of COVID-19 precautions, which was very comforting, including installing plexiglass protection all around the bar and limiting capacity.

Big Mouth Coffee Roasters

Big Mouth was located about midway between Beacon Bread Co. and The Roundhouse, so we took the opportunity to take a little break from walking and grab a nitro cold brew, since the coffee at Beacon Bread Co. was not mind-blowing. They had great coffee and a nice place to sit inside.

Kitchen & Coffee

This was a great place for coffee, or even breakfast. We stopped in there before our hike for a cold brew and it was very good. Enough taste without the watered down taste we’ve encountered at other coffee shops.

Packing List

• Hiking Shoes – Arc’teryx Norvan LD 2 GTX Trail-Running Shoes

I swear by these for hiking. They have great grip, ankle support, and lots of room for your toes when you’re on unsteady terrain. Plus they’re made with Gortex so they’re completely waterproof.

• Hiking Shirt – Columbia Womens Bahama Long Sleeve Shirt

This shirt is amazing for hikes or warm weather activities. It protects your skin from the sun and bugs, but is also very breathable so you won’t overheat. I’ve worn this shirt from a summer tour in Egypt to the trails of Beacon.

• Hiking Pants – Columbia Women’s Anytime Outdoor Boot Cut Casual Pant

I love these pants! So breathable, but also so flattering. Plus they protect you from the sun and bugs. I also have a few pairs of the same style in capri length and they fit like a dream.

• Backpack with Water Bladder – ROCKRAIN Hydration Backpack

This backpack is small enough to be comfortable/lightweight yet big enough to carry all of your things. It also includes a high-quality bladder so you can stay hydrated on the trails.