Each year, my wife and I join a group of friends in search of the most spectacular fall foliage hikes within a day’s drive of Central New Jersey. While New Jersey offers plenty of colorful fall foliage hikes, such as Hacklebarney State Park, Norvin Green State Forest, and High Point State Park, our multi-day trips have taken us to treasures such as Virginia’s Shenandoah Mountains, Acadia National Park in Maine, and Lake Placid in upstate New York.
This year we traveled to New York’s picturesque Hudson Valley to explore trails in the Minnewaska State Park Preserve. The preserve is part of the Shawangunk Ridge, which rises more than 2,000 feet above sea level and provides memorable views of deeply wooded valleys, waterfalls, sheer cliffs made mostly of sandstone and white quartz, and expansive farmlands. It’s also a place where visitors can go mountain climbing, bike riding, and boating.
My favorite hike within the preserve is Gertrude’s Nose, an approximately 7-mile, moderate-to-strenuous loop that starts at the Minnewaska Visitor Center. Legend has it that the rock formation was named in 1682 after Gertrude Bruyn, a Dutch settler who lived in the Shawangunk Mountains. It’s certainly one of the most memorable hikes in the area.
Our group set off from the visitor’s center and followed a carriage road that rises gently around the west shore of Lake Minnewaska. Carriage roads are generally wide roadways topped with broken stone, making it easy to walk on and accommodate horseback riders and Park Service vehicles. Starting the hike so easily was only a tease. We soon reached a winding and wooded trail that ascended more steeply alongside streams, boulders, and a wide variety of trees, ferns, and plants. We emerged from the woods to see our first breathtaking view at a place called Patterson’s Pellet, which is a large 6-foot-tall boulder perched along a cliff edge overlooking the valley before us. In geological terms, the “pellet” is a rock that was moved to its present location during the Ice Age. Continuing on, we soon reached the Gertrude’s Nose Trail, which is where the views got even more spectacular. We walked along rocky ledges, gazing across the thickly wooded valley and into sheer drops of several hundred feet just off to our right.
As we followed the red blazes that marked the trail, we hiked near cliff edges, hopped over crevices from which pitch pines grew, and eventually came to Gertrude’s Nose. This large expanse of smooth rock is 1,728 feet above sea level and looks out over incredible views of sun-splashed red, yellow, and orange forests alongside green meadows and farmland. This point was about halfway in our hike and was a good place for lunch while enjoying the serenity of being in nature, breathing in the crisp air, and marveling at nature’s unmatched beauty.
After about 20 minutes of photography, eating, and wonderment, we set off on a descent into the valley of Coxing Kill. The descent is steep, through narrow and rocky paths, making all of us glad we were using walking poles and wearing high-quality hiking boots. This portion of the hike is several miles long. It’s a challenge and we took it slow, but it was incredibly exhilarating to be surrounded by this quiet a forest, shielded from the sun, and listening to birds and the rustle of fallen leaves. Eventually we climbed again toward Lake Minnewaska and the carriage road that circled back to the visitor’s center.
This is the second time I’ve hiked Gertrude’s Nose. With different seasons come different experiences, whether it’s spring, when trees are awakening with new growth and flowers that are beginning to bloom, or fall, when leaves turn colors and the air gets cooler. But even if you’re not ready for the challenge of Gertrude’s Nose, the Minnewaska State Park Preserve has a variety of trails for all experience levels. It was worth the drive.