The first place I checked out with my family was Christman's Sanctuary. It was LOVELY! Ori and JAC both did great there, and enjoyed it a lot. My hesitancy was two fold: 1. a LOT of slippery rocks - seemed like a recipe for disaster with a load and a half of little kids. 1a. not a lot of parking. This isn't MAJOR, but it is a consideration. 2. it is kind of far from where most of the community this is geared at live. MOST are in the Chatham ->Bethlehem area, with a few in the Schenectedy/Guilderland area, and the majority in the Albany/Bethlehem/Greenbush area. So ...
The next place I checked out was the Pine Bush. LOTS of trails to choose from, easy to make it a loop, longer, shorter, and great parking. But I must say, that overall there is a lot of noise, and not a lot of variation in the terrain.
Third was a lovely trail in Thatcher State Park, it was a nice balance of flat-ish and hilly, but it didn't have very much in the way of interesting things for the kids. I probably could have searched other trails for a better variety, but I was running out of Ori-free time, and wanted to check out this last one, Beebe Hill.
Beebe Hill is on the NY - MASS border, in the Taconic Hills looking East toward the Berkshires.
Looking East
Looking West
Opal Pond
And this is the one I've chosen. There are creeks, a pond, lots of bridges, and at the top, a firetower (the hill is otherwise rather unimposing, as hills go!), 9 flights of 9 stairs - not for the faint of highted heart. There's a new composition book up there that a sprightly soul has left for visitors, and I really enjoyed taking photos there, my bento lunch in the box on top of the tower, and a lovely few hours of solo hiking.
The Family Hike is Oct. 4th, weather permitting - wish us all luck!
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