The Hyde Park Trail, and its hidden gems

Hyde Park is known for many historic and cultural sites. It is why so many people choose to visit this wonderful town. Home to one of our greatest presidents, gilded-aged mansions, historic cemeteries, and even the most storied culinary school in the world. But our favorite thing is the system that brings it all together – the Hyde Park Trail system. Hyde Park has the most walking trails of any town in Dutchess County, and in addition to some great hiking, they offer some hidden gems.

The Mills-Norrie Trails offer views of the Hudson that include a lighthouse, and Catskills in the distance. This trail includes the Mills Mansion – the amazing gilded-age beauty that feels like the family is still in residence. Within the path lies the hidden gems of mansion ruins, including architect Calvert Vaux’s Hoyt House or The Point. Designed for the Hoyt family in 1855. The family occupied the site for 108 years. Although overgrown and in need of substantial repair, the 91-acre estate remains largely unaltered from Vaux’s designs.

The Vanderbilt Loop offers the best views of the Hudson River anywhere. The loop includes sweeping views, intimate woodsy trails, glorious gardens, and even a lovely cove where you get to wet your toes in the Hudson River (no swimming though!). Just off the main road into Vanderbilt is the Hyde Park’s Doty Park, which includes the hidden gem Stoutenburgh-Teller Burial Grounds. First European settler Jacobus Stoutenburgh established this family burying ground in 1768. Grave markers note family members born in the late 1600s, and those who fought in the Revolutionary War.

From the Vanderbilt mansion to Roosevelt Home and Museum, the trail goes along the Hudson River, passing by another hidden gem, the Hyde Park Historic Train Station. Built in 1914, this station was used by Franklin Roosevelt during his lifetime. It was where he was welcomed home upon his death and brought to his final resting place at his beloved home in Hyde Park. This station welcomed Britian’s King George VI and Queen Mary, was a backdrop in the Hitchcock movie North-by-Northwest, and even is the site of President Lincoln’s ghost train – as his funeral train came by here. The train station museum offers original details, model trains, and historic artifacts.

Hackett Hill Park is a town park that includes wooded trails and a playground. It also the former New Guinea Community; one of the few historic sites in the Hudson Valley to have a strong connection to African American history and the history of Slavery in New York State. Once the location of a prosperous community of freed slaves and blacks, this site now sits back in the woods of Hackett Hill Park. There still exist several foundations of homes used between the late 18th century and mid-19th century by at least a half dozen blacks and whites working together along the road known as Freedonia Lane.

Just a few wonderful, unexpected things you will find just hiking the amazing Hyde Park Trail System.