To Do -- Hike Breakneck Ridge

Finding myself in NYC for the long weekend, I gathered a couple of my adventurous friends together for a one-day trip outside the city. After a bit of research, I decided upon hiking up Breakneck Ridge, which is easily accessible from Metro North.

Saturday morning I was up and about at 8AM. My newly purchased backpack was stocked with water, granola bars, apples, oranges and PB&J sandwiches for my friends (I prepared PB & Fluff for myself.)

The $20 round trip ride on Metro North was a breeze and offered stunning views of West Point Academy and the river. When we exited at the Breakneck Ridge stop (literally a single stop alongside the road, no parking lot, no platform) I had only a general idea of how to find the trail head. Since this was such a well-traveled path, I had relied on someone else leading the way. However, I soon found myself directing those who got off the train to the tunnel where the road (9D) cut through the mountain and our hike began.

The name of the trail is no joke. For the first 1200 feet, we scrambled over rocks at a 45 degree incline. It was the ultimate rock climbing experience (sans safety equipment), we would use our hands and feet to find small nooks and crannies where we could pull ourselves up and over the rock slide. We barley noticed our burning quadriceps as our hands became chaffed by the rough rocks.

At times the trail would provide alternate routes, which were slightly less difficult than the provided path. At one point, I took the difficult route while my fellow travelers went the alternate route. As I began scaling the rock, I realized too late that I was on a very small ledge and if I were to slip I would undoubtedly fall into the seemingly endless chasm. For a brief moment my fear of heights nearly took over making me dizzy and weak. But I quickly realized that I had no choice but to keep moving forward. After I hoisted myself over the boulder, I briefly became a pious person and thanked God for the clarity to make it through that moment.


As we scrambled our way up the mountain, we had the most magnificent view up and down the view. Every bit of the climb was breathtaking. If I had remembered batteries of my camera, I would have taken tens of tens of photos. (Note to self: Repeat this climb during fall foliage.)Oh and thanks to these guys for posting their hiking photos online. Unlike me they obviously remembered batteries for their camera.

After making it atop the rock slide, where most of the Manhattaites turned to head back down the hill toward Cold Springs, my hiking party carried on. We spent the next 4 hours hiking up the more traditional trails, in search for the fire tower which would provide us with views of the Manhattan skyline.

As we moved deeper into the woods, I realized that the hiking directions I had weren't the most accurate and began to regret not picking up an official hiking trail book. After a couple wrong turns and second guessing ourselves, we backtracked our way back to the "official" trail. After four hours of hiking we eventually made it to the fire tower and we enjoyed lunch, while not-so-secretly hoping we were loud enough to scare away the large cat whose paw prints surrounded the water hole close by.

We then hiked on and and out of the mountain. Seeing other hikers coming up the mountain was rewarding. The best part was when they'd ask where we were coming from. When we told them Breakneck, they were always astonished that we hiked so far. By the time we exited the woods, we were in Beacon. NY. Despite returning to Manhattan dirty and smelling like bug spray, I complete didn't care that I was wearing khaki shorts and sneakers in the city. We were a misfit group of hikers and I was proud of what we had accomplished in our day hike.

I has so much fun, I've actually purchased a book on day-hikes in the NY area and intend on purchasing a bonefied pair of hiking boots. Although, I highly doubt that anything can come close to those first 1200 feet of Breakneck...