EE Grimshaw
Google
This review pertains specifically to a pretty below average hike I did this past Saturday in Hudson Highlands called Osborn Loop/Sugarloaf Hill. I want to be clear though that I've done other hikes in this park (notably Breakneck Ridge) and they were truly awesome. This was by far my least favorite adventure in the Highlands, and hopefully it guides others to the much more scenic and hospitable areas that are more than worth the price of admission.
This particular hike was in my book 50 Hikes in the Lower Hudson Valley. From the AT trailhead off of 403 (right across the street from the Appalachian Market, I took the AT west to the Curry Pond Trail (yellow), which curved and met up with the Osborn Loop Trail (blue) heading more north northwest, before taking a left up the Sugarloaf Trail (red) to the summit, before reversing course and heading back to the intersection with Osborn, continuing east back toward 403, before turning south onto the Carriage Connector Trail, which eventually hits back up with the AT, and then back to the trailhead. It was about 7 miles, and the book estimated this as a four and a half hour endeavor, but it took me about three hours and 15 minutes. I think that's more about the book exaggerating the difficulty of this hike than me being awesome, but your mileage may vary.
The biggest issue by far here is the lack of trail maintenance. I'm assuming that's on the NY NJ Trail Conference, but it's inexcusable - it's early August and tick season has been out of control. I shouldn't have to very carefully navigate through overgrown grass and weeds to get through a hike like this. The trail blazes on the trees are EXCELLENT (helps that one of the trails here is the superstar AT) so someone has been coming by regularly to ensure that you can make your way accurately through the myriad of colored blazes, but there are sections of this trail where you don't have a choice but to make direct contact with tons of poison ivy. A huge miss as far as I'm concerned. That's a few volunteers with a weed-wacker one afternoon. Even if you don't want to prioritize the lesser trails like Osborn, at the very least the Sugarloaf trail should be much clearer - it's by far the biggest selling point of the area and the only section I saw other hikers. There were also a few recently downed trees over the path; that I don't have as much of an issue with; it's pretty easy to climb over and around, and obviously a much bigger undertaking than snipping a few weeds back.
Honestly, I wasn't impressed with the view from Sugarloaf. I have a picture attached, and you can see the Bear Mountain Bridge (one of the better optics on the Hudson River), along with hiking site classics like Anthony's Nose and Bear Mountain itself. But it's probably 70% obscured by the foliage/tree situation. I don't know if there's a way to improve the view without destroying the integrity of the surrounding greenery, but maybe the other option is to create a different viewpoint that allows for better optics - through the trees straight across the river you can see the gorgeous West Point campus. There's a ton to look at in this area no matter which direction you're looking at, it's just a shame you can't take advantage of it. The prickly pear cactus situation was cool; there's a few batches of it growing on the south-facing side of Sugarloaf, which isn't that common of a sight in this area.
There's a bathroom and snacks for purchase in the Appalachian Market across the street from the start, which is a selling point, and if you're not up for an insanely strenuous adventure, this fits the bill as well. But I'd go hiking closer to the river in the future - this was a big miss for me.
