Those autumn leaves ...

October 14, 2005 2:23 AM

Fall foliage! I'm going to be in NYC next week, and I'm hoping to escape the city for a couple of days to see the leaves. Any recommendations for good places to hike in the forest, eat a good dinner, and stay overnight, 2 hours or less from New York?
posted by fuzz to travel & transportation (15 comments total)

Sleepy Hollow!
posted by ldenneau at 3:40 AM on October 14, 2005

NW CT ... pick a town, any town. Just be sure to leave your money.
posted by Makebusy7 at 6:03 AM on October 14, 2005

Don't forget about NJ, the Delaware water gap is nice.
posted by Mach5 at 6:15 AM on October 14, 2005

Ridgefield, CT. There's an inn there that survived the British attacks. They've got a great set of paintings depicting first-hand accounts of watching Danbury burn. There's a memorial park with a cannon right next door, and the whole surrounding area is filled with trees that are certain to be flashing the colors of the season
posted by thanotopsis at 6:19 AM on October 14, 2005

Wellwyn Preserve in Glen Cove, Long Island. Those images don't capture how beautiful it is. Ocean fronted, with the ruins of an old mansion.
posted by StickyCarpet at 6:25 AM on October 14, 2005

I live in Sleepy Hollow and the leaves have not all quite turned yet. However, that should change any day now, and there are some other very nice things to do in Sleepy Hollow.

There is a church with windows by Chagall, a 17th century Dutch farm, a magnificent Rockefeller estate. I also recommend visting the old Dutch church and its enormous ancient cemetary, as well as Stone Barns Center. The Stone Barns Center has hikes and nature tours where you can pick wild veggies and mushrooms. They also have a nice cafe, and a super pricey restaurant. You can also just roam the farm freely and look at the pigs and chickens or browse the herb and flower garden.

If you want some Currier & Ives moments, Sleepy Hollow is a great place.

The train ride to Sleepy Hollow (go to the Tarrytown station--any SH destination should only cost $10 by cab from there) gives you a great view of the Palisades across the Hudson.

Sleepy Hollow's neighbor, Tarryytown, also has a main drag with several antique shops and a few nice eateries.

If you start early, you could visit SH in a day and be back in Manhattan for a nightcap.
posted by mds35 at 6:49 AM on October 14, 2005

If you prefer a stay-away visit, and if you will have a car, the Sault Falls Inn in Equinunk, PA is perfectly situated to give you a glimpse of great fall foliage. It's close to some cute antiquing vilklages and also to some Delaware Water Gap hikes. IIRC, it's only about 2 hrs from NYC by car. The folks who run the Inn are really nice, too, and great cooks.
posted by mds35 at 6:54 AM on October 14, 2005

Princeton.

You can even take the train.
posted by Pollomacho at 7:16 AM on October 14, 2005

I grew up in the area thanotopsis is talking about, I think he's talking about Putnam Park. Nice park, pretty foliage in the fall. Look for the main entrance (with a statue of Gen. Israel Putnam atop on horseback, cannon nearby) at the intersection or Rte. 58 and 107. The DEP page for Putnam Park should provide adequate driving directions from the city. If memory serves, Metro North (commuter train) doesn't really come near that area of Redding/Ridgefield, but I'm not sure.

If you do go, be warned that you may have to share with quite a few school groups. Most of Fairfield County's educational system enjoyed sending us youngsters off for cheap educational fieldtrips at the 'Park at least once a year.
posted by GreenTentacle at 7:23 AM on October 14, 2005

If memory serves, Metro North (commuter train) doesn't really come near that area of Redding/Ridgefield, but I'm not sure.

I'm pretty sure there's a Redding station on Highway 7 north to Danbury that's within a cheap cab-fare's distance. Not probably within walking distance, however.

I worked in Ridgefield for a year at Schlumberger-Dahl Research, and I hoofed all over that little 'burg for lunch hours. If you drive up from New Canaan or thereabouts, you can even drive by David Letterman's house (on Wilton Road, if I recall correctly).
posted by thanotopsis at 11:18 AM on October 14, 2005

Take MetroNorth's Hudson line to either Cold Spring or Breakneck Ridge, both about an hour north of the city. Breakneck lets you off a few miles upriver from Cold Spring right at the start of a hiking trail at Hudson Highlands State Park. You can get good maps at any EMS store in NYC, and probably other places too. You can then end at Cold Spring, which is a charming quaint little Hudson town with good restaurants and such. I used to do this every October when I lived in NYC, and it's a great getaway.
posted by The Michael The at 12:20 PM on October 14, 2005

Be sure to check out the fall foliage forecasts for next weekend at Intellicast and Yankee Magazine.
posted by ericb at 2:48 PM on October 14, 2005

Since the peak hasn't hit NYC yet, I'd say go as far north as possible within your limits. Consider the Berkshires in western Mass. Beautiful scenery, lovely old villages, terrific restaurants -- everything you asked for! Here's a site for Berkshire tourism that features foliage information, including rafting trips for leaf-lovers!
*P.S. As in northwestern Conn., bring a fat wallet!
posted by rob511 at 2:15 AM on October 15, 2005

Thanks everybody for the great answers! Is it bad etiquette to mark them all as best answer?

Unfortunately, the answers are so great that now I've got a ton of research to do to narrow things down. I was thinking originally that I'd need to rent a car, but I was happy to see all the suggestions of places I can get to on the train. I'll post an update here after I figure things out to let you know how it went.
posted by fuzz at 12:24 PM on October 15, 2005

This is my favorite place to find foliage reports.
posted by aaronh at 7:20 AM on October 17, 2005