Best Hikes With Children Catskills & Hudson River Valley [Paperback]

Cynthia Copeland (Author), Thomas Lewis (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 22, 2002 | Series: Best Hikes with Children

Completely revised and updated, with trips suitable for preschoolers to teenagers.

This edition of Best Hikes with Children and the Hudson River Valley guides you to some of the Empire State's most kid-friendly outdoor excursions, all of which are located within two and a half hours of New York City.

*Features 51 short, spectacular hikes for kids, seniors and anyone looking for an easy escape to the outdoors

*Practical advice for hiking with children and engaging them in the natural world

*Includes optional turn-around points for tired feet

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Avid outdoors people, Cynthia Copeland and Tom Lewis are also authors of Best Hikes with Children in Connecticut, Massachusetts & Rhode Island, and Best Hikes with Children in Vermont, New Hampshire & Maine.

Dutchess County, New York resident Sheila Buff is a bestselling freelance writer. Her works include Nature Walks in and Around New York City and The Complete Idiot's Guide to Birdwatching.

Product Details

• Paperback: 242 pages
• Publisher: The Mountaineers Books; 2 edition (March 22, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0898867835
• ISBN-13: 978-0898867831
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.3 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,322,917 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Beware: Bad Driving Directions, June 10, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Best Hikes With Children Catskills & Hudson River Valley (Paperback)

Great concept for a book. The hikes themselves look great. However, be warned, there appears to be major problems with the driving instructions - at least the two we followed.

1. Page 40: Hike #1: Pine Meadow Lake - The book states "From New York City, take the Thruway (I-87) north to Exit 15." This is in error. The correct exit is 15A - NOT Exit 15!!! Taking Exit 15 (as we unfortunately found out) will take you in the wrong direction. What this means is all the directions to Harriman State Park from New York City are wrong in this book.

2. Page 118: Hike #22: Hudson River At Staatsburgh Mills Mansion State Park. The book states "From New York City, take the Thruway (I-87) north to Exit 10." This is a REALLY bad mistake. The correct exit is Exit 9. Going to Exit 10 as the book directs (and we followed) takes you to the wrong side of the Hudson river!!!

Incidentally, these are not new or recently-revised exit numbers.

These were the only two sets of directions we followed so far and both were very wrong. Needless to say we are very disappointed in the book - especially one that is so newly revised. There needs to be a lot more attention to detail and fact checking by the authors.

Are there any more mistakes? Who knows? I guess we'll find out the hard way. It's not to much fun following their driving directions to the letter and then getting lost with a 5 year old in the backseat.

This book has the potential be a 4 or 5 star if it weren't for these profound problems.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Dangerous!, September 21, 2008

By 

Wise Dad (New York, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Best Hikes With Children Catskills & Hudson River Valley (Paperback)

This book is written in an offhand, casual way and uses unofficial maps that do not provide clear guidance. Our family including 2 young kids misread an instruction and ended up lost in NY's Harriman State Park. We came close to spending the night in the park, if we hadn't had our cell phones, coverage, and a very helpful ranger available who came to our rescue at nightfall. The ranger said he had rescued many (tens) of people from the park who had used this book and that his office had called the publishers to address the issue. I recommend that you DO NOT USE THIS BOOK.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Outdated, but useful, May 22, 2010

By 

Leslie "bookish mom to young twins" (Brooklyn, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Best Hikes With Children Catskills & Hudson River Valley (Paperback)

I've taken some awesome hikes with my kids based on this book. I've also gotten incredibly frustrated and lost, when the information on the page and the reality on the ground have diverged completely. Since this book was originally published in 1992, the far Western Catskills have experienced several devastating floods that have closed some roads and trails for good. So get this book -- but triple check everything online before you set out to hike.