Breakneck Ridge is a mountain along the

Hudson River The Hudson River is a river that flows from north to south primarily through eastern New York. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains of Upstate New York and flows southward through the Hudson Valley to the New York Harbor between N ...

between

Beacon A beacon is an intentionally conspicuous device designed to attract attention to a specific location. A common example is the lighthouse, which draws attention to a fixed point that can be used to navigate around obstacles or into port. More mode ...

and Cold Spring,

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

, straddling the boundary between

Dutchess Dutchess County is a County (United States), county in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 295,911. The county seat is the city of Poughkeepsie, New York, Poughkeeps ...

and Putnam counties. Its distinctive rocky cliffs are visible for a long distance when approached from the south, and together with Storm King Mountain on the opposite bank of the river forms Wey-Gat, or Wind Gate, the picturesque northern gateway to the

Hudson Highlands The Hudson Highlands are mountains on both sides of the Hudson River in New York state lying primarily in Putnam County on its east bank and Orange County on its west. They continue somewhat to the south in Westchester County and Rockland County ...

. It has several summits, the highest, some distance inland, reaching approximately 1,260 feet (384 m) above sea level. The southern face of the peak is known for its striking

cliff In geography and geology, a cliff is an area of rock which has a general angle defined by the vertical, or nearly vertical. Cliffs are formed by the processes of weathering and erosion, with the effect of gravity. Cliffs are common on co ...

s, the result of

quarry A quarry is a type of open-pit mine in which dimension stone, rock, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, gravel, or slate is excavated from the ground. The operation of quarries is regulated in some jurisdictions to reduce their envi ...

ing in past years. Lying within

Hudson Highlands State Park Hudson Highlands State Park is a non-contiguous state park in the U.S. state of New York, located on the east side of the Hudson River. The park runs from Peekskill in Westchester County, through Putnam County, to Beacon in Dutchess County, in ...

, it offers views of the river and region and is quite popular with

hiker Hiking is a long, vigorous walk, usually on trails or footpaths in the countryside. Walking for pleasure developed in Europe during the eighteenth century.AMATO, JOSEPH A. "Mind over Foot: Romantic Walking and Rambling." In ''On Foot: A Histor ...

s, to the point that a rail flag stop has been established on the Metro North line which runs right by the base of the ridge along NY 9D. In 1932 a road tunnel was dug below the western slopes of the peak; it is now designated as part of Route 9D. Until the early 20th century, the mountain was also known as St. Anthony's Face or Turk's Face, after a facelike stone formation on the southern cliffs that was destroyed by quarrymen in 1846. (This references a different mountain, “Anthony’s Nose” not Breakneck. )

Approach

While several routes exist, most hikers take the white-

blazed Trail blazing or way marking is the practice of marking paths in outdoor recreational areas with signs or markings that follow each other at certain, though not necessarily exactly defined, distances and mark the direction of the trail. A bla ...

route up the mountain's west face that begins on the West (Southbound) side of Route 9D near the tunnel. After circling around to cross above the tunnels, it begins a steep, rocky and challenging climb up to the first bump of the mountain, about 720 feet (219 m) above the river, where there are views of the river and Highlands. It continues in a similar fashion over the remaining bumps until it reaches the summit, but keeps on going and becomes a trail that travels over several other summits, and eventually peters out. However, there are other small trails that lead down from the white trail, as there are blue, red, and green trails that ascend from the various other summits that the white blazed trail crosses over. They serve as a shortcut to the base of the mountain. The Ninham Trail, named after former

Wappinger The Wappinger () were an Eastern Algonquian Munsee-speaking Native American people from what is now southern New York and western Connecticut. At the time of first contact in the 17th century they were primarily based in what is now Dutches ...

chief Daniel Ninham, opened in July 2021 as an alternate route to ascend Breakneck Ridge and to provide a safer option for less experienced hikers to descend the mountain. The new trail has more than 500 stairs made from stones hand cut from Breakneck Ridge. After the opening of the Ninham Trail, the Breakneck Ridge ascent (white trail) was converted to a one-way, up only trail.

References

External links

Hiking Breakneck Ridge

Description of Breakneck Ridge Loop

Hudson Highlands North Trail Map (PDF)
*

{{Mountains of New York Hudson Highlands Fishkill, New York Landforms of Dutchess County, New York Landforms of Putnam County, New York Tourist attractions in Dutchess County, New York Tourist attractions in Putnam County, New York