Walking Along the Hudson

For a city with the nickname of "The Concrete Jungle" New York certainly has a lot of water. Yes, it IS an island, but you never feel like it when you are here. I was feeling a bit squirrely from the cold wet weather that has been plaguing us here for so long. I needed something to break the gloom. Leave it up to Justin to know just the thing. We drove over to 158th street exit and parked in the parking lot for the park. The path that goes North from there is often used by runners and walkers. It meanders along the edge of the island along the Hudson River, sometimes under the West Side Highway, other times through a mini expanse of grass. It is really very quite, calm and comforting if you are the type of person (like me) who sees the ocean as therapy. As you walk up the path you can hear the river lapping at the rocks along the shore edge. You almost forget you are in the Big Apple.

This path will take you all the way up to the George Washington Bridge. You can walk around underneath the bridge, right down to the water. There is actually a little red lighthouse under the bridge. This lighthouse was made popular by the children's book The Little Red Lighthouse and the Great Gray Bridge, by Hildegarde H. Swift. The lighthouse was moved to its current location in 1921 from Sandy Hook, NJ where it was constructed in 1881. For more information check out the NYC Parks website.

This was a great walk. It took about 40 minutes or so round trip. It is a great activity for city slickers that need a break from all the concrete or for out of towners that want to see the city in a different kind of light.