AT A GLANCE
Why go?
Blue Mountain Reservation is a placid, 1,500-plus acre county park in the hills above Peekskill, in the northwest corner of Westchester County, New York. It pairs broad, boulder-strewn woodland with two genuine summits—Blue Mountain and Mount Spitzenberg—whose rocky outcrops open onto panoramic views of the Hudson River. Hikers, mountain bikers, anglers and horseback riders all share its more than 20 miles of trails, while the park's historic stone structures and secluded freshwater ponds reward a slower, strolling visit.↗↗↗
What sets it apart from ordinary suburban parks is the quality of its terrain and its reputation: the rolling, glacial landscape of granite erratics and rock outcroppings makes for genuinely challenging hikes to two peaks, and the trail network is nationally known among mountain bikers, with color-coded routes graded for beginner, intermediate and advanced riders.↗↗
Landscape and the Two Peaks
The reservation's character comes from its geology. Massive granite boulders and glacial erratics tower above the trails, while hardwood forest, tiny lichens and abundant ferns create a picturesque understory. Ponds and streams thread through the valleys—among them the freshwater ponds that once supplied harvested ice—giving the woods a quiet, water-mirrored beauty.
