Dutchess County Scenery

DUTCHESS COUNTY SCENERY

Edmund Van NXTyck

Much has been written about the old houses and structures of our County and the people who inhabited them. Many houses have been visited from time to time through tours conducted by the Historical Society and by the various societies of the County. By our visits we get to see fine old homes and to learn something about the cares and pleasures of those who lived in them. But sometimes I wonder if we really SEE the beautiful scenery all around us as we hurry from spot to spot, or if we know where to go to get to the magnificent views that can be seen here in Dutchess County.

To list all the beauty spots of the County would be an endless task, and to direct you to them via a road map and milage would take up an entire edition of the Year Book. So I will pick out a few places that I have enjoyed so many times, and I hope that you will see them as you journey from place to place. You will need a good map of the County, and you should keep an eye on your odometer. I will try to pinpoint places and distances from intersections, cities and villages. Views along the Taconic Parkway are plainly marked in most cases by "Overlooks" so there's no need to point them out, only to urge you to stop at every "Overlook" as you drive up and down this beautiful highway.

One of the most extensive views is from McGhee Hill in the Town of Northeast. One of our past Presidents called it, most inappropriately, "Silver Mountain", and he often picnicked there. Pick a "Kodachrorne" day and go to "Silver Mountain" when the sun will be at your back. The view extend s' from the Catskills to the northwest to Mohonk to the southwest. To reach this spot take U. S. Route 44 to the top of Delavern Hill at Route 82A, proceeding on 82A about 21/2 miles to Smithfield, straight ahead on Smithfield Road about 21/2 miles. As you near the top of the hill a sharp left turn puts you on Silver Mountain Road. Choose your own place or places to stop, and allow more than a few minutes because the view will keep you there for a quarter of an hour. If you start for Silver Mountain from Pine Plains, use 82A through Bethel to Northeast Center Road and turn right at Silver Mountain Road.

A very lovely view of the Hudson River is within the Poughkeepsie City limits, "Lover's Leap", which is on a high bluff overlooking the Hudson in the southern area of the Poughkeepsie Rural Cemetery. Park your car and walk a hundred yards to the top of the hill and you have one of the finest views of the River Valley to the north and the south.

High Acres Drive, oddly enough, in High Acres is off Noxon Road about 21 /2 miles from Route 55 and unfolds a 180 degree panorama from the Taghanics on the east around to the south past the "Hook" and Mount Beacon, then across the Hudson and northward along the Appalachins to Illinois Mt. on the west. High Acres is six miles from Poughkeepsie on Route 55 and Noxon Road.

There are many very pretty views of the Hudson River and the Catskills on the drive north on Route 9G, especially north of the Rhinecliff Bridge entrance and on into Columbia County toward the Rip Van Winkle Bridge and the City of Hudson, a trip of forty miles from Poughkeepsie. 9G is a heavily traveled road, so pick a safe spot along the way as you pause to enjoy the many vistas. And another very scenic spot I recommend is the top of German Hill on Route 82 between Verbank and South Millbrook, fourteen or fifteen miles from Poughkeepsie. And another ride I always enjoy: go out on Route 44 to Washington Hollow, north on Route 82 to Stanfordville. Leaving that villa,ge, bear to the right and soon you will be in Bangall on Hunns Lake Road. A mile or two further on you will reach Lake Road which takes you along the east side of Hunns Lake, a very pretty County lake, and I understand there's good fishing to be enjoyed. Follow along Hunns Lake Road for about a mile and you will come to Carpenter Hill Road where the route swings around to the east, then south, and start down hill. You will have a beautiful broad view of a large section of our farm lands stretching east to the Taghkanics and north to the Berkshires. At the bottom of the hill, turn left on 82A through Shekomeko and Bethel to the Village of Pine Plains, turn right to Smithfield and Route 44 at the top of Delaverne Hill, west on Route 44 back to Poughkeepsie, a fine ride of about 50 miles.

When you are in northern Dutchess some sunny day take the Upper Red Hook Road from that village and head east through Cokertown and on to Jacksons Corners. Drive slowly so you do not miss the two places, but if you pass under the Parkway you will have seen both of them. You will enjoy this ride eastward over the hills for there a,re many very worthwhile views of our County and our countryside. And when you are heading for the southern part of the County, go by the way of Route 376 as far as New Hackensack, straight ahead on All Angels Hill Road. About 21 /2 miles south you will reach All Angels Hill and there you should stop a few minutes all look around at the fine picture that you will remember for a long time.

A close-up view of the eastern environs of Poughkeepsie can be had from Spy Hill, a mile east of Howard Johnson's off Route 55. Overlooking the Vassar College campus in the foreground, you have almost a 360 degree picture. Perhaps some do not know that once there was a coal mine started on Spy Hill.

There are many, many other magnificant views to find in Dutchess County, such as the one of the Amenia environs as one goes down the east slope of Delavern Hill on Route 44. The best time of day for this lovely picture is early in the morning, and there are many other pictures from the hill tops of the hills and mountains, the farms and hamlets that are scattered along our Connecticut border and also along the Putnam County line. I hope these few paragraphs will entice some of the readers to roam around Dutchess County on the back roads. You will enjoy it, I am very sure, and .if you do get lost, keep on going, and eventually you will be back on a milea-minute thoroughfare to hurry home again.