The Hudson Valley is a National Heritage Area that’s brimming with historic, cultural, and natural resources. It’s also one of the nation’s most highly traveled routes, and stretches along the river from Westchester County to Albany, the state capital. This region’s natural beauty and history are a constant source of inspiration for painters, poets, essayists, and novelists.
The Upper Hudson Valley is dominated by rolling hills and the rugged landscape of the Catskill Mountains. It’s a region where painters of the Hudson River School—including Frederick Church, Thomas Cole, and Andrew Jackson Downing—created iconic works from their magnificent views. It’s home to the oldest continuous settlement in the country, as well as the largest park in New York City: the Forever Wild Catskill Park. It’s a place where vineyards, orchards and farms—including the sustainable-food champion Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture—are celebrated. And it’s a place where Dia:Beacon, a museum in a former factory, and the Storm King Art Center sculpture park feature large-scale work by major 20th and 21st century artists.
It’s a region where you can ride a ferry across the Hudson River to the island of Bear Mountain, go hiking or skiing on the trails at Mohonk Preserve, and see a performance at the magnificent Bard College Conservatory of Music. It’s where you’ll find the majestic Vanderbilt Mansion, the historic Dutchess County Courthouse, and Franklin D. Roosevelt’s home and presidential library. It’s where you can visit the main campus of the Culinary Institute of America, Marist College, Bannerman’s Castle, and Hudson Highlands State Park.
In the Middle Hudson Valley—Putnam, Orange, and Dutchess counties—you’ll find historic estates as well as towns with extraordinary 17th- and 18th-century architecture. It’s where you’ll discover the remarkable Hudson Fjord, an inlet formed by a glacier during the most recent period of North American glaciation.
And it’s where you can savor great wine, farm-to-table cuisine, and craft brews in an array of restaurants and bars that have earned this region a reputation as a culinary destination. You’ll find celebrated chefs in country inns, and you’ll be able to sample the latest innovations at the world-renowned Culinary Institute of America. You’ll be able to buy something special at the shop of a famous fashion designer, or enjoy a cocktail in a hotel with a history that dates back to the Revolutionary War.
You’ll also be able to explore the area’s unique heritage and culture through its museums, festivals, and other events. The region’s many parks, lakes, and wetlands provide the backdrop for outdoor recreation in thousands of acres of wilderness. The burgeoning economy in the Albany-Rensselaer county area has drawn cutting-edge companies, research centers, and entrepreneurial startups. The downtown shopping and dining district of Troy is growing, fueled in part by the presence of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. And the resurgent Stockade District of Kingston features incredible 17th- and 18th-century Dutch colonial buildings—including the only Four Corners intersection in the United States where all the structures date from before the Revolutionary War.