Across the Hudson from New York

These photos were taken in the late morning of Wednesday, April 19, 2006 at two different rest stops located along the Palisades Interstate Parkway in northern Bergen County, New Jersey. There are also a few short video clips of the same spot, showing what appear to be hawks circling above the waterway. The area can be seen from the air, complements of google earth.

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The following text is swiped directly from The Corner Corner which does a better job than I am immediately able at describing this surprisingly pristine woodland located directly across the river from the Bronx: " This scenic and challenging point is at the bottom of the Palisades, a five hundred foot cliff along the west bank of the Hudson River just north of New York City. I took the Palisades Parkway to State Line Lookout in New Jersey where there is a visitor center and several excellent vistas. Free park maps showing the trail system are available. From the visitor center I proceeded north along the abandoned "old route 9W" until a blue-blazed trail diverged to the east. The trail skirts the edge of the cliffs for about a half mile, sometimes approaching within two or three feet of the precipice. Just before swinging east and passing through a gate in a chain link fence, it passes a large witness monument indicating 'Station Rock' 488 feet to the east along the state line. Since this line extends over the edge of the cliff I did not investigate a beeline approach. The trail, now blazed white, descends steeply down rock stairs and dirt paths. At the bottom is Peanut Leap Falls and the ruins of a summer house dating from the nineteenth century. The trail continues south along the river and soon passes through another gate in a chain link fence belonging to the Lamont-Doherty Geophysical Observatory. At first, I mistook this for the state line but my GPS came to the rescue and indicated another half mile. Most of the shoreline trail is flat and passes through woods and tall grass. Oh yeah, they did mention copperhead snakes. Finally the trail reaches open rocks with white blazes and leads directly to the objective. An 8-foot boulder with a large face toward the river is marked with a dotted triangle at the NJ/NY line. The USGS topo map shows the Station Rock monument, which may date from 1774."

Some less bucoloic, more urban scenes taken the same day from a moving vehicle, enroute to LaGuardia Airport, are here.

 

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