Long Path

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The Long Path is an approximately 350 mile long trail in New York, which extends about 15 miles into New Jersey. The trail starts at Fort Lee Historic Park in New Jersey (just across the river from Manhattan) and ends in the town of Altamont, New York, near Albany. The trail was originally conceived as a footpath from Manhattan all the way to Mount Marcy in the Adirondacks in the 1930's. The idea for the trail was partially abandoned during World War II, then revived in the 1960's. Progress building the trail has been slow since being revived, due to the population density of the areas through which the trail passes, but as of 2000 the trail is mostly continuous. There have been plans to extend the trail to the Adirondacks from its current Northern terminus, but no substantial progress has been made for several years. However, the plans for extending the trail are still being pursued.

The trail is maintained by the New York-New Jersey Trail Conference (NYNJTC), and passes through several state parks and mountain ranges, including the Palisades Interstate Park, Harriman State Park, the Shawangunks, the Catskills, the Schoharie Valley, and the Mohawk River Valley.

The Long Path crosses the Appalachian Trail in Harriman State Park, and the Finger Lakes Trail in the Catskill Park.

From North Mountain in the Catskills, it is possible to see North-South Lake State Park only a few miles south along the Long Path, with the Hudson Valley and river in the distance. Photo: Ryan Linn

1 Hiking The Trail
2 Permits, Resupply and Logistics
3 Gear Considerations
4 External Links

Hiking The Trail

Hiking the entire Long Path is possible, but requires quite a bit of planning and preparation. Much of the trail passes through private property, so camping is only allowed in certain areas, which are detailed in the Long Path guidebook. There are also several short sections that travel along roads. Most of the road sections are very short, though there is one that is nearly 13 miles long.

Due to a large section of the trail that has been closed at times by landowners, the NYNJTC built the Shawangunk Ridge Trail, which connects High Point Park in New Jersey to Sam's Point Preserve in New York. With the Shawangunk Ridge Trail, it is possible to hike from Fort Lee to Harriman State Park on the Long Path, then to High Point via the Appalachian Trail, then to Sam's Point to reconnect with the Long Path. This is currently the best route for hiking the entire Long Path. This leaves two very long sections of over 30 miles where no camping is allowed, however.

Because of there are so many restrictions on camping sites on the Long Path, it is very necessary to obtain a current guide book for the Path. The most up-to-date NYNJTC guide book for the Long Path was written in 2002 (revised 2005). Unfortunately, no detailed maps exist of the entire trail, though the NYNJTC prints detailed maps of Harriman State Park, the Palisades Interstate Park, the Shawangunk hiking trails, and the Catskills, which do include parts of the Long Path. The guide book has rudimentary maps of the entire trail, though they not very detailed. The guide book does include a section on hiking the entire trail, though, and details the Shawangunk Ridge Trail, towns and hiker services along the Long Path, and ways to deal with the large no-camping sections.

Permits, Resupply and Logistics

No permits are necessary for hiking any section of the Long Path, although there are several restrictions on camping, as noted above. Remember that much of the trail is located on private land, so care should be taken to remain discreet while on the trail.

There are several points for resupply, most of which are detailed in the Long Path guide book. The very southern section passes through many heavily populated areas with various resupply options. On the Appalachian Trail, the route goes near Greenwood Lake, NY and Vernon, NJ. The Shawangunk Ridge Trail passes through the middle of town in Wurtsboro, NY. From there to the northern terminus, the trail comes close to or directly through several small towns with good options for resupply, including Kerhonkson, Phoenicia, Palenville, Windham, and Middleburgh. The guide book does not mention a few towns that might make good resupply points like New Paltz (on NY Route 44/55) and Woodstock (near Phoenicia).

Gear Considerations

There are very few shelters along the trail, so some type of tent is necessary. The few shelters that do occur are mostly within the Catskills, but can be crowded or poorly maintained. Keep this in mind when packing.

Water is generally easy to find along the Long Path, though there are some sections where water is scarce. Plan ahead! The guide book mentions all the areas where water may be hard to find, so you should be able to guess how much water you will need to carry.

There are few hiking gear stores near the trail. Wurtsboro and New Paltz both have good outfitters, but those may be the only places near the trail with such services.