For twenty years the answer to hiking out of New York without a car was one word: Breakneck. The train stopped at the base of the trail, the scramble started fifty metres from the platform, and it became the most heavily used trailhead in the Hudson Highlands. It is closed. Breakneck Ridge, Wilkinson Memorial and Lower Brook trailheads, along with the Breakneck Ridge Metro-North station, closed in April 2025 and remain closed through 2026, with reopening expected around the middle of 2027.
Trail closures in the Highlands change by the season and the official alerts are easier to find than to interpret. Tell Karpo which Saturday you are going and how far you want to walk, and get which trailheads are open, which train gets you there, and how long the loop actually takes at a normal pace.
What is actually being built
The closure is for the Breakneck Connector and Bridge, the first phase of the Hudson Highlands Fjord Trail. The project adds a pedestrian bridge and a proper connector path so that hikers no longer have to walk along the shoulder of Route 9D to reach the trailheads, and it brings sidewalks, organised parking, crossings and signage to a spot that was handling enormous crowds with essentially no infrastructure. When it reopens it will be attached to a rebuilt station. That is a good outcome and a long wait.
Cold Spring is now the hub, and it is a better day
The Washburn and Cornish trailheads, the Notch Trail and Little Stony Point all remain open and are reached from Cold Spring station rather than from the closed stop one station north. This is a materially nicer day than the old Breakneck routine. You arrive in a village with coffee, food and a bookshop, walk to the trailhead in ten or fifteen minutes, climb, and come back down into somewhere that can feed you before the train. Washburn up to the old quarry and the Cornish estate ruins is the standard loop and gives you the same river views from the western side.
Read the alerts before you buy a ticket
The Highlands trail network changes more than people expect — sections close for restoration, storm damage or construction with little warning. The New York–New Jersey Trail Conference posts closures, and the state park pages carry them too. Checking takes two minutes and prevents the specific bad day where you ride an hour up the Hudson and find a sign. Take a screenshot of the alert page before you lose signal, because you will lose signal.
Timing the train, not the hike
Hudson Line trains run roughly hourly on weekends and the return schedule is what should govern your day. Work backwards: pick the train you want to be on, subtract the walking time to the station, subtract the descent, and that is your turnaround time on the ridge. Groups that plan forwards from the ascent routinely end up jogging the last mile. Also worth knowing: peak autumn Saturdays fill these trains, so an early departure buys you a seat both ways and a quieter trail.
Other stops worth knowing
Manitou and Garrison both put you within reach of quieter trail networks with a fraction of the traffic, and Peekskill gives access to the Camp Smith trail toward Anthony's Nose, which has one of the best Bear Mountain Bridge views in the valley. None of these has the drama of the old Breakneck scramble. All of them have a fraction of the crowd, which in October in the Hudson Valley is worth more than the scramble was.
What to carry on a train hike
Train hiking has a different packing list from car hiking, because there is no boot to retreat to. Everything you might need for the day is on your back from the moment you leave home, and the two things people most often lack are water — there is none at most of these trailheads — and a dry layer for the ride home after a sweaty descent. Carry cash as well; several of the village cafés near these stations still have card minimums. And put the return train times on paper or a screenshot, because signal in the Highlands is patchy exactly when you most want to check the schedule.
Practical notes
Breakneck Ridge, Wilkinson Memorial and Lower Brook are closed with the station until roughly mid-2027 while the Fjord Trail connector is built. Use Cold Spring for Washburn, Cornish, Notch and Little Stony Point. Check the Trail Conference alerts the morning you go and screenshot them. Plan the day backwards from your return train, go early on autumn Saturdays, and consider Manitou, Garrison or Peekskill when Cold Spring is busy.
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Ask Karpo first
Want to know which Highlands trailheads are open on the Saturday you are going, which train to take and how long the loop really takes? Ask Karpo for the current closures, a route matched to your pace and the return train to aim for.
