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Sometimes it's a quiet almost contemplative place that can be the most impressive. Great and important events transported them selves through the rolling hills centuries before. Since then, people have come to revere and honor the location, not so much because there is anything actually overly special about the physical location or because there is anything monumental and in itself awe inspiring to stand and gaze at, (although both of these aren't true here). Rather, the place takes on a growing stature because of the human history that took place there and because the place itself has been a formative focus of our history.

And it really doesn't hurt if a couple time a day a deafening boom resounds from a cannon!

Stony Point Battlefield Historic Site is a quiet little out of the way park created to preserve and interpret the final major battle in the American Revolution fought in the Hudson Valley. In the early hours of July 16, 1779, General Anthony Wayne led his troops against a strongly held British position on the heights of Stony Point. In the dark of the night General Wayne's troops crept up the flanks of Stony Point overwhelming the British and taking the fortifications. The battle was intense though extremely short taking less than an hour from start to victory. The site was important to the British as it is a high rocky peninsula jutting out into the river commanded the Hudson River south of the South Gate to the Highlands. From here the British could control river traffic preventing the Colonials from descending the river toward Manhattan.

Shortly after the battle, General Washington inspected the captured fortifications and determined he had insufficient men to spare to occupy and defend the position. So on July 18th the Continental Armies abandoned the position which within two days was reoccupied by the British. In possession again, they reinforced the fortifications and dug in, but even their fortunes were about to change. Expected reinforcements never arrived and in October of 1779 the British abandoned the high peninsula and never again threatened the Hudson Highlands. Stony Point proved to be a costly lesson to the British and began to teach them about the limits of their abilities.

Out on the far end of Stony Point, a lighthouse was constructed in 1826 marking the dangerous peninsula for shipping as well as warning of the entrance to the Hudson Highlands just to the north. Today it is the oldest lighthouse on the Hudson River. Now fully restored and open to the public for tours, the lighthouse provides an amazing platform for a spectacular panoramic view of the Hudson as it flows south out of the Hudson Highlands. Pyramidal in shape and constructed of stone and rubble, this early lighthouse is a fascinating glimpse back into the early technology of lighthouses.

Visiting the Battlefield and Lighthouse is both a pleasure and a lot of fun. There is an excellent museum at the site documenting the battle and providing interesting three dimensional displays of the battlefield and armaments of the time. An excellent short film offers an historical perspective of the battle and out on the peninsula itself, a well designed and developed series of graphic and text plaques explain the fortifications, the lay out, the action and give you a sense of the people involved. On most summer weekends there are activities and reenactments taking place. And always, there are demonstrations of the cannon making the loudest noise you've ever heard!

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Just below the South Gate to the Hudson Highlands the mighty Hudson River broadens out into a wide tidal estuary as it makes its way south becoming the greatest deep water port in America, New York Harbor. Below Haverstraw in Rockland County the railroad hasn't laid claim to the bank and public parklands line the western shore from Hook Mountain down to Nyack. These parks form an unparalleled opportunity for anyone to walk the bank of the river and experience its power and scale first hand. In these reaches it's a gentle slow and friendly body of water with marshes on its banks and friendly waves lapping the shore. On this bank great palisades tower above the river covered with forests and protecting you as you walk the bank.

Nyack Beach State Park is the most direct and easy access to the excellently developed paths that follow the bank of the river through these series of parks. Nyack Beach State Park is actually a tiny park consisting of little more than a parking lot and some picnic tables giving you a place to access the river and the trails. So don't go to the park expecting fabulous facilities or anything to amaze you, the river itself and access to the paths are the attraction and the reason not to miss this park. This is especially true for people with handicaps as the broad cinder path that follows the bank is right at the end of the parking lot. By accessing the pathways from this location they are completely handicapped accessible and very friendly to stroll.

Pack a picnic and take the family or friends on a stroll north from Nyack Beach State Park. The pathways hug the shoreline and are shaded by trees and the palisades towering overhead. The path is nearly level and wanders in and out following the little bays and outcroppings of the shoreline. On your walk you see people fishing from the banks, families and couples with blankets spread picnicking under the trees, kids playing and other people just like you strolling enjoying the day and the spectacular view. The path is broad, level and an exceptionally easy stroll.

If you like to stroll in scenic locations, and you think that actually being able to see the river close up is possibly more fun than seeing it out the window of your car as you drive over a bridge, then a visit to Nyack Beach State Park should be put up high on your list of places to go in the Hudson Valley. You'll have a great time in the outdoors and the view and breezes cannot be matched anywhere else in the Valley.

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We include this with a certain guilty pleasure into our A-List of places in the Hudson Valley. You see, we love shopping! Just can't deny it! And if you love to shop, then the Palisades Mall is number two on your very short list of places to go in the Hudson Valley.

Palisades is a mega-mall, four vast stories of shops, boutiques, department stores, specialty shops, food courts and entertainment. Conceived in the mid 1990s, it was built in the belief that more is most definitely better. More stores than you could possibly visit in a weekend. More things to see and do than you can possibly squeeze in between browsing. More of just about everything than you can find just about anywhere else. When we locals first heard of the plans we were told it was to be bigger even than the Mall of America, but the reality doesn't approach that goal. Yet even though it falls short of that original statement, it is still a pretty stupendous place none the less.

When you go to the Palisades Mall wear real comfortable shoes and be prepared to walk and walk and walk. Your first and most important order of business is to note down someplace very safe where you parked your car! The parking lots, both inside and outside, are absolutely vast. Loaded down with packages and parcels filled to the brim of all the special stuff you just accumulated, you really don't want to discover you are on the wrong side of the building looking for your car in an area a quarter mile from where you really want to be. So like all savvy and experienced mall walkers, make note of where you park and how you enter, it will become vitally important to you later.

After that, just abandon yourself to the experience. There's a dizzying assortment of shops and places to entice you and your credit card to pause and peruse and purchase, everything from atomizers to zebra rugs are waiting for you. You'll be pleased with the collection of stores and the wide diversity of articles available to you. When you get a little peckish, you can either visit the vast food court or wander to the upper level where a collection if sit down restaurants and cafes await. The kids can occupy themselves in one of the many arcades, or on the Ferris wheel, or the batting cages or ice skating on the NHL Pro rink. Or if you are bored you can go to the movies upstairs or sit back in a very plush seat at the IMAX theater and watch the next generation of film presentation.

It's an amazing place filled with great things to do, great shopping and great food. Go and have a great time, just make sure to rest up before you arrive!

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How did they qualify to be included?

HV/Net has attempted to assemble for you the best, most important and most interesting sites to visit in the Hudson Valley. In other words, this is the "Must See" or "A List" of sites and attractions in the Valley. We have endeavored to go to every site, visit every historic museum, play at every attraction and delve into every hidden corner of the Valley to find and filter for you the best the Valley has to offer. We've walked, toured, pondered over, poked at, schlepped through, listened to and been interpreted at, we've slogged, enjoyed, been disappointed, trekked over, and sneezed at the dust of just about every place in the Hudson Valley there is.

From all of that, we have assembled the best of the best. Inclusion in this list was ultimately based upon a few basic criteria:

1. The site must be of major historical or cultural importance, or ;
2. The site must be a unique representation of its historic or cultural type, and therefore be of importance, or ;
3. The amusement or entertainment must be fun and exciting and ;
4. The location must be accessible, easy to find and worth the effort, and ;
5. The location must meet expectations of what should be found, and ;
6. The location must be clean, family friendly and safe, and ;
7. The staff must be friendly, helpful and willing to put in the effort to enhance your experience.

Exclusion from our list of the Must See Locations of the Hudson Valley doesn't mean a site or attraction isn't good or worth the time and effort to go. It does, however, indicate that the site or attraction is probably specialized in nature & not of broad general interest, may be difficult to find or get to and so given a limited amount of time..., or in a very few and thankfully extremely rare instances, may be dirty, perceptively unsafe or staffed by rude and unfriendly people.

HV/Net invites you and encourages you to explore the hundreds of sites and attractions in the Hudson Valley not on our Must See List. We provide you all the information we can on everything there is, just search through your listings.

But, armed with our Must See List and your knowledge of the amount of time you have and what your interests are, we think this is a start in your enjoyment of this most marvelous and historic of river valleys.

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