Mt. Beacon. Hike the Hudson Valley Fortunately, Scenic Hudson and the Mount Beacon Incline Railway Restoration Society have made that old route obsolete, and you can now traverse a very well-maintained trail system all around Mt. Beacon. As an added bonus, the newly renovated fire tower (which reopened on June 22, 2013) now has stairs! It’s much more pleasant to climb that way. Thank you, Mt. Beacon Fire Tower Restoration Committee and all the people who sponsored the individual stairs.You can make your day on Mount Beacon as easy or as difficult as you’d like (assuming you’d like to climb at least 1,000 vertical feet). To get to the first overlook at the old casino ruins, you’ll have to climb about 200 stairs, then proceed around a bunch of steep, rocky switchbacks.The view at the casino overlook is so awesome, you could absolutely make it your final destination. If you headed back to your car from here, you would have bagged yourself a nice 2.4-mile roundtrip hike, complete with a righteous clifftop money spot.However much of a hike you decide to tackle here, just be sure that you do pay Mt. Beacon a visit. It’s one of the most popular hiking destinations in the Hudson Valley because it deserves to be.
