Madam Brett Park and Dennings Point State Park

It could be that I came to hike on a Saturday morning instead of my usual Sunday morning that there were already people at Madam Brett Park even at just after sunrise. Then again, the city the park is in, Beacon, is small and thriving so it probably wouldn’t be surprising to find people there even on Sunday mornings. People out for a stroll, a jog, a change of scenery, a breath of fresh air, or a walk with their dogs to complete their morning routines.
The out-and-back, 2-mile trail isn’t itself wild. (You can go for an additional 3-mile hike if you decide to loop around the adjacent Dennings Point State Park, a 64-acre peninsula that juts into the Hudson River.) You won’t be hiking in the wilderness with uneven and rocky terrain as in, say, the Catskills or the Shawangunks-the paths are flat with some paved with a wooden boardwalk along Fishkill Creek on one side and ruins on the other, while crossing railroad tracks and a solar farm and passing through a Visitor Center-and you will constantly be greeted by people out doing pretty much the same thing you are. But you do get plenty of Nature along the way with a waterfall on one end and the Hudson River on the other.
So don’t expect solitude far from civilization and out deep in Nature when you hike at Madam Brett Park. Instead, expect the surrounding greenery, river, creek, and waterfall to spice up the stream of greetings and perhaps some short conversations when you encounter the warm residents of Beacon.