New York trails · Highlands
Highlands
A 5.5-mile out-and-back in New York, with 1,225 ft of climbing. Reaches Whitehorse Mountain and other lake/summit destinations. Managed by the state.
Elevation profile
The climbing leans toward the first third: 51% of the ascent falls between mile 0.0 and mile 1.8. It gives back about 1,132 ft along the way, so it rolls rather than climbing steadily.
3-D terrain
USGS 3DEP ELEVATION × ESRI WORLD IMAGERY · VERTICAL ×1.5
Reaches
- Whitehorse Mountain (summit)
- Storm King Mountain (summit)
- Upper Reservoir (lake)
Heads up
Getting there
Highlands access. About 27 min drive (14 mi, 1 of them unpaved) from Kiryas Joel. 41.41122, -74.00791 · directions
Daylight at the trailhead
On October 14, 2026 — the day this page was generated — first light reaches this trailhead at 6:38 a.m., the sun rises at 7:06 a.m. and sets at 6:16 p.m., and the last usable light fades about 6:44 p.m. (EDT) — 11 h 10 min of daylight. At about 2.7 mph plus 30 minutes per 1,000 feet of climbing, the 11.0-mile round trip takes roughly 5 h 18 min, so leaving the trailhead at sunrise puts you back around 12:23 p.m. — 5 h 53 min before sunset.
Loop options
- Highlands + Bare Hill + Bridle Path — 1.6 mi loop, 327 ft gain
- Highlands + Unnamed trail + Orchard Hill — 2.5 mi loop, 378 ft gain
- Highlands + Orchard Hill + North Spillway — 2.6 mi loop, 403 ft gain
Nearby trails
- Long Path — 8.0 mi
- Suffern-Bear Mountain — 13.9 mi
- Tappan Zee Bridge Path — 23.2 mi
- Appalachian National Scenic Trail — 29.2 mi