Up the Hudson River

If you want to get out of Manhattan for a weekend of nature photography or are a first-time visitor heading toward New England for some fall foliage photography, you can find many great locations along the Hudson River. Fly into New York’s JFK or into Newark, New Jersey, to start your photo journey along the Hudson. If you plan to arrive for a fall foliage photo tour, you might consider starting your trip in the north, and following the color as it moves south. It is said that autumn color moves south at a rate of about 100 miles per day. You can fly into Burlington, Vermont, or just across the Canadian Border into Montreal, and work your way south. Since it’s about a nine-hour drive, straight through, on the Interstate from NYC to the Canadian Border, you might prefer to book a cheaper flight into JFK, pick up a rental car with unlimited miles, then drive north to start your autumn color trip in up-state New York. 

I started my recent photo trip up the Hudson River by heading north along New Jersey’s Palisades Parkway where I turned my rental car onto the Henry Hudson Drive late in the afternoon. The southern entrance is just south of the Fort Lee Historic Park. The narrow road follows the cliffs above the Hudson, on the New Jersey side of the river. Most of the Henry Hudson Drive is half-way down the cliffs, between the top of the Palisades and the river level, running north/south. It passes directly beneath the George Washington Bridge where you will find some great views of the structure. The road continues north, past red sand beaches to Ross Dock, where there’s a parking lot, picnic grounds, and restrooms. From there, you’ll find a good angle for evening light on the George Washington Bridge. 

If you are a walker, the Shore Trail follows this same route–from Fort Lee, along the edge of the Hudson River for almost fifteen miles to the New York State line. From the trail you can see across the river to Washington Heights and the Cloisters on the northern end of Manhattan Island. Looking south, you can pick out the Empire State Building and the World Trade Center Buildings. Recent summer rains filled all the waterfalls dropping from the top of the Palisades. Greenbrook Falls is a 250-foot cascade dropping to a small, secluded beach near the Englewood Boat Basin. Late afternoon light illuminated the structure of the bridge and lit up the high-rise skyline of Manhattan. I had arrived on a clear day after a storm with a sky full of large clouds. A red filter on a 24mm lens with Kodak’s T-Max 400CN black and white film brought out the texture of the clouds. For most of my travel photography, I use a 24-120mm Nikon zoom on a Nikon F100 with a lightweight Gitzo tripod. 

No parking is permitted along the Henry Hudson Drive. You can park your car only in the parking lots at the boat basins. It’s a long walk back to that great tripod spot beneath the George Washington Bridge. It’s faster to park along the street just outside the south entrance to the Henry Hudson Drive and make the fifteen-minute walk to the base of the George Washington Bridge. You can walk along the road or find the trailhead for the Shore Trail, almost hidden in the trees to the right of the entrance to the Henry Hudson Drive. The trail descends about a hundred feet below the road, through a jungle of overgrown trees, down an old stone stairway to river level. The stairs are crumbling in a few places and bordered with poison ivy in others.  

The Long Path follows the edge of the Palisades along the top of the cliffs. The Shore Trail follows the water’s edge. The Henry Hudson Drive parallels the Shore Trail, about a hundred feet higher up the slopes, but doesn’t follow it over talus slopes, through deep ravines and into old forests of oak, maple, and hickory. The trails cross old and crumbling estates, follow streams, and narrow ledges on the rim of the Palisades, finally reaching the highest point on the New Jersey Palisades–at 530 feet. 

This is one of the most beautiful stretches along the Hudson River, but there is much more to be discovered along the 315 miles from the ocean to its source in the Adirondacks. If you are planning a photo exploration up the Hudson River, check out my Photograph America Newsletter–Issue #64 called “Up the Hudson River.” Another reason to subscribe to the most detailed bimonthly photo/travel newsletter available. For more information and subscription details check out  http://www.apogeephoto.com/800get_foto.html

  Click Here if you'd like to receive more information about the Photograph America Newsletter in the mail.