Summer is the perfect time to enjoy the outdoors. Whether you’re a devoted adventure seeker or a simply enjoy being on the water, there’s some serious fun to be had in the Hudson Valley.
For the thrill seekers, Skydive the Ranch offers skydiving in Gardiner. Jumping out of a perfectly good airplane at 13,500 feet and hurtling toward the Earth at 9.8 m/s2 is unlike anything else you’ve ever tried. If you really like your heights a little more grounded, why not try ziplining at New York Zipline Adventures? The company offers a family-friendly mid-mountain tour, with the Catskill mountains as the backdrop. Its SkyRider tour is its most extreme attraction, lasting three hours and soaring 600 feet above the valley. If you want to gaze at the stars and follow the light of the moon as you glide along, consider the Night Zip tour. If you’ve got a group of eight, head over to the 60-foot Adventure Tower on the base of Hunter Mountain. This obstacle course forces guests to complete nine different stages to get to the top—providing both mental and physical stimulation.
Summer also means water-related activities. Kayaking tours like Storm King Adventure Tours are a great way to spend the afternoon. Start from the base at Cornwall-on-Hudson and work your way up the scenic Hudson on a three-hour tour. Or maybe you want less of a work out and more of a leisurely water tour, like a boat tour on the Rip Van Winkle, which departs from and returns to Kingston? If you’re farther south, the Pride of the Hudson in Newburgh does tours and sightseeing cruises as well. There’s also the River Rose in Newburgh, which offers public and private cruises on an authentic New Orleans paddle wheeler.
Of course, summer also means swimming. There are plenty of natural watering holes and state parks like Minnewaska, Bear Mountain, and Lake Taghkanic, which all have places to take a dip. But if you’ve got kids SplashDown Beach may be just the place to go. An inviting water park with classic rides like the Croc Creek Way Lazy River, it also has more daring attractions like the Arctic Mammoth, a six-story, 600-foot-long water slide.
