Hannacroix Creek Preserve, New Baltimore NY

Nice day hiking. Enough inclines to get the heart rate up but totally doable with family and kids.

Nice little hike only about 20 minutes outside of Albany. Short trail with a little incline at the beginning that leads to a little waterfall area where you can go out in the water and walk around on the rocks. There are a bunch of other little woodsy trails that you can take around too. The paths are very well marked with signs. This would be a good family hike with younger kids. I didn't see anything on it that little kids couldn't handle. We enjoyed it. We walked around for approximately 1.5 hours and didn't do everything on the map in that time.

A nice short uphill trail followed by a easy walk on a relatively flat terrain makes this hike an excellent one for a group of people (and pets) with various fitness levels. Waterfall is very nice but the water varies by the rainfall. Crossing over to the other side of the creek is always fun to figure out. When the water is low, the large boulders are flat and dry enough for a picnic. Mosquito repellent is a must. Jeans and long sleeves will keep you comfortable. Packing a swimming trunk is advisable as the water under the fall is very tempting for a nice private swim.

Really nice trails here that seem well maintained too. It isn't too crowded and has plenty of shade and parking right off River Road. The trails are designed more for beginners and can be kind of short. Recommended.

This is another short trail with an amazing waterfall payoff. Nice little parking area. If you want to get straight to the falls, follow the Irving trail to where it dead ends. Irving trail is wide and gravel, but the first portion has a long hill you have to go up.

At the end, you will see a sign pointing left that says “Falls. ” Turn left, ignore any side trails (blue and red.) There will be another “Falls” sign down the path. Follow that to another fork. The upper trail will give you the best view of the falls, but hold on to your kids if they are with you. It’s a sheer drop to the rocks and nothing to stop you. You can also take the lower, muddy, waterlogged trail which brings you right to the top of the falls.

Wear actual hiking boots and pants. On the way back, I decided to take the blue trail back to upper Irving. This was a decidedly more challenging hike up a muddy incline. Like, sliding, scrambling for tree roots for holds. Also, some blue flares here would be awesome. Only the start, end and junction of this trail has signs.

I then came back to the fork and took the “North trail back to the 144 parking lot”. At least this trail has some yellow flares with animal footprints on it. It does still have a confusing small side trail that teeters on the edge of a steep incline over the forest. I followed it for a little bit then turned around when it got too narrow and treacherous. The north trail brings you back to a gravel road where you walk back to the 144 lot. Overall, about 2 miles. I did not do the Hudson River interpretive trail. There were a few mosquitoes but not much for how wet it was.

One of my favorite places. A bit underused, methinks. I like it that way. Don't come here.

This is the best easy hike in the area. My dog absolutely loved playing in the river. The north trail is a waste of time and will be very muddy if it rained recently. The rest of it was great mud wise.