A Buddha statue indoors, more than 62 miles of hiking trails and water activities give Putnam County a diverse range of travel experiences. Chuang Yen Monastery is home to the largest indoor Buddha statue in the Western Hemisphere. The county also has nature trails and places with garden, cultural and industrial history. To plan your trip, it is worth first choosing the focus that interests you most: a specific hike, activities on the water or cultural discoveries.

Hiking: park-wide options and specific trails

Fahnestock State Park spans more than 14,000 acres in Putnam and Dutchess counties. Its trail network includes more than 62 miles of hiking trails, including 10 miles of the Appalachian Trail. Boscobel House and Gardens includes the 1.25-mile Frances Stevens Reese Woodland Trail. A moderate 3-mile hike leads to the North and South Redoubts, where the remains are clearly visible.

Access to the Cornish Estate Ruins is also clearly described: a short, gently uphill path along the estate's former driveway leads to the ruins. There, stone and brick remains overlook the Hudson River. The route descriptions vary in scale, from the 1.25-mile trail to the moderate 3-mile hike; the path to the Cornish Estate Ruins is described as short and gently uphill.

Water activities with different focuses

Lake Mahopac offers boating, fishing, kayaking, stand-up paddleboarding, jet skiing and swimming. The Great Swamp has more than 14 miles of navigable waterways for kayaking and canoeing. The descriptions emphasize different things: Lake Mahopac is noted for its wide range of activities, while the length of the navigable waterways is highlighted for the Great Swamp. If you plan around a particular activity, you can weigh these different ways of enjoying the water.

Gardens, cultural sites and history

Stonecrop Gardens became a public garden in Cold Spring in 1992. The Tompkins Corners Cultural Center is located in the historic Tompkins Corners Methodist Church in Putnam Valley. At West Point Foundry Preserve, trails pass the remains of foundry buildings. Interpretive elements explain the site's contribution to the Industrial Revolution and the Civil War, as well as the ecological renewal of the site.

An exhibition at the Putnam History Museum focuses on the contested Hudson Valley region during the American Revolution. These different subjects offer a variety of ways to explore the region's cultural history: from a public garden and a cultural center in a historic church to industrial history and an exhibition about the Revolutionary era.

Getting there and planning

For day trips, Putnam County is about an hour from Manhattan. The county has five Metro-North stops. For your specific journey, please check the appropriate timetable; the travel time is a rough guide. On all hiking and biking trails in Putnam County, visitors should pack out all their trash.

You can choose where to stay based on what you most want to do during your trip.

Discover more destinations: Mahopac, Cold Spring, Brewster, Ulster, Jefferson County, Niagara County, Otsego, Wyoming County.

For the broader travel overview: New York.