Bull Hill from Nelsonville

This is the shortest (and arguably the easiest) loop route to the top of Bull Hill (Mt. Taurus), with its spectacular views. Although the ascent is steep in spots, there’s no rock-scrambling involved. (The following description assumes a clockwise trip.) From the parking area (room for about 8 cars), head southwest on the Nelsonville Trail (green blazes), then, at about 0.2 miles, turn right onto the Undercliff Trail (yellow blazes), which gradually gets steeper, reaching a viewpoint to the south at about 0.5 miles. The trail continues to wind its way upward, passing a couple of (partially occluded) views to the south and west, before reaching the Washburn Trail (white blazes), where you turn right to continue the ascent. At around 1.6 miles, there are a couple of very nice views to the south, one on a jumble of rocks on the left, and the other shortly thereafter on the right (marked with “view” painted on the rock), from both of which you can see part of the NYC skyline. The ascent gets less steep from there on. At about 1.9 miles, there is “NYC” painted on a large rock, from the top of which you have a spectacular view to the south, including NYC, the Mario Cuomo Bridge, the Bear Mountain Bridge, and Cold Spring/Constitution Marsh in the foreground. Shortly thereafter, you traverse the (flat) summit of Bull Hill, reaching another spectacular viewpoint at about 2 miles, this time to the north (Breakneck Ridge in the foreground, the Hudson River and the Shawangunk Ridge in the middle distance, and the Catskill Mountains in the background). The trail descends on an old woods road. At about 2.7 miles, the Washburn Trail ends, but you continue straight on the old road, which is now the Nelsonville Trail (green blazes), following this on a gradual descent until you return to the parking area.