Bull Hill Short Loop

This is the "short loop" indicated by the park in various signs along the way. You start at the parking area at Little Stony Point (just north of Cold Spring). Take the Washburn Trail (white) to the right, which follows an old road to the entrance of a large old stone quarry, which the trail then skirts. The climb then sometimes becomes fairly steep, but never reaches the level of rock-scrambling. You pass a nice view south (looking down on Cold Spring), with a couple more views south along the Hudson further up. When you reach a crossing with the Undercliff Trail (yellow), turn left onto it, which soon passes another good viewpoint west and south onto the Hudson River and West Point. A bit further there's a view to the northwest (Breakneck Ridge, Storm King Mtn and Newburgh). The trail then makes a sharp turn to the right, with fairly minor ups and downs, and then descends (in large part following an old road) to the valley between Bull Hill and Breakneck Ridge. Turn left onto the Brook Trail (red). In a few minutes, at a Y-junction, bear to the left onto the Cornish Trail (blue). At the point where you reach the ruins of the Cornish estate, the road becomes a concrete driveway. Just before you reach the bottom of the driveway, the trail turns left and parallels NY Rte 9D on its way back to your starting point.