Best Places to Hike With Skyline Views

AMC Outdoors, November 2007

Fall marches toward winter, exposing the skeletal framework of deciduous woodlands. extensive views emerge through the open canopy, revealing scenery once hidden by summer foliage. Distant horizons appear through skies purged of summer haze. And few vistas are as striking as a city skyline hovering above a sea of trees. Easily accessed from the surrounding urban areas, these seven destinations offer myriad opportunities to admire the great cityscapes, and nearby parklands, that help define the northeast.

South Portland Greenbelt
Portland, Maine
Cruising through South Portland, this paved multi-use path ends at Bug Point Light, a small waterfront park with exceptional views of the adjacent city sky-line across Portland Harbor. The trail’s southern section is more wooded and secluded and begins from the Wainwright Recreation Complex. The more scenic, busier northern end coincides with the Harborwalk, a city walking route. The Greenbelt also marks the northernmost section of the Eastern Trail, a long-distance pathway that will eventually connect Portland with Kittery.

Distance: 5.7 miles one-way
Info: Portland Trails, 207-775-2411, www.trails.org

Ward Reservation
Andover, Massachusetts
A symmetric pattern of stones crowns the  highest point in Essex County. Perched atop 420-foot Holt Hill in the 690-acre Ward Reservation, the compass-like arrangement coincides with celestial motion; the ponderous rocks point toward  the locations of sunrise and sunset at each solstice. It’s a short and easy quarter-mile climb to the open grassy summit, which also offers a view of Boston stretching west from downtown to Back Bay. Thirteen miles of trail, including a designated cross-country ski trail, provide options for longer hikes.

Distance: 0.5 mile round-trip
info: 978-682-3580, www.thetrustees.org; AMC’s Best Day Hikes Near Boston (AMC Books)

Blue Hills Reservation
Canton, Massachusetts
Some of the most rugged trails in eastern Massachusetts traipse over the Blue Hills. Located 10 miles south of Boston, the 7,000-acre reservation protects a collection of 22 hilltops, including the park’s  apex, 635-foot Great Blue Hill. The Skyline Trail connects the high points and  runs for miles along the park’s stony backbone. It earns its name—views of Boston are exceptional and continuous for long stretches. Some of the best, including  from Big Blue’s summit, can be accessed on a loop from the Trailside Museum.

Distance: 4.4 miles round-trip
info: 617-698-1802, www.mass.Gov/dcr/parks/metroboston/blue.htm; trailside museum, 617-333-0690; Massachusetts Trail Guide, Map 4: Blue Hills Reservation (AMC Books)

Talcott Mountain State Park
Bloomfield, Connecticut
Cliffs of basalt crack into sculptured blocks along the spine of Talcott Mountain, a ridgeline traced by trails and speck-led with clifftop vantage points. A sylvan blanket extends across the low-lying landscape; the Hartford skyline needles the terrain 10 miles to the southeast. The century-old Heublein Tower perches atop Talcott’s summit and provides a distant lookout across 1,200 square miles. Accessible only on foot via the Tower Trail, it is  open intermittently in the off-season.

Distance: 2.5 miles round-trip
info: 864-424-3200, www.ct.Gov/dep; Connecticut Walk Book: West (CT Forest and Park Assn.)

Palisades State Park
Alpine, New York
The cliffs of the Palisades stand a mighty bulwark against the western shore of the Hudson River. Palisades State Park protects their vertiginous scenery, which includes full views of the Manhattan skyline from myriad viewpoints. The long, linear park stretches more than 10 miles from the George Washington Bridge to the New Jersey state line and features extensive trails above and below the cliffs. The challenge is not finding a view, it’s escaping the interstate, which roars audibly nearby in places. Try a loop on the Long  Path and Shore Trail from the State Line Lookout in the park’s northern section.

Distance: 6.5 miles round-trip
Info: 201-768-1360, www.nynjtc.org; Trail Maps 108 & 109: Hudson palisades trails (NY-NJ Trail Conference)

High Mountain Park Preserve
Wayne, New Jersey
Nearly 400 species of plants, 18 of them rare, have been identified in the rolling terrain that surrounds 879-foot High Mountain in northeast New Jersey. One of the largest contiguous blocks of open space in the state’s Piedmont region, this 1,150-acre parcel was purchased in 1993 by The Nature Conservancy, which manages it in cooperation with the township and state. Trails rise to the summit’s open viewpoint, where you can admire the  tide of humanity lapping outward from the Manhattan skyline less than 20 miles away.

Distance: 4.5 miles round-trip
Info: Wayne Township, 973-694-1800; www.nature.org/wherewework/northamerica/states/newJersey; New Jersey Walk Book (NY-NJ trail conference)

Belmont Plateau
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
The massive expanse of 9,200-acre Fairmount Park infuses Philadelphia with a swath of open space several times larger than New York’s Central Park. But views of the city skyline are sparse in the wooded Schuylkill River corridor that forms the park’s core. To find the premier city vista, head to the Belmont Plateau, located near the park’s midsection, on the west side of the Schuylkill River. Playing fields predominate in this area, though dozens of outdoor sculptures can be found a short distance south. From the art museum, follow West River Drive north for 2.5 miles, turn left on Montgomery Drive, then right onto Belmont Avenue.

Distance: 7 miles round-trip
Info: www.fairmountpark.org

—Compiled by Matt Heid