Poet’s Walk (Red Hook, NY)
“A landscape garden designed more than 150 years ago to showcase the beauty of the Hudson Valley”
In 1849, Franklin H. Delano & Laura Astor hired German-born landscape architect Hans Jacob Ehlers to transform their estate’s old farmlands into an attractive landscape garden.
Ehlers laid out a series of grassy clearings linked by winding paths culminating in dramatic views of the Catskill Mountains. The estate was originally named “Steen Valejte,” Dutch for “Little Stony Falls” in honor the region’s Dutch heritage, but it was later renamed Poet’s Walk in memory of the writers, Washington Irving and Fitz-Greene Halleck, who loved walking the grounds and drawing inspiration from the surrounding scenery.
Today, this 120-acre public park is run by Scenic Hudson and offers a 2.25 trail system with breathtaking views of the Hudson River and Catskill Mountains.