Bull Hill Loop

Bull Hill, known on some maps as Mount Taurus, is the highest summit in Hudson Highlands State Park Preserve at 1,420 feet, offering 360-degree views that many experienced Catskill and Adirondack hikers rank among the finest in the entire Hudson Valley region. The 7.2-mile loop gains 1,700 feet via the Cornish Estate ruins approach, passing the crumbling stone walls and ornamental plantings of a Gilded Age mansion abandoned in the 1930s and now being reclaimed by forest. The climb steepens considerably above the estate ruins, with scrambling sections similar to but less famous than adjacent Breakneck Ridge. The summit panorama encompasses the full horseshoe bend of the Hudson River through the Highlands, Storm King Mountain and its controversial proposed power plant site, West Point Military Academy's gray granite buildings across the river, the Newburgh-Beacon Bridge, and on exceptionally clear days, the Catskill escarpment 40 miles to the northwest. The descent follows the Cornish Estate trail and the riverside path along the Hudson shoreline, passing a pebble beach popular with swimmers. The loop is often combined with a side trip to Breakneck Ridge for fit hikers seeking a challenging 10-plus-mile full-day traverse of the Hudson Highlands spine.