South Beacon Mountain via Casino Trail (Red)

HVH hike surperb morning clear - low humidity-a winner all the way

The terrain is my favorite kind: relatively neat, varied throughout, and steep for long stretches. That combined with several beautiful lookout points, ruins and structures to climb and explore, the gorgeous lake views, and the feeling of being both far away from the city sounds yet connected to those who climbed before me (the signatures in the fire tower were a nice touch) make this my favorite NY trail I’ve hiked so far.

To elaborate on the terrain: dry weather made for a tolerable amount of mud, and the trail has a scarcity of disruptive tree roots, manageable rock-stepping, and a good mix of thick woods, open spaces, rocky ground, grassy ground, and dirt ground.

Weather conditions were amazing, high 70s and slightly breezy.

Thursday morning-afternoon in May = low traffic :)

Completed 5/24/18:
Downtown Beacon to Casino Trail to Breakneck Ridge Trail to Fire Tower, and back.
Took a sun-soaked break at the casino ruins and a photo break at the fire tower.

Nice incline to start the hike up north Beacon Mountain..the ruins are very cool and the view form the first overlook is wonderful. After that it's a nice walk through the woods until you reach the junction for the white blazed trail which will take you to the fire tower. View from the tower is glorious as well as the open peak. Was serenaded by several yellow warblers at the peak..also saw yellow rumped warblers, a vireo, a group of 5 cowbirds. Recommend going early in the morning to avoid the crowds that assault the trails on the mountain. The trailhead parking lot is currently closed, will reopen in summer '18

It was a tough hike. Steep climb up. Took an hour to the casino ruins stopping a few times to rest (we are 61 years young). It was worth the view. It was amazing. Coming down was a little tricky because it was slippery and showering. Would definitely recommend it

The first bit of the trail is fairly steep. Being new to hiking, I needed to stop a few times to catch my breath. Once you get to the first overlook by the ruins, the trail levels out for a while. If you continue on to the fire tower, the last 10 minutes up are rocky and have a bit of a grade to them again. It was in the mid 40s today and I ran into about 15 other hiking groups. The views from the overlook by the ruins are nice and the views from the fire tower are incredible. Make sure you bring water because you'll need it.

Great climb and the tower is great

took the red trail, only to the overlook spot. did not go all the way to the fire tower and was about 2-2.5 miles total. it’s a steady incline, and very well trafficked trail.

Absolutely gorgeous views! Did this a few weeks ago, end of October & the foliage was breathtaking. Super crowded though, but well worth it.

beautiful views, some sun and shade, nice inclines and declines. little bit of everything.

Consistently steep, but pretty short, so it's manageable. Fair amount of traffic.

Nice, short hike with a nice view at the top.

I went a few times when I lived in the area. The route I always took was pretty short (I don't think it was 3.8 miles) but pretty rugged (hands-and-feet climbing at some points). The summit is great, it's a large, flat area as big as a park with a few abandoned structures from when there used to be an incline railway and a casino that look really cool, big rusty gears and all. Really great view of the Hudson river and surrounding mountains.

It's a hard Hike!!! But getting to the top is awesome. The view is amazing!

nice and a bit challenging, but worth it for the view

The red trail was cool if you don't want to enjoy nature. The yellow and white trail was amazing but challenging.

The switchbacks were there as soon as you needed them! Mainly all incline with rocks & extremely little bouldering (if any at all!), worth it!

Challenging climb with a 40lbs backpack (toddler included) I sure felt the burn by the time I reached the casino ruins.
Would do this hike again

Great first hike of the year.

I decided to bring along my good friend for his very first hike to Mount Beacon. Once we got up to the summit I decided to bring him over to the fire tower. Awesome hike up their! It was my second time and it doesn't get boring only better. I will say that it was kind of challenging due to the fact that there was a lot of ice and snow pack so it took almost twice the time to get up to the top, but once their it was well worth it the views are spectacular..! On a clear day you can see the NYC skyline 90 miles due south...
Although no motor vehicles are allowed we did run into a group of four wheel drivers with their Jeep Cherokee's at the summit and one or two ATVs. There were quite a bit of hikers up there and you do meet a lot of friendly people that are willing to help if you're not sure.
I do want to say thank you to Katie for giving me the heads up on certain landmarks and also for filling me in on this All Trails app.. thanks Katie..

Def steep - stairs & no stairs. Glad it was a fall day, as opposed to the summer, otherwise, it would've been more brutal. Nice views.

My husband and I started off in the early afternoon. So the trail was really quiet most of the way up. Large portions of this trail are extremely steep and slippery. It didn't help that we went the day after a heavy downpour of rain. The hike requires some scrambling when you get closer to the Fire Tower.

The views are breathtaking, which made the difficult hike all the more worthwhile. For those scared of heights, the tower didn't really add too much value to the view. The view at the base of the tower is only slightly less amazing than the top!

Fun hike, you can get here from the Breakneck trail which ends up being a pretty long hike in total. Nice views from the top of the firetower.

The first mile is tricky. Starts off with a nice park like walk and then some metal stairs before hitting the trail. After the first turn it gets very steep, rocky, and slippery. Once you get to the wheel house it is a much more relaxing hike until right near the former tower. The view from the tower is amazing! This was the first hike for my family; 9 and 7 year old boys and my wife. It is definitely not easy for a beginner but they were troopers. We went early (around 9am) and it was very peaceful. By the time we were heading back it was very crowded with people going up. Saw some deer and chipmunks but asides from that, not much to see until you get to the wheel house and then the tower.

Took my 5 year old and 3 year old daughters up to the fire tower. They absolutely loved the views and the experience. Highly recommend this hike. My girls and I have been doing long hikes every week, so I would rate this hike as moderate. Beautiful at the first look out, but going to the fire tower is 10x better.

Well the trail was very rockie and steep, I found it to be a bit difficult to the wheel house which is a bit past the half way point, I didn't get to the tower this time but I'll try when it's a bit cooler. Nice view, but I couldn't find the monument for the daughters of the American revolution (DAR).

It was rough but very enjoyable. I loved the scenery and put a perfect start to my weekend there

It was a fantastic experience even though you marked as easy

Really steep non-stop incline. I liked this trail. I went around 930am on a Saturday. It was moderately busy. When I came down around 10:30am it was packed.

Lots of people here but it was a nice experience. I'll come back to see some of the other trails.

This trail was a bit more difficult than I thought it would be seeing it was listed as 'Easy'. Some areas were somewhat steep/slippery for small kids though my 4yr old daughter was a trooper! She didn't complain once all the way to the top! She really impressed me.
The incredible views were well worth the hike. We didn't make it to the Fire-tower. That'll be next time. I can't wait to go back again and try out my new Solamon Quest GTX2's.