The Hudson River Valley

When English explorer Henry Hudson sailed his ship the Half Moon upriver in 1609, looking for the North West Passage he was the first in a long list of remarkable people— presidents, inventors and industrialists, military and religious leaders, activists, artists, explorers and authors – who shaped the history of the Hudson Valley and the United States.

The valley was originally inhabited tor centuries by Indian tribes including the Mohawk Dutch settlers and explorers founded a colony here in the 17th century which they called New Netherlands which they developed until a colonial exchange with the British for territories in Asia in the late 17th century.

More than four centuries of history live on in significant sites and museums open to the public, from the commanding United States Military Academy at West Point to the fabulous Great Estates.
This area is approximately three million acres of Hudson Highlands, Catskill Mountains, rolling farmland and compact villages, small cities and hamlets. The region extends from the confluence of the Mohawk and Hudson Rivers, in the north of New York State south to the northern border of New York City.

The Upper Hudson Valley is a region dominated by rolling hills, the Catskills, farms, and orchards as well as beautiful river and mountain views. These views provided the backdrop for the art movement known as the Hudson River School.

The Capital District , home to the capital of New York State, Albany ,illustrates the area’s role in state government, the heritage of the early Dutch outposts here and the important contributions made during the Industrial Revolution. The navigable waters of the Hudson River reach the historic Erie and Champlain Canals which begin here and head west and north . They connected the American colonies west to the Great Lakes and Mid West and east to the Atlantic through the city of Buffalo.

The Mid Hudson Valley is also a region is known for its scenic and historic sites . As the river narrows, the banks on either side of the Hudson are dominated by the majestic Hudson Highlands best known for the events that unfolded here during the Revolutionary War.

The Lower Hudson Valley encompasses a region that shifts from the urban cityscapes of Manhattan to the marshes and hills of the Hudson Valley. Here, a dense concentration of historic sites and estates were built by wealthy entrepreneurs. In the 1700s, prominent Dutch families owned much of the land.Most of the historic sites you see today were preserved for the public by the Rockefeller family who built a country estate here.

Destination : New York State