Trail Description: Bull Hill (Mt Taurus) is a loop trail that offers amazing views of the Hudson River and surrounding mountains in the Hudson Highlands such as Storm King and Breakneck Ridge.

Trail Info:

Where: Cold Spring, NY Distance: 5.4m (3-4 hours) Difficulty: Moderate to Difficult Trail Type: Loop Features: Views, Mountains, Valley, River, Ruins

How to get there:

The trailhead is north of Cold Spring village along Route 9D by about a mile. The parking is shared with Little Stony Point. The location you may see searching on google map will be the Washburn Trail, which is where the hike begins.

Click here for parking lot coordinates

Hiking Tips

There are multiple trails, can choose short or long route.
Stick to a loop trail and connecting to other trails to get back. The terrain is steep going up, probably not fun going down…unless that is your thing!
Parking lot is small, fills up very quick on weekends!

The Hike

Starting at the parking area, you have a decision. How long do you want to hike? To be completely honest, my intention was to take the short route but I ended up hiking about the same as the full loop somehow. So, this is the short loop with a little twist. To begin, start trekking on the right to the white marked trail, the Washburn Trail.

The trail follows through the woods along a road at first with a gradual incline. This will lead to an open area with a sign to take a sharp right to continue on the trail.

This is a well marked trail and there are many signs for all the viewpoints.

The first few miles are pretty steep before you reach some viewpoints.

The first viewpoint will be a view of the Hudson River with Breakneck & Storm King Mountain in the background. Shortly after, the second viewpoint provides views of Cold Spring & West Point in the distance.

Continue along the white trail markers as the trail incline increases. There will be more views to take in. Eventually, the trail reaches an intersection. The short loop will be to your left following the yellow marker and the full loop is straight ahead following the white trail. I wanted to reach the summit view of Mt Taurus so I went straight here. Continue on this trail and you will notice some rocks with the word “View” painted with arrows pointing up. This will lead to the astonishing views from Bull Hill (Mt Taurus).

From here, I retraced my steps back down to the intersection and hopped on the yellow marked trail (Short Loop). You could continue on the long loop as well.

Once on the yellow marked trail, there continues to be awesome views such a clear shot of Storm King Mountain.

Follow the yellow marked trail until reaching signage for the red marked trail to connect to. There will be a stream to your right and a bridge to pass. Follow that and the blue marked trail will connect quickly and this will lead you all the way to the parking lot. There will be gradual decline in switchbacks and will become flat pavement for the last mile or so. Along the blue trail, the ruins of the Cornish Estate can be explored as well but this was a very crowded day so I decided to skip that.

This is a fun hike with so many viewpoints and exploration. It is certainly not easy with a lot of steep inclines the first few miles but the views are nonstop you won’t even notice the difficulty. This is definitely one of the better marked trails and there are many trail options to make the hike your own. Fantastic day hike!

HIKING FOR DONUTS

Hi, I’m Mark. I live in Connecticut. I take new trips every chance I get. A good trip has a great hike, great food, and something fun to do. My goal is to search out new trips and share them to inspire others to try something new and exciting.

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The Hike

The Beehive loop hike at Acadia National Park is probably #1 on most tourists' itinerary. This is a short and steep hike with some exhilarating but dangerous sections using iron rungs to climb up the side of the mountain. The hike is not for the faint of heart. The experience alone makes this a bucket list adventure. So, of course, it was one of my top priorities visiting Acadia for the first time. My wife and I went for a few days last fall. Due to time constraints, I needed to ensure I got the best bang for my buck. Luckily, The Beehive trail intersects with the Bowl which connects to the trail that summits Champlain Mountain. Now, you could do all 3 of these separately but this was a no brainer. This allowed my wife and I to see more amazing views in the allotted time we had.

The trailhead is located on the opposite side of the street, about 100 yards across from the Sand Beach parking lot. From the parking lot, start heading on the gravel path to the right of the parking lot entrance as you walk up to Park Loop Road. Cross the road and the trailhead for the Bowl Trail will be right there. Just follow the crowd! The trail is flat but rocky to start. After 0.2m turn right onto the Beehive Trail where Bowl Trail goes straight. Follow the blue blazed trail.

This is where the climbing begins. First are the short staircases. Then, there are a few narrow ledges with sheer drops. Followed by climbing iron rungs used to assist in the ascent up the vertical rocks. All completely exposed. You have some options here if you are not comfortable going up the Beehive Trail using the iron rungs. There is an option to access The Beehive from the backside or skip it entirely and choose to head to The Bowl. I enjoyed this as it was challenging and thrilling. And, the views were awesome. However, it is not to be taken lightly. It is dangerous. Take your time and be thoughtful to your fellow hikers. This part of the hike is relatively short.

At around 0.6m, we reached the summit of the Beehive Trail and enjoyed some amazing views of Sand Beach and Great Head. The hard work is worth it!

Continuing on the blue blazed trail, go straight through an intersection where a connecting trail leaves left. At 0.9m, this is where we reached the shore of a pond, known as The Bowl.

Follow the path with the wooden boards on the left along the shoreline for 0.1m to split in the trail. The Bowl goes left and Champlain South Ridge Trail will veer to the right. Take the right and follow Champlain South Ridge Trail. The sign indicates 1.6m to Champlain Mountain from here. There is an amazing view of The Bowl as you hike higher up the mountain.

Be weary of the blue markings along the trail and follow the cairns. There are more spectacular views at the summit of Champlain Mountain. This summit is less hectic than the Beehive so this is a good spot to have a snack and relax.

After soaking in the views, retrace your steps down to The Bowl. There are four paths leaving the summit, ensure you are heading the direction you came up. Once you get down to The Bowl intersection, bear right away from the pond and take the rest of the trail back to Park Loop Road for about 0.8m. You will pass two trails on the right leading up to Gorham Mountain and two trails on the left heading to the Beehive. Just keep going straight at all intersections.

This will lead you back to where you started. As mentioned above, we decided to combine all three trails so we can see more. I would highly recommend this particular loop in this fashion. Lots of great views. Amazing hike. The Beehive hype is real. Bucket list checked off.

HIKING FOR DONUTS

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Bull Hill (Mt Taurus) Hike, Cold Spring, NY

How to Hike The Beehive Trail, The Bowl, & Champlain Mountain, Acadia National Park

The Hike