The Hudson Valley Blog

Cold Spring is one of those towns which is almost too cute. It’s located on the eastern shore of the Hudson River about sixty miles north of the city and a few miles north of the Bear Mountain Bridge.

It’s full of charming restaurants, cozy B&Bs and quaint shops — just the kind of place that draws lots of visitors on a pleasant summer afternoon. It’s also a great place to paddle a kayak, which is why I find it interesting.

The widest part of the Hudson, the Tappan Zee and Haverstraw Bay, are just south of Cold Spring; the river — an estuary really — narrows considerably just before Bear Mountain Bridge. Tidal currents can be strong and fast.

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When I wanted to get in a few hours of paddling last weekend, I picked a spot which required no guidebooks, websites, GPS or research of any kind. I decided to put my kayak into the water in a place I’ve known my entire life, in Crescent NY, on the north bank of the Mohawk River, right next to Route 9.

My grandfather used to own a gas station there. He bought it in 1946 and lived there in a house attached to the back of the station until he passed away in the late 70s. A few years after that my grandmother sold the place and it became a Stewart’s, which is still there today.

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Sturgeon Pool is another paddling spot that has been on my list for a long time. It is a relatively wide section of the Wallkill River, just above its confluence with Rondout Creek, where the northward flowing water is imprisoned behind a hydro electric dam.

I’ve paddled the Rondout multiple times, both in the Kingston area up to Creek Locks (a dam built as part of the D&H canal) and above downstream from where the Wallkill empties into it. I’ve also canoed the Wallkill itself upstream of Sturgeon Pool in Walden, NY.

On Friday morning I had business to attend to in Albany so I decided to carve out a couple hours for exploration on my way home and fill in a gap in my upstate paddling resume.

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