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| palisades park, new jersey |
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| It's a quick afternoon escape from the city; a brief fling with nature. |
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| 30 minutes or so by car. |
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| By car is easiest (cross the GW Bridge, take Palisades
Interstate Parkway. Take Exit 1, Palisade Ave. Turn left. Enter Park
and follow road down to river). Parking is $4 from April through October;
free the rest of the year. If you're not too far from the George Washington
Bridge, you can also get there by foot. Just cross the bridge into
New Jersey. Palisades Park stretches north from the base of the bridge. |
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| Posted signs say that dogs have to be leashed. But once out of the parking lot, if there aren't too many people around, you can usually get away with dropping the leash. About a mile north of the parking
lot is a grassy field with the ruins of two old stone structures:
it's a good place to play fetch.
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| A long walk along the bank of the Hudson (the trail
runs for nearly 13 miles). Nice view of the city, an encounter with
nature.
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| Toilets in the Englewood Cliffs parking area. No concessions
in the off-season, though vendors do turn up in the summer months.
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| A decent pair of walking shoes or hiking boots, sunscreen, a blanket and sandwiches if you're planning lunch, and water for you and your dog. |
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| "Your dog is welcome to enjoy our trails with you,
but must at all times be kept on a leash!" And beware the copperhead
snakes. As the park's website warns: "... we can’t help feeling a
bit taken aback that visitors sometimes complain when we ask them please
to keep their pets leashed while on our trails. This Park is, after
all, a refuge for native wildlife. And some of that wildlife bites
back."
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Phone: 201-768-1360 (Palisades Park Administration).
Website: http://www.njpalisades.org
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