A Hudson Valley Almanac day-trip guide
Just west of Albany, the land rises into the Helderbergs — a limestone escarpment with some of the best long views in the Capital Region, a century farm at its foot, a village full of makers, and hilltown back roads dotted with maple sugarhouses and fiber farms. It's the closest of these day trips to the city, which makes it the easiest to do on a whim, and it packs a remarkable amount into a small radius. Here's a loop built around the escarpment, Altamont, and the hilltowns, with a Warehouse District finish back in Albany.
Start on top, at John Boyd Thacher State Park, where the Indian Ladder Trail threads along the base of the limestone cliffs with sweeping views over the Hudson-Mohawk valley — one of the great short walks in the region. Then drop down to its namesake, Indian Ladder Farms in Altamont, a fourth-generation family farm established in 1916 at the foot of the escarpment. Over 300 acres of orchard, a year-round farm market and bakery known for its cider doughnuts, pick-your-own in season, and the Yellow Rock Café for breakfast and brunch. It's the anchor of the whole day — and a great place to start it.
The village of Altamont is small and worth a wander. Helderberg Blacksmith forges everything from colonial-style reproductions to clean contemporary ironwork, and Stephanie Morton is a traditionally trained weaver and natural dyer working with locally grown wool, cotton, and alpaca and dyestuffs like madder and indigo — she teaches workshops, too. For gardeners, Helderledge Farm is a local nursery worth a look.
Head back to Indian Ladder, where the Cidery & Brewery makes true farm-to-glass cider and beer from apples, hops, and barley grown on the farm and other New York land, with a taproom and biergarten overlooking the hop yard. On summer weekends, the Pizza Garden — a seasonal outpost of Troy's DeFazio's — fires wood-oven pizza out in the biergarten. Lunch, sorted.
Climb up into the Hilltowns — Berne, Knox, East Berne — where the farms get smaller and the roads quieter. Helder~Herdwyck Farm in East Berne raises rare Herdwick sheep — the breed Beatrix Potter championed, and only the second flock in the country — selling wool, roving, and pastured meats from the farm store. Nearby Helderberg Alpacas welcomes farm visits by appointment and sells fiber and yarn from its own animals.
This is maple and honey country, too. Partridge Run Farm & Apiary in Berne is open daily for raw wildflower honey and beeswax goods, and Helderberg 1839 in Knox makes pure maple syrup and even a maple wine from its own syrup (call ahead). If you want to stretch your legs again, Partridge Run Wildlife Management Area has 40-plus miles of trails and a few waterfalls across 4,500 acres of high terrain.
Drop back toward Albany and end in the city's Warehouse District, home to two New York firsts. Nine Pin Cider is the state's first farm cidery, pouring 18 taps of cider made from Capital Region and Hudson Valley apples alongside sourdough pizza and house charcuterie. A few doors away, Albany Distilling Company is the first distillery in Albany since Prohibition, making Ironweed whiskey and Quackenbush rum. If you'd rather a historic brewpub, C.H. Evans Brewing at the Albany Pump Station occupies a former pumping station at the foot of the Hudson waterfront.
The Indian Ladder Pizza Garden is a summer, Friday-through-Sunday thing, and the cidery taproom runs Thursday through Sunday, so weekend afternoons are the sweet spot. Several hilltown farms (Helderberg Alpacas, Helderberg 1839) are call-ahead or by-appointment, so phone before you drive up. Thacher Park's escarpment trail is the scenic highlight — best in clear weather for the views — and the Warehouse District cideries and distillery mean a designated driver, as always. The Helderberg-Hudson Rail Trail, which runs from Voorheesville toward the city, is a flat, easy bonus if you've got bikes.
The full lineup is on the Almanac: Albany County craft beverages and farms & food.
An escarpment, a century farm, the hilltowns behind it — one very good Saturday, right in the Capital Region's backyard.