Strung along the east bank of the Hudson River are a series of grand and historic homes including FDR's home at Hyde Park. Many of these mansions include spectacular natural and landscaped grounds with miles of paths and trails open to the public.

Also on the Hudson are the Tivoli Bays, an estuarine reserve that offers visitors an opportunity to learn about and experience the specialized environment of a freshwater tidal wetland.

Dutchess County is home to six multiple-use areas administered by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation.These parks are left fairly primitive, as their main uses are hunting and logging. They have trails, but generally the trails are unmarked. Mountain biking is more likely to be permitted at a multiple-use area. For more information contact the DEC office at Stony Kill Farm Environmental Education Center in Wappingers Falls.

Parks within this region include:

• James Baird State Park
• Bowdoin Park
• Harlem Valley Rail Trail
• Hyde Park
• Mills-Norrie State Park
• Locust Grove
• Pawling Nature Reserve
• Poets’ Walk Romantic Landscape Park
• Reese Nature Sanctuary
• Stissing Mountain Fire Tower
• Stony Kill Farm (Stony Kill Farm Environmental Education Center)
• Thompson Pond Preserve
• Taconic-Hereford Multiple Use Area
• Tivoli Bays
• Wilcox Memorial Park