5 Things to do in the Hudson Valley with Kids.

My work took us up into the heart of the Hudson Valley this summer to stay for a week in Hudson, New York. Nestled along the Hudson river south of Albany and just a ways above Kingston, is a sweet little arts town with much to explore. There is plenty to keep you busy but also endless farmland and countryside to help you slow down for a weekend getaway. My work schedule kept us pretty occupied so we truly didn’t even venture that far, but still found plenty to do and with a toddler in tow. So sharing below, five things to do in and around Hudson, NY with kids. Oh, and did I mention, they all happen to be free.

Explore Art Omi

Art Omi is a non-profit, 120 acre sculpture garden about 20 minutes outside of Hudson. Featuring a wide array of large format sculptures, what we enjoyed most about Art Omi was there was a handful of interactive exhibits making it a more immersive and fun experience for the whole family. And while we’re still big museum goers over here, there’s just something sweet about viewing works of art where your toddler can also run and yell with no disturbance to anyone. Our trip timing didn’t align, but they also have paid children’s activities throughout the year if you’re looking for something more involved for your little one.

Visit the Forsythe Nature Center

May not keep older kids occupied for quite as long, but for our toddler the Forsythe Nature Center had plenty of animals to keep buddy excited for some time. From farm animals, to reptiles to a wide array of birds you could feed. This free and open to the public nature center boasts a loop of animals to visit, a picnic area, and dinosaur digging sandbox for play. It’s located within Forsythe park, which has a large, all ages playground to make for a fuller day. Forsythe Nature Center is located in Kingston, NY so you could do plenty of exploring or meandering in their downtown during your visit too.

Spend some time at the Library

The Hudson Area Library had a sneaky beautiful children’s area with plenty of toys (buddy’s favorite is always a play kitchen), and a vast art and creative space. We always have minimal toys on hand while traveling so giving buddy a place to play and explore always helps lend a little bit familiarity to home. If your schedule aligns, the library also offers a story time that includes a book and an activity so a great way to spend some time with other kids during your visit as well.

Wander around a Local Farm

The Hudson Valley is home to a large amount of farms of all sizes and all sorts of enterprises, to paint the picture, many farms in the Hudson Valley travel in to New York City regularly for their farmers market circuits. We barely put a blip on the map but did spend some time on two local farms during our stay. While both farms we visited were beautiful and peaceful and offered just the right escape from city life, I would absolutely recommend Love Apple Farm if traveling with children. Not only do they have a huge orchard and farm store and cafe, they have a wander as you like petting zoo and very large play area for kids. Buddy could not get enough of this large wooden play tractor. You could make a day of it between playing, having lunch and venturing out for some u-pick apples, or just stop by in the late afternoon like we did to get some extra wiggles out.

Hike to a Waterfall

I will absolutely admit as much as we would sometimes like to be, we are not the most outdoorsy of families, in the sense of backpacking, and camping and carrying our bud on 10 mile hikes, that simply is not our norm. That being said, we love to be outside and connected with nature and we do love to hike on the most general of levels, so this 1 mile trek in and out to High Falls was the perfect trail for us. Easy enough for an almost two year old to handle, but more exciting than a paved path or nature walk. We took in the views of the falls and had fun pointing out all the creepy crawlies along the way, centipedes, slugs, caterpillars, spiders - buddy had a blast spotting the next critter to cross the path.

Our first impression of Hudson, New York, was definitely a city ideal for a romantic getaway or girls trip - but with a little investigating we did find so much to do with buddy during our time along the Hudson River. You can of course also shop Warren St, eat at some of Hudson’s best restaurants (our favorite Isaan Thai Star, favorite coffee shop, and most highly recommended), or truly get lost in the Antique Warehouse. This is a visit where you’ll definitely want a car - aside from the train that will take you in and out of the city, there is minimal public transit, and on certain days the city can be a bit sleepy so not sure how active the Uber world would be. We’ll be happy to head upstate to unwind again someday and if you have any recs to add to our list I’d love to hear, leave a comment!