Your first hike.
Hiking from New York sounds like it needs a car, a cabin and a beard. It needs none of them. You can take a train to a group hike with a leader who knows the way, or walk into a forest in the Bronx on your own, and be home for dinner either way.
Group hikes with the AMC
The Appalachian Mountain Club's New York-North Jersey chapter lists hikes every weekend, led by volunteers, and non-members are welcome. Many are "show and go": no registration, you just meet the group at a set time and place. Others ask you to contact the leader or register online, sometimes with an electronic waiver. Hikes are for adults 18 and over unless the listing says otherwise.
Every hike and walk is rated Accessible, Relaxed, Easy, Moderate, Vigorous or Strenuous, mainly by mileage and elevation gain, and the description gives the distance and the pace. The chapter's advice to new hikers is to start with a slower, easier hike, and never to choose one just for its location. You don't need a car: many hikes meet where a bus or train goes, and the listing says how to get there.
What to bring
For a day hike the chapter lists lunch, trail snacks, at least 2 quarts of water (3 when it's over 80 degrees), and layers of synthetic clothing rather than cotton, plus a water-resistant windbreaker with a hood. Properly fitted hiking boots and good socks matter, and a leader can turn away a hiker without appropriate footwear. Walks, on flatter paths in parks, need less: sneakers or comfortable walking shoes are usually fine.
On the trail
Stay with the group. A leader may appoint a sweep who walks at the back so nobody gets left behind, so stay in front of them. If you go on ahead, the leader will assume you've left the hike. If you can't keep up, the chapter's advice is to turn back at the very beginning, after telling the leader. Changes and cancellations are often posted on the chapter's Meetup and Google groups, so check them the night before.
Trails in the city
Van Cortlandt Park, the city's third-largest park, has a 2-mile trail through three kinds of forest at its north end, and the paved Putnam Trail, which runs the length of the park and connects to the South County Trailway into Westchester. NYC Parks has a trail map on its Van Cortlandt trails page.
Pelham Bay Park is the city's largest park, more than three times the size of Central Park, with miles of trails and bridle paths through old oak woods out to the Twin Islands, Turtle Cove and Hunter Island on Long Island Sound. NYC Parks lists the Pelham Bay Nature Center and the Orchard Beach Pavilion as closed to the public for now. Both parks are free, and NYC Parks' pages have a directions tool for getting there.
Going on your own? Tell someone where you're going, check the weather and when it gets dark, and keep your phone charged.
Easiest places to start
From our list, running now: the ones that say beginners are welcome first, then the free and cheapest. In their own words.
- AMC New York-North Jersey Chapter hikesSays beginners are welcome. Hikes rated Accessible to Strenuous by distance and climb.Price on their site
- Pelham Bay Park trailsWalk or run the trails on your own; there's also a quarter-mile track at Bruckner Boulevard and Eastchester Bay.Free
- Van Cortlandt Park trailsGo on your own and walk, hike or run.Free
Is this for me?
If walking is already the exercise you like, yes. A city trail is a free, low-stakes first go, and an AMC hike rated Easy or Relaxed is the next step, with a leader and a group. If you hate early starts, check the meeting time before you commit.
All 3 places in this guide, on one page, with prices to try. Narrow them by area or price there.
The specifics come from each place's own website, checked on October 21, 2026. Prices and times change, so each place's page links to its live schedule. How we pick.
Checked at: amc-ny.org/hiking-faqs/, amc-ny.org, nycgovparks.org/parks/VanCortlandtPark, nycgovparks.org/parks/VanCortlandtPark/facilities/hikingtrails, nycgovparks.org/parks/pelham-bay-park, nycgovparks.org/parks/pelham-bay-park/facilities/hikingtrails. Checked October 21, 2026.