Drayton Grant Park at Burger Hill

April 23, 2026 – Rhinebeck, NY

Issue: Simple

Size: Roughly 1 mile

Max elevation: 558 ft.– complete elevation acquire roughly 182 ft.

Route kind: Circuit (could be executed as an Out-and-Again)

Map: Burger Hill Path Map

Trailhead parking: 3158 NY-9G, Rhinebeck, NY 12572

Gravel car parking zone for 12-15 autos – No restrooms on web site

Overview:

Drayton Grant Park at Burger Hill is a 76-acre hilltop protect in Rhinebeck, NY, identified for its wide-open fields, straightforward strolling paths, and sweeping views over the Hudson Valley.

Burger Hill summit

A gently rising mowed path results in a 558-foot summit the place guests are rewarded with expansive vistas stretching towards the Catskill Mountains and surrounding highlands.

Drayton Grant Park at Burger Hill

As soon as farmland threatened by improvement, the panorama was completely protected via a community-led conservation effort, and at the moment it stays a easy, welcoming park for climbing, picnicking, birdwatching, and seasonal recreation in an open pastoral setting.

Drayton Grant Park at Burger Hill

Drayton Grant Park at Burger Hill is owned and managed by the Winnakee Land Belief, an area conservation group devoted to preserving open house and pure lands within the Hudson Valley area.

Drayton Grant Park at Burger Hill

Historical past:

In 1697, Henry Beekman obtained an English royal land grant that included the realm now often called Burger Hill. 20 years later, in 1717, a Palatine household initially named Burckhardt—later anglicized to Burger—arrived within the area when Elisabetha Burckhardt, a widow together with her kids, settled in Rhinebeck as tenants on what was then referred to as Beekmansland.

The Burger household would go on to farm the land for 5 generations, leasing it constantly till 1830, when Beekman’s heirs bought the property to Elisabetha’s great-great-grandson, Frederick. For the reason that time of the unique grant, the hill has remained in steady agricultural use, shaping the open panorama that’s nonetheless seen at the moment.

Within the 1990’s, the hayfields and wetlands of what’s now Drayton Grant Park at Burger Hill had been below menace from proposed suburban-style improvement. In response, native residents partnered with the Winnakee Land Belief and Scenic Hudson to amass and completely defend the property.

A driving drive behind this effort was Rhinebeck environmental legal professional Drayton Grant, whose management and dedication helped unite the group round preserving the panorama for public use. After her passing in 2012 following a battle with most cancers, the park was renamed in her honor to acknowledge her lasting influence. Earlier, in 2005, Scenic Hudson formally transferred possession of the property to the Winnakee Land Belief in acknowledgment of its ongoing stewardship of the positioning.

Trails Overview:

Drayton Grant Park at Burger Hill incorporates a easy however rewarding community of mowed trails that make exploring the property straightforward and intuitive. The primary route is a broad, steadily climbing path that leads on to the open summit, whereas extra mowed tracks loop across the hillside and thru the encircling fields. Collectively, they kind a brief however scenic circuit with minimal navigation required, the place the main target stays on the rolling terrain and expansive views fairly than technical footing or dense forest climbing.

Drayton Grant Park at Burger Hill

Hike Overview:

I’ve visited this park many instances, and it’s persistently an pleasing cease. It’s not essentially a standalone vacation spot, nevertheless it pairs nicely with a number of close by spots corresponding to Wilderstein Historic Website, Poets’ Stroll Park, or Ferncliff Forest.

The stroll itself is brief and simple, climbing gently via open fields and rolling terrain. With little tree cowl close to the bottom and far of the hillside totally uncovered, the route is essentially sun-drenched from begin to end—lovely on clear days, however finest loved when temperatures are average or the solar isn’t at its peak.

Drayton Grant Park at Burger Hill

As proven within the elevation profile beneath, almost the entire climb—about 182 toes of elevation acquire—is reached inside the first half mile.

Elevation Profile – Drayton Grant Park at Burger Hill

The Hike:

The hike at Drayton Grant Park at Burger Hill is a brief, easy hike, centered round a delicate climb to the open 558-foot summit. The vast mowed path ascends steadily uphill via former farmland, providing broad views that increase as you acquire elevation.

Drayton Grant Park at Burger Hill

To the left of the stone wall, a couple of benches sit tucked into the sting of the bushes, providing one of many solely shaded resting spots inside the park and a quiet place to pause out of the open solar.

Drayton Grant Park at Burger Hill

The views of the Catskill Mountains seem virtually instantly as you observe the grassy mowed path towards the summit of Burger Hill.

Drayton Grant Park at Burger Hill

A sweeping view of the southern Catskill Mountains and the distant Marlboro Mountains unfolding throughout the horizon as you acquire elevation.

Drayton Grant Park at Burger Hill

On the summit of Burger Hill, three stone slabs relaxation within the grass, doubling as each seating and a refined etched profile of the mountain ranges that rise on the horizon. As you look out throughout the Hudson Valley, the carvings mirror the encircling ridgelines, quietly linking the view in entrance of you to the panorama beneath your toes.

Burger Hill summit

On the summit of Burger Hill, three stone slabs are etched with a easy map that helps orient the encircling peaks, turning the encircling panorama right into a labeled horizon line carved in stone.

Burger Hill summit

A broad view of the jap panorama unfolds from the summit of Burger Hill, with rolling countryside stretching outward in layered fields and distant ridgelines.

Burger Hill summit

A northwest-facing view from the summit of Burger Hill opens towards the distant silhouette of the Catskill Mountains, rising above the encircling Hudson Valley panorama.

Burger Hill summit

A southwest-facing view from the summit of Burger Hill opens throughout rolling Hudson Valley farmland, with distant ridgelines fading into the horizon.

Burger Hill summit

From right here, you’ll be able to see the complete Catskill part of the 350-mile Lengthy Path unfolding throughout the horizon of the Catskill Mountains.

Burger Hill summit

From the summit of Burger Hill, the loop descends alongside a second mowed path that lightly follows the jap flank of the hill, steadily easing towards the park’s edge the place it meets the treeline earlier than returning to the parking space the place the hike started.

Drayton Grant Park at Burger Hill

Assessment:

Drayton Grant Park at Burger Hill is a type of brief hikes that persistently delivers excess of its mileage suggests. The open 558-foot summit the place sweeping views of the Hudson Valley unfold in each route, makes the ascent really feel virtually easy. With its mixture of expansive surroundings, straightforward footing, and peaceable open fields, it’s a perfect spot for a fast escape, a quiet sundown, or just a reminder of how rewarding a brief stroll could be.

Professionals:

Quick, straightforward hike with an enormous scenic payoff, vast well-maintained mowed paths with no technical terrain, expansive unobstructed summit views, nice for sunsets, pictures, and picnicking, family-friendly, straightforward to pair with close by spots like Wilderstein Historic Website, Poets’ Stroll , and Ferncliff Forest.

Cons:

Restricted shade with many of the hike uncovered to solar, small parking space that fills shortly, brief path size might really feel underwhelming for these looking for an extended hike, could be crowded at peak instances—particularly sundown, minimal path selection, open terrain gives little safety from wind or harsh climate.

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