Living in Westchester County as long as I have, I’ve become very familiar with the Taconic State Parkway. That doesn’t mean I’ve learned how to give directions because I don’t think I’ll ever be able to remember street names and exit numbers, but I’ve become pretty good at remembering landmarks.

You travel far enough north up the Taconic before reaching Putnam County, you’ll pass one of those aforementioned landmarks: A bridge that spans over across the parkway.

But unlike the other bridge overpasses on the Taconic, this bridge is empty. No cars traverse it, as there’s no roads and only woods on either side. For years I wondered just what was this bridge that seemingly led to nowhere.

As it turned out, the bridge is for foot traffic, although after living here for 19 years I couldn’t tell you a time I’ve actually seen anybody up there. But more people really should check it out:

As it turns out, the bridge is part of Granite Knolls Park, which the New York-New Jersey Trail Conference says was once home to quarry activity and former farmland. As it also turns out, I lived approximately five minutes from this trail for more than 15 years before even knowing it existed.

My “discovery” of Granite Knolls was really a stroke of luck–A late night decision by my friends Alec and Nick to go hiking the next day resulted in me Googling nearby trails at 1 AM. There were a few options, but after reading more about Granite Knolls, there were two words that immediately set our destination the next day.

Giant.

Boulder.

Now everyone has seen big rocks before in their life, but the NYNJTC’s lone sentence overview of the park immediately puts this big rock in a league of it’s own:

Site of a former quarry, Granite Knolls Park’s claim to fame is the Giant Boulder.

I had a number of questions. Why is there a giant boulder in the middle of the woods? How did a boulder become so infamous that it (allegedly) put an unknown park on the map? Was that the most creative name they could come up with? Just how giant is a Giant Boulder?

The answer to that last one is pretty gigantic:

After seeing the thing in person, I came to agreement that “Giant Boulder” was the only appropriate name for it, creative or not.

Granite Knolls’ location smack-dab next to the Taconic makes it an interesting venture. Not only because you’ll be seeing and hearing cars racing past you throughout your trek, but also because of how you start the hike. There’s are a few points of origin, including at Woodlands Park which would put you right on top of the bridge after crossing through a few baseball fields, but I’ve always started via the Buckhorn Street entrance, which drives past several houses before immediately turning into a cul-de-sac that gives way to the trail. Starting from there, you get to literally walk alongside the parkway before choosing your own adventure in the numerous looping trails of Granite Knolls.

Granite Knolls is a very easy hike, perfectly suitable for hikers of all experience. The terrain is fairly flat throughout, and the hike is as long as you’re willing to make it. There are so many branching paths throughout the park that you can call it quits whenever you’re ready. That being said, you’ll definitely want to have a trail guide with you for this one. Fortunately, the folks over at the NYNJTC have a great one available for download on their website. I’ve used this map every time I’ve gone to Granite Knolls, so it’s an invaluable resource.

Often times, hiking trails take you further away from civilization and deeper into nature. But to me, there’s always something cool about taking a look at a familiar site from a new angle.

Granite Knolls can be entered through multiple trailheads, but the one described above can be found at 3525 Buckhorn Street, Shrub Oak, New York. More information about Granite Knolls can be found on the New York-New Jersey Trail Conference page.