I've lived in the shadow of the Shawangunk Ridge for years, and I still catch myself staring at those white cliffs every time I drive past. The thing nobody tells you about the Gunks is that you don't need to be a seasoned hiker to get up there. Half the best views in the Hudson Valley are basically handed to you — short walks, gentle grades, and then suddenly you're standing on quartzite that's been sitting still for 400 million years, looking out over a valley that stretches to the Catskills.

Here are the five I send people on when they ask me, "Where should I hike?

1. Hamilton Point Trail — Walk the Edge of the World

You start at the Minnewaska Visitor Center and it's almost annoying how fair the payoff-to-effort ratio is. Two miles out on mostly flat ground, through a forest that opens without warning onto a sheer cliff. You don't climb to get there — the ridge just hands you the view. On a clear day you can see all the way to the Catskill escarpment. I've sat on that ledge eating a sandwich and watched hawks ride the thermals for twenty minutes.

2. Millawa Falls — Thirty Minutes and You're at a Waterfall

This is the trail I send families on. Seven-tenths of a mile, mostly flat, paved in sections, and it ends at a 150-foot waterfall crashing into a pool. You hear it before you see it. When I brought my parents here last spring, my dad — a man who considers a walk to the mailbox to be exercise — stood there with his mouth open. That's the thing about Millawa. It doesn't ask much of you, and it gives you something to talk about for weeks.

3. Castle Point Trail — The One You Walk for Sunset

There's a reason climbers and locals alike will tell you Castle Point is where you go when the light is right. Five hundred feet of elevation over a mile and a half — enough to feel it in your legs, nothing that'll wreck your Sunday. When you top out, the world opens in every direction. I've watched the sky go from gold to purple to a color I don't have a name for, stood there with a handful of strangers who'd all had the same idea, and nobody said a word. Just the wind.

4. Awosting Falls Loop — The Walk That Doesn't Quit

This is the hike you do when you want to feel like you went somewhere without getting anywhere. Two miles of figure-eight through pine barrens and oak-heath forest that smells like nothing else on earth — dry needles, resin, that clean green scent that only the Gunks seem to produce. You pass two waterfalls, which is two more than most loops offer. It's flat, it's shaded, and it leaves you wanting to do it again.

5. Bontic Crag — The Quick One That Punchs Above Its Weight

A mile and a third out of the Mohonk Preserve gate (there's a day fee, worth every dollar). The trail climbs about 300 feet through moss-covered boulders that look like they fell out of a fairy tale, and then you're on exposed summit rock with 360 degrees of nothing but sky and ridge. It's short. It's steep in spots. And the view from the top makes you feel like you just accomplished something you didn't.

One thing before you go:

Get to the trailheads before 9 AM on weekends, especially in summer. The lots fill up and the rangers will turn you away. Bring water — more than you think you need. And wear shoes with grip, because that quartzite gets slick fast when it's wet. The Gunks will give you the best morning of your week. Just show up ready.