Popular Hudson Valley Hiking Spot to offer Edible and Medicinal Plant Tour

The Hudson Valley is a popular place to hike and many of our trails are lined with beautiful plants. If you spend any time on the Shawangunk Ridge you are bound to run across numerous type of plants that are both edible and some even have medicinal property.

A walk through our local trails will very often lead you past low brush where you can find wild blue berries and often raspberries. Another big find in our local woods is a variety of mushrooms. I am not well versed on telling the delicious from the deadly but I do have a few friends who seem to know the difference. They spend weeks every year hunting down the most tasty.

Knowing what plants are is important if you plan to spend time outdoors. Poison Ivy, Poison Oak and Poison Sumac are all plant you want to steer clear of when passing along on the trails. One of the best ways to learn what's what and what not to touch is to head out with a guide.

The Mohonk Preserve in New Paltz is offering a guided hike on Saturday Sept 18th which serves to help those of us that aren't very plant savvy improve our knowledge. The Edible and Medicinal guided walk with Heather Housekeeper hopes to help us all become more familiar with the plants along the trail.

The hike will take about 2 hours and steps off at 10AM from the Mohonk Preserve. You do need to preregister and masks are required for anyone unvaccinated. Tickets can by purchased through mohonkpreserve.org