Sunrise Hikes Near the City

You do not need a whole weekend to stand somewhere high and quiet. Within ninety minutes of Brooklyn there are half a dozen trailheads that will put you above the treeline before the coffee goes cold.

The rule we go by: leave before the bridge traffic, pack something that survives a backpack, and be back before brunch. Everything below fits that.

Bring layers. Even in August the ridge is ten degrees cooler than the parking lot, and the wind at the overlook does not care what the forecast said.