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James Baird State Park, Pleasant Valley, NY
Sports & OutdoorsLocal GemOutdoor Adventure

James Baird State Park

Play a Robert Trent Jones golf course, picnic under big trees and walk seven miles of wooded trails in a free Dutchess County park.

14 Maintenance Lane, Pleasant Valley, NY 12569 · Pleasant Valley, NY

About James Baird State Park

James Baird State Park covers 590 acres of former farmland east of Poughkeepsie. Baird, whose construction firm built the Lincoln Memorial, gave the land to New York State in 1939. Its 18-hole golf course, designed by Robert Trent Jones, opened in 1948 and has a driving range and a bar and grill. Seven miles of wooded trails serve hikers in summer and cross-country skiers and snowshoers in winter, and there are courts for tennis, basketball, volleyball and pickleball. There is no vehicle fee to enter the park.

  • #state park
  • #golf
  • #hiking
  • #picnicking
  • #hudson valley

What's around here?

The closest stops to James Baird State Park, ordered by straight-line distance. A few more like it, plus some different kinds of fun so you can build a full day.

  • Attractions
    Local Gem

    Vassar Modfest

    No admission fee

    Vassar College's free annual festival of music, dance, film and visual art each January and February.

    Transit: reachable by public transit

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  • Museums
    Rainy-Day Pick

    Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center

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    See Hudson River School landscapes, Rembrandt and Dürer prints and modern works by Picasso and others for free at Vassar College's art museum.

    5.2 mi awaySwitch it up: Museums

  • Sports & Outdoors

    Innisfree Garden

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    5.6 mi awayMore like this

  • Sightseeing
    History Buff

    Eleanor Roosevelt National Historic Site

    No admission fee

    Tour Val-Kill, the cottage home Eleanor Roosevelt owned and lived in after FDR's death, and walk its 181 acres of trails in Hyde Park.

    7.5 mi awaySwitch it up: Sightseeing

  • Sports & Outdoors

    Walkway Over the Hudson State Historic Park

    No admission fee

    A former railroad bridge over the Hudson River, now a long elevated pedestrian walkway linking Poughkeepsie and Highland.

    7.8 mi awayMore like this

  • Sports & Outdoors

    Franny Reese State Park

    No admission fee

    A 251-acre Hudson Valley park with hiking and biking trails, ruins of a 19th-century mansion, and river views.

    8.3 mi awayMore like this