6 Best Sights in Poughkeepsie, Hudson Valley

At the A. Scott Warthin Geological Museum on the ground floor of Ely Hall at Vassar, you can see fossil, mineral, and rock specimens.

Vassar was the first college in the United States to have an art gallery, and that gallery eventually grew into the Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center, housed in a 1993 Cesar Pelli building. The center's collections include more than 19,000 works, from Egyptian and Asian relics to 19th- and 20th-century paintings. Highlights are the Warburg Collection of Old Masters prints and several significant Hudson River School paintings donated by Matthew Vassar.

After Samuel Morse, the inventor of the telegraph, bought this circa-1830 house, he remodeled it into a Tuscan-style villa. It still contains the possessions and keepsakes of the family that lived here after him. The Morse Gallery, inside the visitor center, has exhibits of telegraph equipment and paintings by Morse. The grounds include gardens and hiking trails.

You can walk the carriage roads and trails that vein this woodsy, 20-acre landscape. It is the only surviving example of a landscape design by A.J. Downing, the 19th-century tastemaker. Downing had designed the landscape in 1850 for the country estate of Matthew Vassar, the founder of Vassar College. A trail guide is available in the kiosk at the site.

Founded as a women's college in 1865, Vassar went coed in 1969, the first well-known single sex school to do so. Today about 2,400 students attend this highly-respected liberal arts school. The 1,000-acre campus, with its lakes, gardens, and 200-plus tree varieties, is a lovely place for a walk. Other Vassar highlights include the Tiffany windows in the chapel.

At 1.28 miles in length, the Walkway Over the Hudson is the world's longest pedestrian bridge, crossing over the Hudson River to link the cities of Highland and Poughkeepsie. You'll find walkers, runners, cyclists, and dog-walkers crossing the bridge to enjoy the panoramic view of fall foliage, migratory birds, and trains. There are entrances on each side of the bridge, both with picnic tables and vending machines. Seasonal food vendors also set up shop during the summer months.