The 6 Best Walks in Albany, Ranked
Tree-lined walking path in Washington Park Albany
Six walks in the city and its edges, ranked by how much you’ll enjoy them without a specific destination in mind.
The top three
1. The Washington Park loop, roughly 1.3 miles around the lake and up through the tulip beds. Best in early May but pleasant year-round. 2. The Mohawk-Hudson Bike-Hike Trail from Corning Preserve north toward Watervliet. Flat, paved, riverside, and you can walk as much or as little as you want. The five-mile round trip to the Congress Street Bridge is the sweet spot. 3. Lark Street from Madison Avenue up to Washington Avenue, through Center Square. Ten blocks of brownstones, restaurants and coffee shops.
Four through six
4. The Empire State Plaza esplanade, especially the Robert Indiana LOVE sculpture and the outdoor art collection. Roughly a mile end to end. 5. The Stockade of nothing — meaning the Mansion District and Pastures Historic District loop, about a mile through preserved 18th and 19th century streetscapes. Bring a phone map, streets get confusing. 6. Buckingham Pond in the Pine Hills, a half-mile loop with waterfowl and virtually no tourists. Skipped: State Street is grand but too traffic-heavy to enjoy on foot for long.
Before you book
The questions people ask about Center Square, answered with this month’s numbers.
Lark Street. The other options can be miserable in wind or snow, but Lark stays functional because you can duck into a coffee shop every hundred yards.
The Washington Park loop and Lark Street are fine into the evening. The Mohawk-Hudson Trail and Buckingham Pond thin out fast after sunset — do those in daylight.
