August 13 and 14, 2024.

I gave my back a break from thru-hike training on the 13th and visited FDR and Eleanor Roosevelt’s neighboring homes in Hyde Park, NY. Both sites have trail networks (see below for Aug 14).

FDR’s home –

While at the FDR site, I visited the Presidential Library & Museum. Wow. That had so much info and so many artifacts – I could have spent the entire day just in there. The history of FDR’s political life, the Depression and the history of his New Deal, WW2, civil rights issues…there is so much to absorb. The displays are vivid and catch the visitor’s interest. His crutches, his war notes, his and her everything, it is all there within those two sites. I highly recommend a visit.

FDR and Eleanor both hosted royalty, prominent politicians, artists, social leaders, and, in Eleanor’s case, everyday people in their homes. Eleanor would often invite strangers in town to her home and have them mingle with her famous guests so the voice of everyday folk could be heard by the Powers that Be. Note Eleanor’s home is humbly furnished. Though both Roosevelts came from money, Eleanor liked to live humbly.

Eleanor Roosevelt’s site informs the visitor about her life and her multitude of great works, but I felt I received a lot more info at the Eleanor’s Tea event in Campobello last month (previous post).

The tour guides at both sites were extremely informative. The Park Service always does such a great job.

Both the FDR and Eleanor Roosevelt sites have a network of trails that connect with one another and extend up to the Vanderbilt NHS (which I have not yet visited). The trails by Roosevelt’s home are considered “a” National Recreation Trail (Roosevelt Woods), and all the NHS trails plus other local trails form another set of “a” National Recreation Trail. Kinda confusing, I know. I’ll publish a separate post about the other local trails later. All the trails put together total over 20 miles. I did over ten of them on the 14th, including all the trails in and between the FDR and Eleanor sites, carrying my fully loaded pack (gotta keep training for my upcoming thru).

All the trails are wooded, and some have occasional views of water/marsh. One, the Meadow Trail, pops up right underneath the old Roosevelt home.

I got the evil eye from three separate people as I hiked…two women who treated me like I was doing something suspicious, and a very young man who shoo-ed me away from a public park (when I was doing other local trails) since apparently no one is supposed to be there at the same time as their summer camp kids. So I felt like a bit of an outcast, but my back is healed and the training makes me feel strong. Also had a nice endorphin rush toward the end of the day’s hiking miles, and that’s always nice. I also managed the heat fairly well (upper 80s).