"It is highly likely that we will consider keeping the Giant Stairs closed until springtime and allow the winter thaw to take place before opening the trail." Steve Shallop, superintendent of the New Jersey section of Palisades Interstate Park, told Patch this in mid-January, a few days after a rockslide shut the trail.
Spring came and went without a reopening. As of October 5, 2026, NJHiking still listed the Giant Stairs as closed, with no opening date. Alpine's best-known scramble has been closed since January 9 and is still closed in October. That changes how the borough's stretch of the Palisades works this fall. The riverfront you can use now ends at Peanut Leap Cascade. What remains open, plus nearly everything on the late-season calendar, sits within a short walk of Alpine Picnic Area and the Kearney House, or up on the summit at State Line Lookout.
Nine months of "until further notice"
The slide happened on the morning of Friday, January 9, 2026, on the Giant Stairs section of the Shore Trail near State Line Lookout. That date comes from the NY-NJ Trail Conference alert. News 12 reported that the slide came at about 9 a.m. and that no one had been hurt as of its January 12 report.
Since then, the record looks like this:
- January 9: The park closes the area. The Trail Conference posts an alert that sends hikers to the park's advisories for updates.
- January 14: Shallop tells Patch the closure could last several months, possibly until spring, while crews assess the damage and how stable the stairs are.
- June 4: The Palisades Interstate Park Commission issues a public statement. It says the commission is working with geologists and rockfall mitigation specialists, looking at the risk of more rockfalls and whether the fallen debris is stable, and drafting recommendations for a safe reopening. It gives no date.
- October 5: NJHiking reports the section still closed, with no opening date set.
The park's current advisory gives the exact boundary. The Giant Stairs are "closed to all use from Peanut Leap Cascade to Forest View." That line matters for planning. The park describes the Shore Trail north of Alpine Picnic Area as entering "a more remote section of the park," crossing the mile-long rock scramble, and then climbing steeply to meet the Long Path. The closure takes that whole remote northern stretch out of reach. The Forest View Trail, which drops to the Shore Trail just south of the Giant Stairs about 2.25 miles north of Alpine Picnic Area, now runs down toward a closed section.
What the riverfront still offers from the picnic area
With the northern end closed, Alpine Picnic Area has become the natural starting point. The park's Alpine page lists it as open year-round with picnic facilities and restrooms. Metered parking runs April through October, so the meters stop at the end of this month. Three of the park's published hikes start there, and two connector trails reach the shore close by.
Route | Start | Length and effort, per PIPC | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
Cape Fly Away Loop | Alpine Picnic Area | About 3 miles, 1.5 hours | Riverfront loop with rocky sections, can be cut roughly in half |
Huyler's Landing History Hike | Alpine Picnic Area | About 5 miles, 3.5 hours | Printable handout updated September 2026 |
Bombay Hook Loop | Alpine Picnic Area | About 7 miles, 5 hours | Big loop with a steep climb and river and summit views |
Huyler's Landing Trail, red | Long Path, about a quarter mile south of Alpine Lookout | 440-foot climb on an old wagon road | Meets the Shore Trail about 1 mile south of the picnic area |
Closter Dock Trail, orange | US Route 9W just north of Closter Dock Road | 360-foot climb | Meets the Shore Trail just north of the picnic area |
The park calls the Huyler's Landing History Hike "a veritable 'sampler platter' for the Palisades history lover." Its printable handout carries a September 2026 upload date, which makes it one of the more recently updated documents on the park's trails page. NJHiking lists the Alpine to Huyler's Landing route as a nearby option on its Giant Stairs page. The park has not labeled any of these routes an official detour, and its descriptions don't say where each loop runs relative to the closed section, so the advisory's Peanut Leap Cascade boundary is the line to plan around.
You can also get on the river from here. The park allows kayaks and canoes to launch in daylight from the beach just north of Alpine Picnic Area. Boats have to be carried in, and normal parking fees apply.
The Kearney House carries the fall calendar
The busiest stretch of the season in Alpine is right at the water. The Kearney House, next to the Alpine Boat Basin, is where Mrs. Kearney once ran a dockside tavern in the mid-nineteenth century. On select evenings the park brings that period back as Mrs. Kearney's Tavern. Two programs remain on this year's schedule:
- "Tales of the Macabre": Readings from Edgar Allan Poe, with hot cider and donuts. Friday and Saturday evenings, October 23, 24, 30 and 31, 8 to 10 p.m. Tickets are $13 in advance or $20 at the door if spaces remain, cash only.
- "Punch & Pie": Music with Mr. Thaddeus MacGregor, plus fresh pies, punch and storytelling. Saturday, November 7, 8 to 10:30 p.m. Tickets are $22 in advance or $30 at the door if spaces remain, cash only.
The park says these programs "fill quickly" and takes reservations through Eventbrite. Between the two tavern weekends, the park's homepage lists a Hallowe'en Hike at Alpine Picnic Area on Sunday, November 1. The listing gives no start time or meeting point. The park's general policy is that public programs are free and open to all, with no advance registration unless a listing says otherwise. Between October 23 and November 7, the Alpine waterfront has a scheduled program on six days across three weekends.
You can still visit the house during the day, though the season is winding down and the park's own pages don't agree on when it ends. The advisories page lists the Kearney House as open Saturdays and Sundays from 1 to 4 p.m. The Kearney House page adds that it opens in good weather when staff are available, and generally stays closed on days of heavy or steady rain. The Kearney House page gives its season as May through October. The Alpine Picnic Area page says May through November. After this month, check before you go.
The marina itself, the Alpine Boat Basin, is run independently by Alpine Marina, LLC under a lease from the park. The park lists 201-985-6580 for slips and other questions.
Up top, State Line Lookout takes the overflow
The closure affects the summit less. The Long Path, marked in aqua, runs 11 miles along the cliff top and includes "some steep climbs on stone steps in the State Line area." From State Line Lookout, the park's Women's Federation Monument Hike is about 2 miles and roughly an hour round trip, out and back along the summit with one short, steep climb. It covers the same high ground the Forest View Trail crosses on its way past the Women's Monument, without heading down toward the closed shoreline.
The Lookout's food hours depend on which park document you read. The current advisory says the kitchen opens daily and closes at 4:30 p.m., restrooms close at 4:55 p.m., and either may close unexpectedly. It suggests calling 201-750-0465. The 2026 park map lists the Lookout Inn refreshment stand as open 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. On a short fall afternoon, those 30 minutes can decide whether a late hike ends with a hot drink.
State Line's five miles of cross-country ski trails, marked A through F, are open to hikers year-round. In winter the park maintains them but doesn't groom them, and it recommends waiting for at least four inches of snow. There are no ski rentals.
The road down to the river has its own deadline
There's one more date coming. Henry Hudson Drive is open to cars and bicycles from May through November. The section from Dyckman Hill to the Alpine Approach closes to motor vehicles from December through April. The open riverfront near Alpine has a shorter driving season than its trails.
Bigger work on that road is coming, though no dates have been set. In a March 5 update, the park said it had secured funding to repair the Dyckman Hill section, which was damaged by Hurricane Ida in 2021. Work is planned to start "next winter" in two phases. Phase one repairs Dyckman Hill Road and reopens the Englewood Cliffs entrance. Phase two restores Henry Hudson Drive from Edgewater to Alpine, with drainage, roadway and parapet-wall repairs. The park said it would post updates once construction dates are confirmed. Until then, Dyckman Hill Road and the yellow-marked Dyckman Hill Trail stay closed to all use.
For the Giant Stairs, the only public word remains the commission's June statement: "public safety remains the primary consideration guiding all plans for reopening the trail."
Much of what makes the Northern Valley a good place to live sits outside the property line, in places like the shoreline below Alpine and the tavern evenings at the Kearney House. If you're thinking about how life in Alpine might fit your plans, Lana Henriques is glad to share what she knows about these towns, one season at a time. Contact Lana @[email protected]
