Fodor's Expert Review Springside
Poughkeepsie
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.