Hi,
My family (husband + 2 kids - 14 and 10) will be visting NYC this summer in July for 4 days. I am still working on our NYC itinerary and will probably post here in the upcoming weeks for help with that. But for now I need help with planning a good place outside of NYC for an additional 2 - 3 days. I'm looking for some place quiet (to come down after NYC !!). Looking for bike rides, horseback riding, etc. Perhaps the mountains. Nothing beach related. I would like to drive a max of 2 - 3 hours. Any suggestions?

Hudson Valley area is worth researching.

http://www.travelhudsonvalley.org/

Litchfield County, CT for scenic beauty,
or maybe the CT/RI shoreline for a few days of beach.

I would recommend going north to the Adirondacks. Very beautiful and lots to see and do

How about Lancaster, Pennsylvania? It's probably about 3 hours from NY and there's plenty to do there.

second the adirondacks, huge region to research for laid back or active vacation. hiking, horseback riding, mountain biking, rafting this region is only 3 hours (can be farther depending on how far you go into the region)

Thanks for the ideas so far. We'll skip the beach option (we're coming from FL and get lots of that already) and have already visited Lancaster.

The Adirondacks sound promising. Any suggestions on a city that can be used as a base for starting the research. It is a huge area!

Thanks for any additional help.

Are you baseball fans? Then try Cooperstown and the Finger Lakes region of New York State.

Even if you're not BB fans it's worth going to Cooperstown. Go to cooperstownchamber.org
How about Williamstown, MA?