This is fall foliage season in the US when the "leaf people" as the locals call them, come out in strength . They drive miles just to see and admire the lustrous canopy of brown, gold and russet leaves that shroud the countryside turning it into a vast natural canvas by Monet or Van Gogh.
Visitors to New York can enjoy this autumnal spectacle right on the doorstep of the city. An hour's ride by car or train from Manhattan and you are in the heart of the Hudson River Valley, one of the greatest scenic attractions of New York State.
Indeed, the Hudson Valley includes some of the most spectacular vistas in the entire US. There is a whole school of painting built around the river which for all its long history as one of the great arteries of commerce in the growth of the eastern half of America, still retains its original air of isolated rugged splendour.
The granite walls of the Pallisades that flank the New Jersey shore on the west bank of the river were carved out by the ice age and, despite all the changes wrought in the almost four hundred years since Henry Hudson first explored it, the Hudson remains much as it must have looked to the early Dutch settlers.
The river has seen the steamers and great liners of the last century come and go. Today's traffic is mostly freight barges and tugboats, although the summer brings out the pleasure craft. But the Hudson flows on seemingly indifferent to change. The dense woodland that reaches down to the waters edge is still as impenetrable as when Hudson first met its Indian people.
Today's weekend motorist can meander up Route 9 stopping off at any one of several little towns such as Garrison and Cold Spring that are part commuter belt but have a sylvan serenity that is a world away from Broadway.
Main Street, Cold Spring, is as Dutch American as you can get. It is lined with dozens of antique shops of varying quality that cater to the general browser or professional antique hunter. They carry everything from furniture, paintings and prints to old pewter, china, glass, contemporary crafts, jewellery and assorted bric a brac.
The main hostelry, the Hudson House, is the quintessential Hudson Valley inn, and has one of the finest settings on the river. Right on the water's edge, it faces a small pier where steamboats used to dock and is now replaced with a little bandstand. Walk out to the end of the pier before going into the hotel - at this point the view is spectacular.
To the south is West Point, the heart of America's military establishment, its chapel tower etched against the sky. To the north, is Storm King, the mountain that is not so much picturesque as awesome - it has been called a dome of living granite swelling with animal power. In summer when the storm clouds gather it can assume a Wagnerian mystique; one almost expects to see the Valkyrie come riding through the surrounding mountains.
To get to the mountain, drive over the Hudson on the Bear Mountain Bridge (a "gift" from Mrs Harriman which netted her family a fortune in tolls). Take Route 218 along the perimeter of Storm King which gives you breathtaking views of the surrounding highlands. From here the river can be seen at its most majestic as it passes between the mountains. Trains on the opposite shore look like toys and, if you look down, you might just catch a glimpse of a seaplane passing below.
Both West Point and Bear Mountain Park with its open air sculptures are well worth a drive through. To get the best out of your visit to West Point, stop first at the visitors' centre where you can look at displays and films which give the story of the Academy - its list of military "greats" is presented not so much as glorifying war but as a means to maintaining peace.
Pick up a plan of the grounds which allows you to get an overview of the role of the Academy in American history. One third of the battles fought in the American War of Independence were along the shores of the Hudson.
If you stand on the turreted walls of West Point and look at the river below you can envisage the strategic importance of keeping control of this central artery of communication: whoever held the Hudson controlled the supply route to the warring armies.
The lower Hudson Valley has some excellent eateries all of which require advance reservations: Riverview at 45 Fair Street, Cold Spring, has good Italian cuisine. Plumbush, on Route 9D, Cold Spring, offers a wide menu with good service. Xaviar's on Route 9D, Garrison, is in the grounds of the Highlands Country Club; and, for drinks in a cosy old battered clapboard inn where George Washington might well have slept, try the Bird & Bottle also on Route 9, Garrison.
IF go further into the middle Hudson Valley, you enter a region noted for its great estates built by the families descended from the original Dutch settlers, and founders of America's economic and political dynasties of America. Here are names such as Vanderbilt, Harriman, Roosevelt, their estates hidden away in the privacy of the woods. Their wealth was enormous and it was reflected in the furnishings of their mansions many of which are open to the public.
My favourite is the home of Franklin Delano Roosevelt outside of the little town of Hyde Park if only because it is not in any sense ostentatious. It remains in the style it was furnished by his mother and looks just as if the family might return at any moment. In an adjoining library there is an operations room where the president kept in touch with his chiefs of staff during the second World War.
The walls include photos of the great and powerful including Britain's King George VI and the present Queen Mother. She looked chirpy then, I thought to myself, as if she knew she would see them all down!
In the grounds of the estate is the private home which Eleanor had built for herself and her friends and a simple marble slab marks the grave of both of them in the adjoining Rose garden.
Before returning I recommend a visit to the pristine town of Rhinebeck, but before leaving Hyde Park try the Culinery Institute of America, a delightful restaurant where some of the country's leading chefs get their start.
The boast of the Beekman Arms on Rhinbebeck's main street is that it is the longest operating inn in the nation. So, if you want to splurge and tell your grandchildren that you too belong to a guest list that includes everyone from George Washington to Aaron Burr and even Benedict Arnold - be my guest! Sic transit and all that!
Bill Maxwell is a critic and travel writer