How to Find The Widow Jane Mine in Rosendale NY

I’ve explored the Widow Jane Mine in Rosendale NY area several times, being that it’s not too far from the city and it’s a great place to stop at if you’re looking for day hikes and scenic drives near NYC. But not everyone knows how to reach it, so in this post, I’ll show you where you’ll find it and other outdoor things to do that aren’t far from it.

Quick info:

Name: Widow Jane Mine.
Location: Upstate NY (Rosendale area).
Things to do: Hiking, mine exploration, music gatherings and more.
Rating: 3 out of 5.
Visitor reviews: 4.5 out of 5
Recommended? Yes. Widow Jane Mine is certainly worth seeing if you like cave like structures and in this case, it’s actually a very large man made mine which had been abandoned. Luckily, it is safe and free to go to this spot.

Things to know:

When you first go here though, you may be surprised that you won’t really see too many signs talking about it.
And if you follow your GPS to the right spot, it will lead you into what looks like private property.
However this same location will have a public parking area from which you will have to hike to the actual mine. Fortunately the hike is very easy and short (takes 5 minutes to get to Widow Jane Mine from the parking):

Map:

I created a very simple map of how to reach Widow Jane Mine once you enter the parking area. I recommend you visit this place in the morning or just during the day. Once you enter the mine, the deeper you explore it, the darker it’ll get as you can see:

Every time I would visit this place, it would be on a weekday and every single time I was there (around 9 am), there was never anyone else there. The mine is actually quite huge and half of it is actually submerged in water, so you can’t really get far, but you do have a bit of space to explore and there are stages there which are made for people to host concerts or meetings from time to time.

If you are claustrophobic, you need not worry because the space inside it is pretty large and you can enjoy the walk around the area. However, like I said, it is very dark there, so if you’re scared of that, go with other people. This place is known to have art gatherings and even music concerts and I spotted some art masks on the cave walls, so don’t freak out!

You will also be able to get a map on the trail to the mine which will show you other spots you can check out near it. Personally, I was told the most interesting spot is just the mine itself, so I didn’t bother looking around the actual area. There is a small picnic area outside where you can enjoy the peace and speaking of that, if there’s no one in the actual mine, it will be pretty silent and the only thing you will hear are the drops of water from a distance echoing. It is also very peaceful there (usually).

Widow Jane Mine photos:

These were taken during a few of my visits there:

More places like Widow Jane Mine:

Because I’m not a huge fan of Widow Jane Mine (but I like exploring them), I discovered that there’s parks throughout New York (and some in New Jersey) which have them. Rather than make a whole list, I’m going to recommend Harriman State Park as it is in my opinion the top spot for finding these types of things. What this area has is at least 7-8 different abandoned mines throughout it, 3 of which are gigantic (not as big as Widow Jane Mine). Here’s at least 2 of them (Bradley Mine on the left and Boston Mine on the right):

I personally like them more due to the fact that they you have to hike to them and often find them in the park (they are not as easy to reach and that challenge makes it more interesting). There’s also typically way less people hiking to these mines. Harriman State Park is only 30 minutes south of Widow Jane Mine and if you enjoy places like this, you’ll like this park too.

Places to see nearby:

Safety advice:

This location, as well as the others that I listed have a large number of TICKS and that’s because much of New York State, where these locations are located, are in heavily wooded areas. If you’re going to go to any of these spots, wear clothing that covers your feet and bring tick sprays (they are in the area too). Other than that, if you’ve visited Widow Jane Mine or any of the other locations I suggested in this article, let me know!