Long/scenic day rides to do from the New York City area

[Bob B]

I wanted to share a handful of the day rides I've done or am hoping to do in the New York area, and perhaps get area-RBWOBers to share their routes as well.

These are destination rides that go along to scenic trails or bridges. The goal is long stretches of scenic riding, as much as possible not in the shoulder of a 45mph road. These are also relatively easy-going rides.

Here's what I've come up with:

Battery Park (or wherever you live) to Brewster, NY 

Google Map Link: Click Here  

Length: 64.2 miles

Route Info: West Side Greenway > Van Cortlandt Park, Old Putnam Trail > S County Trailway > N County Trailway all the way to Brewster, NY. Stop for dinner and take the Metro North train from Brewster back to the city

Surface: Mostly paved, a little dirt 

Camping Variant: Possible to turn west from N. County Trailway towards Nimham State Forest Multiple Use Area, which has MTB trails and allows camping

 

 

Van Cortlandt Park (or where you live) to Kitchawan, NY and back

Google Maps Link: Click Here  

Length: 59.6 miles

Surface: Paved and dirt/gravel

Route Info: More or less Based on a Bike Snob ride report: Van Cortlandt Park > Old Putnam Trail > S County Trailway > N County Trailway > At Kitchawan hop over westward to Old Croton Trailway State Park > return South along Old Croton Aqueduct Trail back to Van Cortlandt Park

 

Trenton, NJ to New Brunswick

Google Maps Link: Click Here  

Length: 38.9 miles

Surface: Paved and dirt/gravel

Route Info: NJ Transit to Trenton > Raritan Canal State Park Trail all thew way to New Brunswick > NJ Transit from New Brunswick back to the city

Poughkeepsie, NY over-the-Hudson-and-back to Beacon, NY

Google Maps Link: Click Here 

Length: 67.2 miles

Surface: Paved and dirt/gravel

Route Info: Metro North to Poughkeepsie > Walkway over the Hudson > Some back roads > Wallkill Valley Trail > Some back roads > Newburgh-Beacon Bridge to Beacon, NY. Stop for dinner and take Metro North train from Beacon back to the city

[jeffrey kane]

Damn, Bob B, thanks o much -- I've been too lazy (or a just creature of habit, really) to figure out those Van Cortland Park / Kitchawan / Brewster runs myself but am totally going to hit these routes now!

[Bob Ehrenbeck]

Good stuff, Bob; thanks for putting this together! I've done the Trenton to New Brunswick ride, and I'll have to check out the rest.

Bob E

[Kainalu]

Poughkeepsie to Beacon sounds nice. I ride through Van Cortland and up the Putnam trail on my commute to work, it's lovely. You can spend a great day just exploring trails in the Park.
I've heard taLe of a fairly large organized ride of the Croton Aqueduct trail that happens every year, there's probably a thread around here regarding it. I've got a very loose plan to head up it soon with an experienced list member guide, still trying to get my stars to align. Lately the only riding I do involves the trails, streets, and bridges between Brooklyn and Bronxville, those miles qualifying as commute and not selfish indulgence (lately my indulgences outside of cycling center on fun with my 2 and 4 year old sons, so I'm wildly optimistic about future in depth exploration in all directions). Looking forward to hearing about these rides and more.
-Kai
Brooklyn NY

[Mark in Beacon]

There is also great riding a bit South of Beacon. Cold Spring and Garrison are the two stops before Beacon on the Hudson train line from Grand Central, and there is lots of riding, including many miles of historic unpaved roads and plenty of challenging and scenic climbs. Hop over the Bear Mountain bridge for routes through Harriman, or to do a bridge to bridge from the other side (218, West Point) and back to the Newburgh Beacon Bridge and the Bank Square Coffee house or one of the dozen other great little eateries on Main Street. In fact there are awesome rides in just about every direction. I don't get to do rides like this much these days with my schedule, but happy to give some tips and route ideas if anyone plans to head up from NYC this spring/summer. Reply off list. (Shown: My Kuwahara across the river in the rolling hills of Orange County wine and apple country, back when the handlebars had more tape; my Rsogn resting on a mile marker for the Old Albany Post Road in Garrison, NY; My Nishiki Olympic waiting patiently for the skinny tired vehicle to be repaired, a bit North of Poughkeepsie, which also has lots of dirt and gravel roads; the Kuwahara on a day trip to a pizza oven-building class.

[Bob Ehrenbeck]

Great photos, Mark!

Bob B, I'm glad you mentioned incorporating some of the many train lines in the metro NYC area into these rides -- it's a great way to avoid the most congested areas and to get to where the riding's good, and it can also eliminate the return leg of non-loop rides, thus acting as a distance multiplier. It should be noted, though, that Metro-North requires a permit to bring your bike onboard their trains (in addition to their time restrictions). NJ Transit does not require a permit, but it has the usual rush-hour prohibitions. More info here:

http://web.mta.info/mnr/html/getaways/bikerule.htm

http://www.njtransit.com/rg/rg_servlet.srv?hdnPageAction=BikeProgramTo

Bob E

[Bob B]

Mark, thanks for the pics and the info about dirt roads in the area. Looks and sounds great! I'm already starting to get some new ideas... You can definitely use those roads to stitch together a few state parks/forests with mountain bike trails, i.e. Blue Mountain Park and Stewart State Forest.

Bob E. -- what did you think of the Trenton to New Brunswick trail? That's one I haven't done yet—wasn't sure if it'd be worth doing the train ride to get there.

[Bob Ehrenbeck]

Bob B,

When I go for rides along the Delaware & Raritan Canal towpath, the more convenient option for me is to take NJ Transit’s Raritan Valley line (as I can board it in Westfield, which is very close to my house) and get off in Bound Brook. From the station, the D&R trail is basically around the corner. And once on the trail, I usually head southwest to Princeton rather than on the short southeast leg to New Brunswick, so I haven’t done the BB-NB leg recently.

But Bound Brook to Trenton is a nice ride alongside the canal and is entirely off-road; the surface is not paved, but rather dirt/crushed stone. The upper portion is kind of bland in some sections, with just tree after tree, but there are some interesting locks and spillways along the way. The more scenic section is further south by the Princeton area: the trail runs on a sliver of land between the canal on one side and Lake Carnegie on the other. Plus, you can stop and get lunch at a great deli in Kingston (just up Rt. 27 from the towpath) and have a picnic at the Kingston Locks, or in Princeton proper. (You can also access the towpath there easily using NJT’s Princeton station — from NYC, take the train to Princeton Junction, and then transfer onto the “Dinky” train for the very short ride to the town of Princeton.)

Here are some photos of a 50-mile ride I did last year on the D&R Canal towpath from Bound Brook to Princeton University and back:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/30490050@N04/albums/72157655738969366

Trenton is a major station with amenities inside and even a bike rack and repair stand outside. Instead of (or in addition to) riding back to New Brunswick from there, you can ride upstream along the Delaware on a rail trail that runs along the D&R feeder canal; it runs another 31 miles from Trenton to Frenchtown, passing through some very lovely little river towns. (There’s also a towpath that runs along the Delaware Canal on the Pennsylvania side of the river, so you can put together some nice loops using the bridges spanning the Delaware (including a beautiful Roebling-built pedestrian suspension bridge).)

Here are some some photos from a 35-mile ride from Lambertville and Frenchtown and back, utilizing both sides of the river:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/30490050@N04/albums/72157635438917731

Finally, just to give you an idea of what the area looks like, here are some photos of a loop ride using both sides of the Delaware, starting and finishing at Bull’s Island Recreation Area (about 22 miles north of Trenton, where the pedestrian bridge over the Delaware is located).

https://www.flickr.com/photos/30490050@N04/albums/72157649195098447

Bob E

[Bob B]

Hey Bob E. Great pics! It's good to get a little preview of that area. Parts of it seem so pastoral, and look very similar to the C&O Towpath trail further south.  I actually plan to do DC > Pittsburgh this summer, but that's another topic.

Also, Trenton station has a bike REPAIR STAND??? I've never heard of that at any public place whatsoever. What does that even look like?

I might go for a longer loop going from Trenton > Frenchtown and back, and it looks like there's another way to cross back over at Washington Crossing. Not sure how pleasant it is down there or if that's why you chose to start further north at Lambertville...

Now that I'm looking a little more closely at that area, it looks like you can follow the path quite a ways northeast to Bethlehem, PA (62 mi), or move from there northward on the D&L trail to Jim Thorp (100mi) and beyond to the Lehigh Gorge Trail. Obviously, this would be more of a multi-day camping trip. But there are some real possibilities here for more ambitious long-weekend trips.

[Bob Ehrenbeck]

Thanks! Yeah, that area isn’t what most people imagine NJ to look like. 

DC to Pittsburgh on the C&O/GAP trails is on my list, so I’d love to see a write-up and pics from you when you do it.

Here’s an article (with a photo) on the repair stand at the Trenton station. (Hoboken has one, also):

http://www.nj.com/mercer/index.ssf/2015/04/new_bike_tool_station_will_help_trentol_locals_fix.html

I haven’t done the Trenton to Lambertville section yet — not because I avoided it, but because so far I wanted to explore the area further north without putting the mileage in just to get there, so in those cases I just drove my car to Lambertville or Bulls Island and then ride from there. I'd much rather take a train than drive, though. But Trenton to Frenchtown and back would be a great ride.

Regarding rides further upriver on the Pennsylvania side, you should consult the trail status using this link:

http://delawareandlehigh.org/map/

Also, check out the Circuit Trails, which highlights the status of which trails are complete, in construction, or planned for the proposed 750-mile (!) network of trails in the greater Philadelphia area:

http://www.circuittrails.org/

Bob E

[William R.]

Late to the table here but this is a great thread Bob. It's nice to hear about all of these routes in our area. It's a really diverse area with lots of great riding. I live in Dobbs Ferry, a "rivertown" (Hudson) on the west side of Westchester Co. I'm lucky, my house is right in between where the Putnam and Acquaduct Paths run parallel to each other. It's less than a mile for me to ride to entrances to either. Those two paths are where I do most of my riding. The roads here get very congested and shoulders are little to none for the most part. It seems Rivendell's are made to ride these paths, my Joe Appaloosa is perfect for the terrain here. I do venture off these well-worn paths from time to time. Every fall my family goes to the Sheep and Wool Festival at the Duchess County Fairgrounds. A few years ago I started riding up after Google mapping a favorable route. It's a great ride that could start on the Acquaduct or Putnam paths, then some nice country roads (first photo) and then the very nice paved Duchess County Pathway. Its a 85-90 mile ride depending on exact route from my house. Add 15-20 from the city? I could probably come up with my actual route if anybody wants it, otherwise I find the bike option on Google Maps to be pretty good. I grew up in southern Connecticut on the Long Island Sound. I often ride from home to my sisters house in Fairfield which is about a 60 mile ride. There are some great dirt roads along the border between Westchester Co. and Connecticut and then its not too far to get to great riding along the coast in CT. Again, sorry for not supplying routes. I usually go by feel when I go to Connecticut. Having grown up there, I never seem to get lost for long! Of course I ride into the city often too. Adventures to the outer boro's, Rockaway Beach, Coney Island and Staten Island happen a few times a year. A few shots attached: (1) somewhere in Westchester/Duchess Co., (2) Old Croton Acquaduct, (3) Joe Appaloosa at the Old Croton Dam (source of the Old Acquaduct).

Bill in Westchester, NY

 

 

[Brad]

I've done variations on the Van Cortlandt ride and the Poughkeepsie ride. They're both fun, but riding between Poughkeepsie and Beacon on the west side of the river is really nice. Lots of quiet back road and rail trails. And there are a ton of variations you can do- I like riding through New Paltz and up into Mohonk & Minnewaska too.

Brad

Queens

On Thursday, May 5, 2016 at 3:02:04 PM UTC-4, Bob B wrote:

[Bob B]

Bob E - Great resources! It's great to know about these. I'll definitely be exploring this area in the future and will report back!

Bill - Thanks for sharing your routes and photos. I particularly like the Bosco'ed Trek. Beautiful path it's on, too! I've done a similar thing with with my old T700. See pic below.

Brad - I had seen Mohonk on the map before, but never looked into it before you mentioned it. That area looks beautiful! Thanks.

Looks like I've got a ton of riding to do this summer! 

[William R.]

Hey Bob E, I like your Trek too. I see you have a lot of a long stem showing there like I do. Do you experience flex like I do? My 7000 is strictly a short distance bike so it's not a big issue. But boy can I flex that cockpit! I have it set up as my train station bike now. Generic saddle that came on my Appaloosa chained to the frame for security. It's a good bike that works for me with that bar/stem combo.

Bill in Westchester, NY

[Bob B]

Hey Bill

Yea I get a little flex on my Bosco/tallux setup. Honestly I just put the tallux on; prior to that i had the Boscos on the stem that was original to the bike (It's a Bridgestone t700 by the way, not a Trek). I actually don't mind the flex so far, but I haven't really put it to test yet. So far the flex makes it more comfortable. Getting a little off-topic here, but I do know from experience that you have to tighten the stem a ridiculous amount with the Boscos so they don't slip. I always think I'm about to strip the stem. There aren't any scores on the stem clamp area like many other bars have. Do people ever knurl them? 

[KTY]

Bob, thanks for sharing these. Are you familiar with the Riding the Catskills blog? It's not being updated anymore, but there's a great archive or rides on there. Many can be accomplished by going up on MetroNorth and crossing over the river. It would be a long day, but totally doable. Or better yet, take a shelter and make an overnight of it. The one thing about the Catskills is that cell reception is very spotty, and the roads are quite confusing. So, take a good map or even a GPS. There's so so much good riding up there. 

Westchester is also great to explore, also off the Metro-North or by riding up from the city. 

Have fun,

Kolby

On Thursday, May 5, 2016 at 3:02:04 PM UTC-4, Bob B wrote:

[Bob B]

Kolby, I'm a little embarrassed I had no idea about the Riding the Catskills blog. What a gem of a blog. A wealth of riding to explore here.

Thanks,

Rob