Originally Posted by
Papa Tom
Billy:
Which direction did you travel? North, or south?
What I like to do is take the South County heading north as far as Elmsford, then turn left onto Rt. 119. At Rt.9, I turn left again and go about 3/4 mile to Lyndhurst Mansion, where there's an opening in a brick fence that leads you onto a narrow dirth path, which eventually becomes the southern section of the Old Croton Aqueduct Trail.
Details of how to get back to the SCT starting point are on my website at http://nyrides.freeservers.net
So how do you like the southern section, and where does it begin these days? I was always a "northern" fan, myself!
Tom,
The SCT starts at the NYC/Westchester county line, which is also the north end of Van Cortland Park. The Old Put trail continues south into VCP for 1.4 miles to the golf course clubhouse, then another 1/3 of a mile to W 240st., which is the south end of VCP.
The trail is dirt in VCP, doable on 28mm slick tires and up, or smaller if there's less mud.
The SCT is paved asphalt the entire distance. From VCP to Tuckahoe Rd at Touissant Ave. is 4.3 miles. It's an additional 7.5 miles to the norther terminus of the SCT at Rt 119 in Elmsford.
A good option to link the Old Croton Aqueduct trail at Lyndhurst Mansion, to the north end of the SCT in Elmsord, is to use Taxter Rd./E Sunnyside Lane. This hilly road intersects Rt 9 / Broadway, about 1/2 mile south of where the OCA trail crosses Broadway. Taxter Rd. IS hilly and dumps you out/starts 1/2 mile west on Rt 119 of the SCT. It has a LOT less traffic the Rt 119 and is preferable except if you left your climbing legs in the garage.