zacster

If I got on the trail in Brewster would I be able to ride through to VC park? I’m in the Berkshires with the family in a small house and may need to escape. It would be a good excuse to leave. I don’t want to start down the trail only to find even a small detour as it is already 75 miles from Brewster to home in Brooklyn. I’m not in great shape yet even if it is easy miles.

At least I have my bike here with me.

Oso Polar

Not without a few detours and/or going around the fences into officially closed parts. Most of the trail is opened but there are few short segments that are closed (they are changing slightly quite frequently as work progresses). Basically, it is completely opened from Brewster to Granite Springs and then from Briarcliff Manor to Van Cortlandt Park entrance. There are a few stretches closed between Granite Springs and Briarcliff Manor, entrance to Van Cortlandt Park is also closed.

zacster

Right, the VC park section is closed. That in itself makes it difficult.

in any case I got 42 miles in today, part of it on the Harlem Valley Rail Trail. I rode a new section that basically goes nowhere from Hilsdale south. There’s a stream that needs to be crossed at the end but even the road is Long ago washed out. I picked it up again in Copake Falls and the section end where the new connector to Millerton picks up. The road that you take to detour around it is nice though. Not much traffic and it also takes you straight to Millerton. It”s actually one that I would choose to ride.

Steve B.

Agree on the road bypass at Millerton, it’s a really beautiful stretch of country roads, with an exceptional view to the Catskills on a good day. Sometimes you catch the hang gliders coming off the Taconic ridge to the east as well.

The Harlem trail is scheduled to be a complete trail from Wassaic to Chatham. It’ll be 60 miles long when finished or some such.

zacster

Apparently the stretch from Millerton north is all but finished, and there is a section from Copake Falls north too that you can ride. It is from the end of that to the short section to Hilsdale that is completely missing. I don’t know of the status from Hilsdale to Chatham.

I wonder if they will build a bridge over Rt 22 or at least put a light in. I know that’s a fast stretch of road for driving as I do it myself.

Steve B.

Millerton to Under Mt. Road due for completion October 2020. The section north of Copake is awaiting State of NY approval with part of it open but disjointed sections.

Hillsdale to Chatam has no time frame as yet.

You can see on Google Earth where the RR crossed Rt 22 and there's no legacy bridge at this crossing so they'd either have to do on grade or a bridge. If it were Duchess County I'd say they would do a bridge as that's what they did on the Duchess Trail. As it's Columbia County, I've no idea.

https://hvrt.org/

Russ Roth

So if I wanted to try out this trail from the southern end, where would I want to park the car and get on and how much does it avoid actual roads? From what I can tell I've ridden sections around briercliff heading north but we've skipped out on other areas south for fear of traffic especially due to kids and not really knowing how interconnected these trails are. We're looking to ride between 25-35 miles round trip and stay away from cars, realize there's always street crossing but hopefully they're well marked and have a nice memorial day ride. Any perspective on this?

Steve B.

Since the thread went on a tangent about the Harlem Valley Trail, I assume that’s what you are asking.

Southern end is immediately north of the Wassaic Metro North train station in Rt 22. The southern completed section ends at Millerton. There’s then a road detour for 8-9 miles till Under Mt. Road, where the trail picks up again and terminates just north of Copake Falls. I think total distance with the road detour is 23 miles one-way. The section from Wassaic to Millerton is 10.5 miles, all on trail. The road crossings are mostly quiet back roads. Millerton has a nice downtown, deli’s, etc...

More detail here; Harlem Valley Rail Trail ? Wassaic to Chatham or Bust

Russ Roth

No, trying to figure out the westchester area, from the Bronx to wherever.

Steve B.

Got it

Southern most access currently and while the Van Cortland Park portion gets paved, is on-street parking off Alan Shepard Jr. Place, in Yonkers. Possibly Tibbets Brook Park, but that might be closed to Westchester County residents only, or a bit further north is the city of Yonkers HF Redmond Park. On Google maps you can see the access at Sheppard and Redmond.

I've accessed via Shepard Place and Redmond, never thru Tibbets.

And this is know as the South County Trail south of Elmsford.

UniChris

If you rode north from Briarcliff you likely soon encountered what is normally the only road section of the entire trail, the few miles on the shoulder of route 100 between there and Millwood.

The one thing to keep in mind on the South County is that from around Barney Street at the northern end of Yonkers through Ardsley to the south side of Elmsford it is intermittently pretty bumpy, though Woodland's Lake is in there and rather nice. The connector through Elmsford built around three years ago eliminated the road gap there (still a sidewalk dogleg from the river up to the intersection and back to legally cross) and after another half mile you reach what they repaved last summer so it's then a very smooth ride up past the Briarcliff library to where you'd get on the route 100 shoulder.

Then again from Millwood you are normally off roads all the way to the new end a mile from the train in Brewster. Except that they might be finishing the last sections of re-paving, and immediately north of the bridge at Kitchawan they decided to stop letting a single lane over the old Sandy washout section and fenced it off, which means a quarter mile on the shoulder of the road until you can climb a short steep hill at Birdsall and rejoin the trail.

I think some of the nice rides would be between Elmsford and Briarcliff (maybe park at Eastview or Rt 117 and ride in both directions), possibly venturing down to Woodland's lake, that as a round trip would hit your distance. Or between Millwood and the parking lot just north of the Kitchawan bridge. Or (if you check the paving status) between Yorktown Heights and somewhere in Putnam county, maybe lake Gleneida before you descend the big hill...

Duchess county trail is also worth doing as you can combine it with the Walkway over the Hudson and get into the 30 mile round trip range.

Re. Tibbets, I've ridden in that way while looking for alternatives to Caryl Ave, the park loop itself is momentarily fun but you ride down a long hill to get into the park, and then you have to climb sharply to get from the park up to the trail.

Steve B.

[QUOTE=UniChris;21497082]

Duchess county trail is also worth doing as you can combine it with the Walkway over the Hudson and get into the 30 mile round trip range.

/QUOTE]

Duchess trail is 22 miles one way from Hopewell Junction to end of Walkway Bridge.

Russ Roth

I thought when we did the dutchess trail last year from the parking lot near the museum in Hopewell it worked out to only 26mi round trip to the center of the bridge.
I don't know what they're calling the length between Brewster and Hopewell Junction but I checked it out in the fall near Camp Holmes since we were discussing adding a MTB/cycling camp this summer and at that time sitting at the road it crossed it was completely paved in both directions.

UniChris

I wish it were... alas it's actually about 14 miles from Hopewell Junction to the middle of the walkway.

Though it is about 22 miles from Hopewell across the river, onto the Hudson trail and then the recent Empire Trail construction of a few more miles over the thruway to where separated path yields to on street paint and then nothing at all on the outskirts of New Paltz.

And when the Maybrook opens, those new 23 roundabout miles following the old rail line between and occasionally over the hills will link it to within a mile of the Putnam division and make one epic ride.

Russ Roth

If they open that length I'm going to have to try to solo the length this fall when the kids are in school. A day when I can drop them off, drive out to the Bronx and let the wife pick them up.

Steve B.

Apologies Russ and Chris, I was using my measurement to New Paltz, which is 22. 14 is correct to the bridge.

Steve B.

This came up prior that you could start at the south end of Van Cartland and ride bike path to Kingston, with some on street in Brewster and New Paltz. I think over 100 miles or so.

zacster

One thing to note about the N/S County trail is the grade. While it is not obvious when viewing it, there is a definite railroad grade. I've done the entire trail from Brewster to VC Park in the past and no matter how hard it seems to get going, at a certain point you start feeling like Superman. It is barely perceptible but it is gently downhill all the way to The Bronx from whatever that point is. When I've gone the other way, starting in VC Park but never going all the way, I always keep reminding myself that it will be much easier when I turn around. Even when I was in top shape about 2-3 years ago and on my good road bike, I'd feel this. I took my teenage daughter one time and we made it to Elmsford and she had that look on her face that she wouldn't make it back. I promised her it would be easy and it was. Grades of 1% don't look like much except that when it is long and consistent it will wear on you going up, and you'll think you're having a great day when going down.

I think I may have recorded it once when I got my Wahoo Bolt computer, but I'd have to comb through my rides since I never name them.

zacster

From left to right is Brewster to Van Cortland Park. Definite downgrade. The peak is between Mahopac and Baldwin Place, at about 9 miles from the start. After that it is 35 miles of mostly downhill.

RidewithGPS N/S County Trail

Jarrettsin

I will most of the time do that ride the other way. Entering in VCP and riding to Brewster and then take the train back. But that means 6 miles home from Woodlawn Station and having to climb E. 233rd in afternoon traffic. Let's just say NOT bike friendly
I did it the other way once, rode to Woodlawn took the train up and rode down.
Can't wait till they finish paving VCP and not having to avoid it if it rained

Steve B.

Thx Zacster, I was going to plot this. The climb up from Tuckahoe Rd. is really apparent, an I think that's the dip at the reservoir L of middle.

UniChris

I habitually rode it northbound as well, though with the simplification for train returns of living just a few blocks from Grand Central... a good thing as after sitting for two hours my body basically wouldn't work.

The northbound grade didn't really bother me - if you work it out, the elevation change of the hills you climb but do not descend mean it's really only 0.17 % net climb over the length of the trail, which easily gets lost in the climbs you do make back up with descents. After the Van Cortlandt mud the good pavement of the initial climb in Yonkers was just an opportunity to get systems going for real and get organized to do some miles, if anything it was the return climb to Bryn Mawr that I'd have to pace myself for when out of shape. I'd definitely feel the sustained upgrade from the bridge to Yorktown Heights, but again, that was just about hitting the right pacing and holding it until getting there or taking a quick saddle break. That last gasp of the north county to Baldwin Place could be trying especially when the pavement was broken up, but the times I really wanted to die were again in the southbound direction, going up towards the horse farm in the afternoon sun on Century rides. Ultimately the only two hills on the trail I wasn't able to do were the soutbound ascent of Seminary Hill, and the north end of the little bump along the road in Mahopac (not sure I ever even rode *down* that one) so along with hitting it later I tended to find the southbound leg worried me more.

That said, if I did a metric up to Yorktown Heights and back, then the first few miles of gentle descent back to the reservoir did feel nice. Though there's then some climb out of Kitchawan to Millwood - more than a few late afternoons of "am I seeing a hint of civilization through the trees?" or "wait, do the power lines crossing mean almost there - oh, that's right, they don't..."

dendawg

Rode it last Friday from Elmsford to Rt 129, Be aware that the shoulder along the section of Rt 100 is under construction. They are widening it and making a seperated bike lane.

zacster

That's good to know because the ride is in my plans for the coming weekend, from Brewster to Brooklyn. Weather permitting. Hot, sticky weather or just plain rain will cancel.

dendawg

It's not a long stretch, but the section from the parking area on Rt 100 (just south of the Millwood Market) to where the trail picks up again in Millwood headed North. Heading South we crossed back over to the trail on the Northbound side as there were construction barrels on the shoulder southbound at that point.