What trail ?
 

I have been instructed to find the following:

1) Dirt/gravel rail-trail or tow path, 50-60 ish miles long

2) B&B at end and a restaurent to allow for dinner.

3) Within 2-3 hrs. Of NYC

4) Safe place to park and leave a car at start.

The idea is an out and back test run, of an extended GAP/C&O ride.

Thanks in advance

SB

Closest thing I can think of at the moment is the combination of the Lehigh Gorge Trail and the section of the D&L between White Haven and Glen Summit. Haven't ridden the latter, but the former is about 25 miles from White Haven to the center of Jim Thorpe, where there is at least one B&B. There are also places to eat. Don't think you would have to worry about parking your car on the street in Glen Summit. Or you could park in the municipal lot in Jim Thorpe, ride the trails north to Glen Summit and then do a little road riding to Mountain Top, where there are motels and places to eat.

You might have to make compromises. 50-60 miles is long for a rail-trail in this part of the world.

What trail?
 

Did this ride last August with a friend. Parked at the Poughkeepsie train station. He took Metro North-need to get a bike pass online.

We stayed in Hudson, NY at a B&B. Lots of nice restaurants, nearby is Olana which is the home of Frederic Church one of the premier Hudson River School painters (worth the side trip if you have time). Next day crossed to west side of the Hudson and connected 3 rail trails back to Poughkeepsie. Hurley Rail Trail, Walkhill Valley Rail Trail, Hudson Valley Rail Trail to Walkway over the Hudson.

Day 1-Hudson RR Part 1
Day 2 - Hudson RR Part 2 - A bike ride in Hudson, NY

If you can handle a paved rail trail , I've been touting the South County trail begins in Bronx goes up to Brewster ny aprox 50 miles.
You can see my posting for this here.
http://www.bikeforums.net/northeast/...tury-ride.html

If your only looking for a dirt trail, create a profile at this site and you get a ton or trails all over usa
Bike Trails, Walking Trails & Trail Maps | TrailLink

Thanks to all,

I was giving the thread time to see if anyone had any add'l suggestions.

Bottom line is outside of the Delaware-Raritan canal trail and its extensions along the Delaware, theres precious little non-paved stuff in the metro area.

Im very aware of the SCT, including the VCP section. Be aware that when recommending this trail, the "South" portion ends in Elmsford, the "North" picks up at Warehouse lane and "ends" at the Putnam County line, from there to Brewster it's the Putnam Railtrail.

Having ridden the entire lengths of the Old Put trail sections many times and am considering this as a possibility.

SB

Could check out the Paulinskill RailTrail in Northwest NJ, it's like 2x miles long one way and you could combine that with the also 2xish mile long Sussex Branch Trail for 50 miles+ Can't help ya on finding a B&B but there surely are some around Columbia County at the western end which probably would be close to the trail...

Jay

It would reaaaallllly be stretching your "3 hours of NYC" criterion, but York, Pennsylvania is the start of the York Heritage Rail Trail, which runs about 20 miles to the Maryland border, at which point it becomes the North Central Rail Trail and runs about another 20 miles to Ashland, Maryland.

At that point, you may as well almost just head on over to the C&O . . . :)

The surface of both trails is mostly packed dirt and small gravel; it's fairly smooth as dirt trails go. I've not been on the GAP, but I hear it's comparable. The C&O, though, is a lot rougher.

Northern Central & York County Heritage Trails - D.C. Rail Trail

The Northern Central Railroad Trail

https://yorkcountypa.gov/parks-recre...rail-park.html

I think I have an answer for you and indyfabz has given part of it. But it's way too late in the AM for me to get all the info together. Must wait a day or two. The trail indyfabz has several sections and I recently heard of another. Must talk to another person for the info. Later.

OK Steve, I have a bit more info for you but not all I wanted. Will work on it in the next few days. First the official info on the Lehigh Gorge R-T is at: PA*DCNR*-*Lehigh Gorge State Park , with the maps and recreational guides here : PA*DCNR*-*Lehigh Gorge State Park. Now, the unofficial word which I will work on solidifying is that the Black Diamond section of the LG R-T is open but there is a bit of a detour around some private property. Second, my source says the LG R-T is open through to the Lehigh Canal Park in Weissport which would make this alone a nearly 60 mi ride and maybe too easy for experienced riders. There are two other trails in the area that are a bit more challenging. The first is the Switchback Trail. This was an old rail bed for transporting the mined coal down to the canal for transport down to the Lehigh Valley area. Some info can be found here: Switchback Trail | Jim Thorpe Pennsylvania Mountain Bike Trails | Trails.com. The second is the Mt Pisgah trail. Info at the trails.com site: Mount Pisgah | Jim Thorpe Pennsylvania Mountain Bike Trails | Trails.com. Yes, I know it is sparse at best.
I tried to find a connection to the Jim Thorpe Tourism Promotion Agency but it seems they went out of business as soon as they got in. I'll continue to look another day. Other trail suggestions are: ExplorePATrails.com
The Switch Back Trail
Mauch Chunk Lake Park - Biking - Poconos Outdoor Adventure
There are multiple B&Bs in the area as well as a Hampton Inn at the intersection of the PA Turnpike and Rt209/Interchange Rd.
This is just one resource, watch that the zip codes for the chosen place are either 18229 (Jim Thorpe) or 18235 (Lehighton). Otherwise you'll find yourself driving to Stroudsburg or Hawley a couple of hours away.
Poconos Bed & Breakfasts - Pocono Mountains Places to Stay
Another resource I haven't mentioned yet is Pocono Biking Pocono Rail Trail Biking: Rentals and Shuttles. They are the major source for biking and rafting in the area. They might be able to help you plan a bit better. There is an image on their website overlooking the river. You might want to ask them how to get there.
I don't know how many you plan to have in your group. If you use their transportation services, they do have a large fleet of buses and trailers for bikes and hey have a nice large parking lot away from the $10 per day per car the Municipal Parking lot charges. There is another way to get around that but it is way past time for me to go to bed.
Will work on getting you the tourist office and the LG R-T connections info.
Night,
AK

WOW, that's a ton of research AK and I thank you for all that.

I'm cutting and pasting it all to a Word document to save. I suspect this will end up as next year as this summer got away from us, time wise.

This is not all that far away and as one of the riders has a house to the south in Doylestown, we could stage out of there the first night and not shlep out from Long Island, so very doable.

Thanks again

SB