Here is the work in progress.

Point SP to Times Square - A bike ride in Pittsburgh, PA

Any advice?

It looks like you're going to try to enter New York City through the George Washington Bridge. There's a very steep hill/mountain you have to climb to get into Fort Lee to cross that Bridge. Why not end your trip in Newark NJ and just take Path into Manhatan?

Because then the ride would be ending in Newark, which would be pretty lame. I am not worried about riding up a couple hundred feet to the bridge. The route has 25,000 feet of climbing, after all. (And I live in central PA mountains.)

I've done that, and don't even remember the "hill/mountain" your referring to. It's a tour

Looking at the terrain I'd start with the GAP/C&O until Hagerstown then follow the I-81 corridor to Harrisburg and then the US-22 corridor eastwards.

If you weren't making it a priority to avoid climbing, what route would you take? Any riding experience along the basic route I identified? And specific road suggestions? I've got Pgh to Lewisburg pretty well covered, but east of that I am in need of specific road advice.

Looks like some of PA Bike Route V.

I can give you one specific piece of advice/opinion. You would cheat yourself if you take to take River Rd. and U.S. 209 from E. Stroudsburg. Parts of River can have fast traffic for the conditions since some people take it to try to get around the congestion that can build up on parts of U.S. 209. The NJ side of the river is far nicer, and you have a better chance of seeing a bear. You cross the river using the pedestrian walkway along I-80 at Delaware Water Gap, PA then take Old Mine Rd. to NPS 615 then pick up Old Mine Rd. again. (The naming on Map My Ride is somewhat confusing.) That will take you to Tuttles Corner-Dingmans Rd., which, BTW, is steep and can be somewhat busy.

If you are camping, there is a terrific campground at Worthington State Forest about 3 miles up Old Mine Rd. after you cross the river via the pedestrian bridge. There is a group site with a bear box. You would need to get everything you need by DWG as there are no services in that area. In fact, there is very little through Layton and beyond unless they have opened the store again in Layton. (There are bathrooms and water at the junction of Old Mine and Millbrook.) Be careful on that stretch of U.S. 206. It's a fairly steep climb, traffic can be heavy and the shoulder is minimal. The one good thing about that stretch is that it's two lanes going up hill, so there is some room for cars to pass if traffic is not super heavy.

Thanks!

In looking at this, I was thinking I might take old mine up to rt. 624 and then come down off the mountain and re-joint my plotted route somewhere around Ogdensburg (roughly). Sounds like an improvment on a couple different fronts. Or would that be a bad idea and I should take Old Mine up closer to Dingman's Ferry?

I looked at that once while planning a tour up that way. If you look at Google Maps Street View, it appears that CR 624 may have been partialy vacated and thus no longer goes through. It's hard to tell. If you look to the east where it's called Fairview Lake Rd. it seems like it may dead end at some trees as there are cars parked there. Perhaps it's now a dirt track that connects to the other side where it is called Flatbrookville Stillwater Rd. If you zoom in on the map you see that it zig zags between the two points. Satelite view is unrevealing. Accoridng to the park's web site, Flatbrook Stillwater no longer connects with Skyline Drive. That suggests it no longer goes through to Fairview Lake Rd.

Yes. interesting how Google street view suggests it turns into a narrow gravel / dirt trail at each end. The google car driver decided to turn around each time.

I am guessing it is passable by bike, but with some chance of failure, and the potential to get lost is moderate.

I better not try to go that way.

Just to avoid a hill? And as OP said, telling your friend you rode from Pitt to Newark is just......lame.

Just going to Newark for ANY reason is lame.

NJ Side is much, much nicer. The roads will have no traffic but some will be rough. River Road is not bad but Rt 209 North from Bushkill falls to Dingmans Ferry has high speed traffic and little to no shoulder. It is a fast stretch, so, you could just blast thru and cross the bridge

I was up there riding recently and I am not sure about Old Mine as it intersects Rt 560 coming off Dingmans Ferry. I think it is gravel for a stretch south of Rt 560 but is definately paved North from there. Ask on NewJerseyhunter.com.....these guys could answer immediately.

River Road across in PA has some 15% climbs that although short are killer.

Old Mine road info........Do not take Millbrook Road over the ridge, it is one of the top five most difficult climbs in NJ.

https://www.state.nj.us/transportatio...neRoadRide.pdf

https://www.nps.gov/dewa/planyourvisi...Roadbiking.pdf

Toughest hill in New Jersey? How bad can it be to a rider based in central PA. Heck, from there just riding to any of the PA borders and you are likely to encounter many hills that likely are worse.

Millbrook Rd. from the historic village towards Blairstown is a nasty, nasty climb. Rode it last year. I had to walk part of it with a full load and a 26x34 low gear.

There are some very hilly areas of NJ. Millbrook Rd. in No. 2 in Warren County:

hills on paved roads in New Jersey -- Bike Roberts

And this list doesn't include the unpaved roads.

Why not head east-southeast from eastern Pennsylvania down the Delaware Valley, thru Princeton, and across to Highlands and take the ferry to the Battery on Manhattan. It's 125 miles from Stroudsburg to Manhattan via your calculations? Not much more than 100 miles.

Why not? Because I would not be ending the (bike) ride where I want to end it.

Manhattan - - Manhattan - - hmmm.
Must be the Manhattan.