- Where: Along the West side of the Hudson river, starting from George Washington
Bridge, through Bergen County, New Jersey, into Rockland County, NY, and on
up to the Bear Mountain Bridge.
- 42 miles, moderate to hilly.
Some strong New York City riders like to ride up this way as a long
day-trip, then continue on and cross over to a Metro North train
station on the other side and purchase a ticket to put themselves and
their bike on the train to get back home. See more on that and
other Variations below.
- Highlights: Views of the Hudson from some less-traveled roads, cruising the rolling grades of Route 9W,
lots of fellow
cyclists and the scene at the Runcible Spoon in Nyack. Then the
possibility of the secret path starting in
Nyack Beach State Park right next to the water and then through the woods (but
see Condition
Reports). The views along the river
through Stony Point. Then Iona Island, Hessian Lake by the Bear Mountain
Lodge -- and the option of pedaling up to the top of Bear Mt.
Urban traffic: Some sections of urban traffic near the GWB and in Nyack and Haverstraw.
High-speed traffic: Most of the
sections of the route on high-speed Route 9W have reasonable shoulders.
But there is a problematic section of Route 9W between Tomkins Cove and Iona
Island -- where the normally pleasant dirt path to avoid it was
eroded by a big storm in 1999 (see Condition
Reports).
Dirt path: The path from Nyack Beach State Park to Haverstraw was damaged in the big 1999 storm
and may be closed (see Condition
Reports).
More info: This route follows the first half of the GWB
to Bear Mountain Bridge Loop route
[ Description
| Map ] -- and
overlaps with two other routes. See reports from those routes linked
further below.
Route Directions Cue Sheet
more . . .
Train connection: To use Metro North trains to return
to New York City after riding this route, ride East-ward across the
Bear Mountain Bridge and ride part of the Bear
Mountain - Newburgh-Beacon Bridge loop in reverse to Cold Spring
and find the Metro North train station down near the river. Or
for a longer route, continue up the West side by going forward on the
second half of the Bear Mountain
- Newburgh-Beacon Bridge loop and cross the Newburgh-Beacon Bridge
to reach the Metro North train station in Beacon.
Fun descents and pretty lakes: Some of the hills on the
Seven
Lakes to the River route could make an interesting
variation for strong riders. A way to connect is using
high-speed high-traffic-volume Rockland County Route 106.
Climb Bear Mountain: for some of the best views in the
Hudson Valley -- but it's quite a grunt with a full touring load [
more detail ].
Inland route: See the first half of the NYC
to Bear Mountain Adventure.
Another way to bypass USMA West Point campus: Consider
taking Seven Lakes Drive, Rt 6 West, Rt 293 North to Rt 218 North --
big climb, could be combined with climbing Bear Mountain. Could
this variation by turning Left off Rt 9W at mile 38.4 and climbing
into Bear Mountain State Park -- see the West
Point condition reports for more detail. (Less climbing on
this variation if it is reached from the "Inland route"
mentioned above.)
Ride it in reverse: See the second half of the NYC
to Bear Mountain Adventure.
- Maps: You should have detailed road maps of Bergen County, NJ, and Rockland
County, New York to do this route (see Road
Maps).
Route Directions Cue Sheet
CSV
Cue Sheet -- Comma Separated Variable format is compatible with many
spreadsheet programs
see also
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