Flat routes

• Ashokan Reservoir Dam -- 2 miles or 5 miles.  Flat, on wide pavement most of which is closed to motor vehicles -- with first mile out-and-back all car-free.  Beautiful views across the largest lake in the Hudson Valley, and of the highest summits in the Catskill mountains.  Hill index 0.1.  Start point Ashokan Reservoir. [ Description | Map | Photos ]
   

• Lloyd - Highland Rail Trail -- about 5 miles on pavement with return.  Very gentle.  Pleasant off-road riding on a paved path -- additional unpaved section also open.  A good place to ride for families with children.  60 vertical feet, hill index 0.9.  Start point Lloyd (near Highland and Mid-Hudson Bridge). [ Photos ] 
   

• New Paltz North : Trail + Roads -- 15 miles.  Half on an unpaved "rail trail" mostly off-road, the other half on roads.  Mostly flat, except for one hill (not that long or steep -- and avoidable).  Start point New Paltz. [ Description | Map ] 
   

• See also Gentler Places : mostly Off-road [ Text | Map ] 
    

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Gentle routes

• Mid-Hudson Bridge / Walkway over the Hudson loop -- 4 miles, gentle. Big views of the Hudson River and its shores and the bridges from the Walkway over the Hudson and the north sidewalk of the Mid-Hudson Bridge.  More than a mile on roads with significant motor vehicle traffic. Start points Poughkeepsie, Highland. [ Description | Map | GPS ]
   

• Tivoli - Germantown loop -- 15 miles, gentle.  Lots and lots of quiet roads, with some pretty farms and trees and fields -- (a combination of gentler, quieter, and closer than most similar routes).  400 vertical feet, hill index 1.5.  Start points Tivoli, Germantown. [ Description | Map ]
   

• New Paltz South : Trail + Roads -- 17 miles.  Mostly flat, except for one hill on the rail trail and one on the roads.  Half on an unpaved "rail trail" mostly off-road, the other half on quiet roads.   Start points New Paltz or Gardiner. [ Details | Map | GPS | Cue sheet ] 
   

• Kinderhook Ramble -- 18 miles, mostly gentle.  Quiet riding through beautiful farm country, and a pleasant village.  500 vertical feet, hill index 1.6.  Start point:  Kinderhook. [ Description | Map | Photos ] 
   

• Amenia - Millerton:  Rail Trail and Roads -- 19 miles, mostly gentle or flat.  Half on "rail trail" (paved, mostly off-road), half on mostly quiet roads. 24 miles if connect from Wassaic train station. 700 vertical feet, hill index 2.1.  Start points Amenia, Millerton, Wassaic train station.  [ Description | Map ]
   

• Rhinebeck - Bard - Red Hook -- 19 miles, gentle hills.  A visit to Bard College and the village of Red Hook, with pleasant riding on tree-lined roads and country estates along the way.  700 vertical feet, hill index 2.2.  Start points Rhinebeck, Red Hook. [ Description | Map ]
   

• Orange Heritage Rail Trail -- 9 or more miles one-way (or more than 18 miles on pavement with return).  Gentle.  Pleasant riding on a paved path, mostly off-road.  A good place to ride for families with children.  400 to 550 vertical feet of hills in round trip, hill index 1.6.  Start points Monroe, Chester, or Goshen. [ more Details ] 
   

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