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The Hudson river valley has plenty of hills, and some of them have fun
descents. These are a few of our
favorites.
We like our downhills interesting rather than steep -- like with
curves and dips and views. So if you prefer to just scream straight down
some steep hill, you might have to start your own list.
what's here
see also
Long with interesting curves and dips, pretty rock outcroppings, and a big
view across the Roundout valley to the Catskills. Take Route 44 West
from Minnewaska State Park to Kerhonkson in Ulster County. On
these routes: New Paltz to Ashokan and Great
Shawangunk Hill Loop. (Drops 1200 vertical feet in 5.4 miles.)
Pretty view, steep with some interesting curves. Take Mountain Rest Rd (Ulster County Rt 6) West from the Mohonk Mountain House gatehouse,
then continue straight on Ulster County 6A toward High Falls. Starts
steep with some little curves, then two big curves (more than a 90 degree
right angle -- but not hairpins) -- then another little steep, followed by a
roller or two. (Drops 770 vertical feet in 2.2 miles.)
Lots of interesting curves, and a nice view across the Wallkill valley.
Mountain Rest Rd (Ulster County Rt 6) East from the Mohonk Mountain House
gatehouse down to the Stop sign before the bottom. On these
routes: New
Paltz to Ashokan and Great Shawangunk Hill Loop.
(Drops 840 vertical feet in 2.1 miles.)
Great Shawangunk Hill Loop
(Ulster County)
This route combines two of the descents above with two of the climbs -- with rocks, curves,
and views. [
Map |
Description ]
Big views to the west and interesting rocks alongside the road,
on a long downhill northwest to Ellenville from the top of the Shawangunks ridge
by Cragsmoor. Route 52 gets significant high-speed vehicle traffic. Much of it
is fairly wide on the west-bound side [as of July 2008] --
but the lower section is not so wide, so need to have a strategy for dealing
with that safely.
also nearby:
Cragsmoor West climb |
New Paltz Ashokan variation B
Actually this is a link-up of three downhills -- with pretty lakes and
rocks and views -- in Harriman and Bear Mountain
State Parks (in Orange and Rockland Counties):
1) Rockland Co Rt 106 West from where it
crosses under Lake Welch Drive to Kanawauke circle. (Note connection to
another Rt 106 descent).
(Drops 290 ft in 1.1 mile.)
2) Seven Lakes Drive North from Tiorati Circle. (Drops 540 ft in 3.6
miles.)
3) Seven Lakes Drive East from the Palisades Parkway and Perkins Memorial
Drive down to the Hudson River. (Drops 620 ft in 2.4 miles.) -- Side trip up
Perkins Memorial Drive to the summit of Bear
Mountain adds great views and earns a drop of 630 ft in 2 miles -- for a
total descent of around 1250 vertical feet in 4.5 miles.
For details, see the main route: [ Map
| Description ]
A long downhill with a view all the way across Columbia county to the Catskill mountains,
and it just keeps going into Ancramdale and its two
bakeries. In southeast Columbia county at the border with Dutchess
county. (Drops about 680 vertical feet in 2.8 miles.)
Start on Winchell Mountain Rd / Dutchess County Route 60.
Turn onto Pulver Rd with great views in all directions as you go north
along the ridge, and bear Left to start the long descent on Columbia
County Route 8. On this route: Harlem
Valley Rail to Trail to Falls, and can be reached from Variation A
of Hills and Horse Farms of
NE Dutchess.
Columbia County Route 8 has some more nice
downhill sections going West from the Taconic State Parkway to Route 19 and
Manorton.
A fun roller-coaster of curves and dips. Start from Route 28A in Ulster County on the south side of the Ashokan
reservoir, and go South down Stone Church Rd
(next to swamp on Right). Just after crossing a stony creek, turn
Right and climb a little and keep bearing right onto Ashokan Rd, where you pay
in advance for your fun by starting with an uphill. Then comes the
downhill -- with several rollers to get over -- which finishes at Ulster County Rt 5.
(Drops 525 vertical feet in 3.4 miles).
On this route:
New
Paltz to Ashokan, and connects with Variation Q of
Woodstock and Around Ashokan
Reservoir.
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more descents . . .
This road connects
directly to another hill:
Gate Hill (and we've
heard that some riders go west across Rt 17 onto Rt 17A to more climbs and descents toward Warwick,
but we have not checked those). And
it is not far away from still more hills:
Bear Mountain and
Arden Valley Rd.
- Shunpike -- Dutchess County Route 57
-- West from Mabbettsville Rd to Route 82. Some might say that the
little uphills interspersed mean that it's not a true descent. But
it's more down than up, and we find it lots of fun on our tandem.
On this route: Hills and Horse Farms of Northeast
Dutchess. (Drops about 670 vertical feet in 4.6 miles.)
- North wall of the Catskills (Greene County) -- Route 23, East from Windham to Cairo
(Greene County). Very long with fine views to the north. (But if you want to ride some
more interesting curves, consider Route 23A East from Tannersville to
Palenville.) Rt 23 is a major regional highway with high-speed traffic. (Drops
1600 vertical feet in 8.5 miles)
- Route 203
(Columbia County) -- west from Austerlitz
(Route 22)
to Spencertown, and on toward the Taconic State Parkway and Chatham.
(Drops 750 vertical feet in 3.6 miles.)
Catskill mountains? The
Catskills are higher than the other hills around the Hudson valley, but
the roads mostly go through forest, so we haven't find many big views
that would reward the work of the climbing. So we don't ride there much,
and we'll leave it for somebody else to find some fun descents in there.
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