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Poughkeepsie NY to Bethlehem PA:
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KenR, August 2008: alternate
finish south to Easton PA
On a weekend day, Sharon and I tried riding south to Philipsburg NJ
and Easton PA from our previous route thru New Jersey.
The key advantage of this over our usual idea of riding to Columbia
NJ and on to Bethlehem PA is that Easton has a bus station downtown just
a short ways from the Delaware River. So it offers a possible way to
ride from the across the Hudson River to across the Delaware River to a
place with regular bus service back to New York. Unfortunately we don't
know about the policy for carrying a bicycle on the bus.
Starting from southwest of Newton NJ and Paulinskill Lake, going
southwest on Fredon Marksboro Rd, we rode on these roads:
-
L on Fairview Hill Rd
(southeast) -- steep hill climb with a section over 12% grade.
-
R on rt 94 South about 2 miles (high
speed traffic, but mostly reasonable width)
-
L on rt 661 South about 1.4 mile
(pleasant downhill)
-
R on rt 519 about 6.3 miles, then just
before reaching Hope
-
R on rt 611 north a short ways to its
end (this turn avoids a short steep hill and leads to a food stop)
-
sharp L on rt 521 South and made a
food stop.
-
soon becomes rt 519 South, about 6.4
miles.
-
cross rt 46 at traffic light, continue
straight across on rt 519 South and go about 9.7 miles . . . after
entering Harmony, a long moderate climb, then a downhill, just after
passing by rt 647, rt 519 turns left, go
-
straight on rt 646 southwest about 4
miles.
warning: at the end, that street goes down a hill that gets steeper and steeper,
finishes very steep into a stop sign intersection.
[ a week later we came back and checked out an alternate that seemed
less steep (though still steep): after about 3.5 miles on rt
646, at a flashing yellow light, R onto North First St about 0.25
mile, L on Delaware St down steep hill to its end, L on North Main
St about 0.3 mile, bear R to joins Broad St going south along the
Delaware River. ]
-
R on a road that goes West toward the
Delaware River. Go as far West as possible (about 0.2 mile).
-
L on Broad St south about 0.4 mile.
-
R at traffic light
-
bridge across Delaware River --
bicycles must be walked on the sidewalk.
Enter state of Pennsylvania and the city of Easton.
-
continue straight West on Northampton
St about 0.2 mile to a statue with a roundabout (traffic circle).
-
South from the roundabout onto Third
St (Left side relative from where entered circle -- three-quarters
of the way around).
-
bus station on Third St (as of August
2008)
KenR, May 2008:
Sharon and I rode on our tandem bicycle from New York to Pennsylvania by
way of northern New Jersey. It's the fourth time we've ridden from
Poughkeepsie to Bethlehem, and we like it better than ever.
The section we wanted to improve from previous years was in New Jersey
between Sussex and Blairstown. Last year we didn't do the whole route.
Instead we rode some exploratory loops in northwest New Jersey. So now
this year we took some of what we learned and put it into our riding
thru NJ one-way.
It did feel hillier than our previous routes thru NJ.
The sections thru Ulster and Orange counties in New York are wonderful
for us, and New Jersey and Pennsylvania have some very good sections too
-- and this year we discovered some great roads in New Jersey.
Our main route this year was around 142 miles from the
Mid-Hudson Bridge to downtown Bethlehem PA. The route we used was
overall similar to previous years, but we looked for more scenic roads
in New Jersey (and did less on low-traffic roads in Pennsylvania than
last year).
Below are some of the roads we took from Poughkeepsie NY to Bethlehem PA.
Note that
-
In the sequence of roads below, the direction of each road is
roughly Southwest or South, unless otherwise specified.
-
We rode it on the weekend -- of course some traffic patterns and
volumes are usually different on mid-week days.
Maps -- the details of roads below likely have some mistakes, and won't
be very useful without a detailed maps. We used the Hagstrom county road
maps for Ulster and Orange counties New York and for Sussex and Warren counties in New
Jersey.
New York
After riding from Poughkeepsie west across the Mid-Hudson
Bridge, we got on Route 9W South, then we followed these roads:
-
L on Rt 9W South
-
R on Chapel Hill Rd
-
L on Perkinsville Rd
-
bear R on Gabriety Rd to its end.
-
R on Mahoney Rd
-
bear L on Peach Rd (Mahoney turns R) to its end.
-
R on Milton Turnpike (Ulster county Rt 10) -- climb up and long
down
-
L on Barclay Rd (turn comes in midst of downhill, after
left turn for Rabbit Run Rd)
Then we joined this route:
Farms
around New Paltz South -- at mile 6.7
and followed that into the village of Wallkill.
distance: Poughkeepsie NY across the
Mid-Hudson Bridge to Wallkill NY was
about 21 miles, with around 1100-1200 vertical feet of climbing.
Wallkill NY
The village of Wallkill NY is in the valley of the Wallkill River,
which flows into the Hudson River at Kingston NY. There are several ways
to connect to Wallkill from New Paltz and Kingston or Poughkeepsie -- see
New
Paltz - Wallkill Valley routes.
From Wallkill in Ulster county, we rode into Orange county . . .
-
208 South (alongside the Wallkill River) into Walden NY.
-
Straight across onto 52 West (and after a couple of blocks we
stopped at a nice bakery on the right which said it's open every day).
Then just after crossing the Wallkill
River ...
-
L on S Montgomery St - becomes River Rd - Orange county 29 (beautiful) to its end.
-
L on 17K East into Montgomery NY, just after crossing Wallkill
River,
-
bear Right onto Bridge St
-
L on Clinton St (food)
-
R on Union St (Rt 211 South)
-
L on Boyd St, which later became Goodwill Rd
-
R on Beaver Dam Rd, later cross Rt 99 onto Neelytown Rd to its end.
-
L on 207 a short ways East (high-speed high-traffic) (food) (near
Campbell Hall train station)
-
R on Hamptonburgh Rd (up hill) to its end.
-
R on Sarah Wells Trail (beautiful, some hills) to its end.
-
L on Main St - 207 into Goshen NY (nice food stop)
distance: Wallkill to Goshen was about
20 miles, with around 950-1050 vertical feet of climbing.
-
Straight across main traffic light on West Main St,
-
bear Right onto entrance ramp for ...
-
Rt 6 / 17M (high speed traffic but wide
shoulders) going West,
-
L on Maple Av (there's an earlier L turn onto Police Dr which is a
little shorter and gets off the high-traffic road sooner, but that road
one-way northeast-bound).
-
R to continue on Maple Ave -- becomes Orange county 37, gets beautiful, turns west
-
L on Onion Ave, curves west with steep climb up to
big view east-ward
-
short ways on Rt 12, then second left onto
-
L on Pierce Circle (beautiful past the onion farms), leading to a
mile of dirt-gravel on Lyman Ave, then back to pavement with horse farm.
(? perhaps the gravel could be avoided by earlier more on Rt 12, then a
different Left turn down to the horse farm ?). We rode over Breeze Hill
south to end of road, then
-
R on Turtle Bay going West to its end. (Actually this time we first
turned L and make a loop around the Turtle Bay road, which was also
nice)
-
L on Rt 12
-
R (west) on Gardnerville Rd
-
L on Carter Rd
-
R on Wm Lain Rd, which leads to a very steep climb
(climb could have been avoided, with more
traffic on Rt 12 and Rt 1, but it was definitely worth going at least to
the base of this climb to see the beautiful farm which was once a rest
stop on the popular Country Roads bicycle tour. We just got off and
walked our tandem bike up the climb, then enjoyed the pretty descent and
quiet roads beyond.)
This had two climbs and added some distance,
so I don't think I'd do it again (though it did lead to a possible food
stop). Instead I'd likely do how we did in previous years . . .
Straight across Orange county Rt 1 onto Lower Rd, and continue straight across State Line Rd into New Jersey,
down a steepish hill with a sharp curve -- to its end.
New Jersey
-
L on 284 South (high-speed high-traffic, but decently wide traffic lane plus
some shoulder)
-
R on Unionville into Sussex boro NJ
distance: Goshen NY to Sussex NJ was
about 24 miles, with around 1350-1500 vertical feet of climbing.
-
R on Church St, down a rather steep hill. (last year we avoided this
by staying on 284 longer, but this would have gotten into more traffic
and a climb to our food stop on the main street of Sussex boro).
-
L on Main St, where we re-fueled decadently at the Just
Desserts shop.
-
R on Rt 23 into a tricky traffic pattern, since immediately Rt 23
turns Right, but we got off it to continue straight south on
-
Rt 639 toward Newton (high-traffic,
but mostly wide lanes with reasonable shoulders)
-
R on Rt 628 West (long climb)
The other major option here would be to continue south on Rt 565 to Rt 206, then get on
some quieter roads near Paulinskill Lake or the Paulinskill Rail Trail
-- see ideas from 2005 report. The
advantage of how we did it on this day was much prettier (and quieter)
roads. The disadvantage was more hills and more distance.
A possible idea to explore on a future ride
might be south of Beemerville to turn R onto Mattison Reservoir Av --
perhaps avoid a hill.
-
R on Rt 636
-
L on Mattison Reservoir Rd
-
L on an unsigned road (? Mattison ?),
and soon at top of a climb . . .
-
R on Ridge Rd
-
R on Center to its end
-
R on Culver Lake East Shore, go around
north end of lake, becomes Culver Lake North Shore
-
L on Rt 206 South (high-speed
high-traffic, but had a reasonable shoulder)
-
L on Myrtle Av to its end
Another option, to avoid two crossings of
high-traffic Rt 206 (but miss some views of the southwest side of
Culvers Lake), would be to pass by Myrtle Av and instead continue on Rt
206 South, then Right onto Rt 630.
distance: Sussex NJ to and around
Culvers Lake was
about 16 miles, with around 1000-1100 vertical feet of climbing.
-
cross Rt 206 (high-speed high-traffic)
onto Rt 630
-
R on Rt 655 going southeast, later
cross Rt 633, then at junction with Rt 519 ...
-
R on Rt 627, then soon
-
L on Church Rd to its end
-
R on Rt 626 Halsey Rd going West
-
L on Parson Rd, then after a nice view
crossing Paulinskill Lake . . .
-
R on Junction Rd
-
R on Rt 622 Newton Swartswood Rd,
cross Paulinskill Lake, climb a hill
a less hilly option which we rode in previous
years would be to continue from Junction Rd roughly straight onto the
Paulinskill Valley Rail Trail (cinder/dirt), then walk down onto South Shore Rd,
then across Rt 614 onto Kohlbocker Rd
-
L on Ridge Rd to its end
-
L on West End Rd, Rt 614 East
-
R on Kohlbocker Rd
-
cross Rt 610 to continue on Kohlbocker
to its end
-
L on Old Middleburger, soon
-
L Stillwater Station Rd to its end
(going southeast)
-
R on Fredon-Marksboro Rd, leading to
some fine views of a big horse farm. Later becomes Lincoln Laurel
Rd, down a hill to its end.
-
L on Rt 94 South (high-speed
high-traffic, but wide traffic lane and usually a reasonable
shoulder)
-
R on Spring Valley Rd / Rt 659 West,
down steep then up steep.
A less hilly (and less scenic) option might
have been to stay on Rt 94 South.
Another option (which we know little about,
but it might have more views of the creek and less hill climb): Instead
of Paulins Kill Rd, turn left off Spring Valley Rd (before crossing the
creek) onto the Paulinskill Valley Rail Trail (unpaved).
distance: Culvers Lake to Blairstown NJ
by our route that day was
about 20 miles, with around 1400-1500 vertical feet of climbing --
(would have been less climbing if we'd spent more time on the
Paulinskill Rail Trail and/or Rt 94).
from Blairstown, NJ
[ In 2006 we instead took some lower-traffic
roads between Blairstown and Hainesburg River Rd ]
-
R on Hainesburg River Rd. Starts with a steep-ish climb -- which is
reward by fun riding on a pretty and quiet road -- we'll be glad to ride
it again. It ends with a downhill into a stop sign just before
hitting Interstate Route 80.
-
L on Rt 657 (several food options)
-
R to cross bridge going southwest over Interstate Route 80.
-
L to southeast into the village of Columbia.
-
find Green St and take southwest to its end, which leads . . .
-
across the Delaware River on pedestrian bridge into Portland PA.
distance: Blairstown NJ to the Delaware
River by our route that day was
about 10 miles, with around 450-500 vertical feet of climbing.
total distance from the Hudson River to
the Delaware River by our route that day was about 111 miles with around
6250-6850 vertical feet of climbing.
Pennsylvania
This year we rode fewer local roads than in May 2006,
more on high-traffic roads -- because we ride lots on those local
Pennsylvania roads the rest of the year -- and we were eager to finish a
little quicker.
-
south from pedestrian bridge in Portland PA a little ways to traffic
light
-
Right on State St for 0.4 mile
-
Right just before crossing creek onto Jacoby Creek Rd (by Hummel's
Dam, before reaching Rt
611) and go about 0.5 mile
-
Left on (unsigned) Middle Village Rd on concrete bridge #37 across
creek.
-
immediate Right onto Jacoby Creek Rd,
which later passes by Railroad Ave, becomes Million Dollar Highway and
crosses a one-lane bridge, for a total of 1.4 miles.
-
Left on Heiden Rd about 1.4 miles.
-
Left on Heiden Rd a short ways to its
end.
-
Right on Rt 512 West -- with
high-speed high-volume traffic, but with mostly reasonable
lane+shoulder width. Later climbs up a long hill into East Bangor,
then down into Bangor -- total about 4 miles on Rt 512.
-
in Bangor we got onto Rt 191 South
(South 1st Street) for about 0.4 mile.
-
Left on Messinger St (bridge up and
over creek)
-
Right on Lower South Main St (Rt 712) (later becomes Martins Creek Highway), going South about
2.5 miles. Then
after going under a railroad bridge ...
-
Right on Factoryville Rd half a mile
-
Right on Ackermanville Rd and
-
quick Left to continue west on Factoryville Rd about a mile to its
end.
-
Right on (unsigned) Franklin Hill Rd, going north a quarter mile to
its end
-
Left on Rt 191 South, starts with a substantial climb, but this is
reward by a long downhill with nice views. Rt 191 gets some high-speed traffic, but has a wide traffic lane,
and often some sort of paved shoulder.
-
Rt 191 South thru Belfast +
Stockertown + Nazareth into Bethlehem
distance: Delaware River and Porland PA
to Bethlehem PA by our route that day was
about 31 miles, with around 1700-1800 vertical feet of climbing.
total distance from Poughkeepsie to
Bethlehem by our route that day was about 142 miles with around
8000-8500 vertical feet of climbing.
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KenR, October 2007:
On a weekend day with perfect weather, Sharon and I
road a loop around Orange county. We rode our usual Poughkeepsie NY to
Bethlehem PA route (see 2006 report) in
reverse direction from the New Jersey border north to Wallkill NY, and
we rode southwest on sections A1 and B1 (with variations) of our
June 2007 ride. Total was something like
75 or 90 miles, and hilly.
Lots of pretty farms and pleasant roads -- also new
suburban houses (some nicely architected, some not).
future: My wishes for modifications for future
rides would be to find one or two fun curvy descents as a reward for the
climbing, and one or two more interesting snack stops. Or something more
interesting along the Shawangunk Ridge (like the ridge further north) --
but perhaps the best way to make the ridge more interesting is to climb
across it instead of riding along its crest.
Perhaps make it into two separate routes:
(a)
one focusing more on just the Wallkill River area, including some
exploring on the west side of the river around Scotchtown or Middletown
(which I know nothing about). Possibly a loop between Wallkill +
Unionville might be in the ballpark of 80 miles with +4200 vertical feet
of climbing., of between Wallkill NY + Sussex NJ might be in the
ballpark of 98 miles with +5300 vertical feet.
(b) The other on the farms and ridge
around Otisville and Bloomingburg and Pine Bush with some roads from
sections A1 + A1 in the June 2007 report,
perhaps crossing the ridge, or perhaps riding south as far as Guymard
turnpike (also perhaps for variety including riding along the river
section between Walden + Wallkill).
direction: Next time I'd ride it in the opposite
direction. I think Goshen to along the Wallkill River to the New Jersey
border has prettier views and more fun downhills going south-bound.
Along the Shawangunk ridge between Otisville and "Greenville" the climbs
+ downhills were not as interesting as we'd have wished -- it might feel
very different riding in the north-bound direction (which we've never
tried).
route notes: We
started in Campbell Hall (south of Interstate 84 exit 5), went north
along the Wallkill River into Ulster county to the village of Wallkill;
then west and southwest thru "Bullville" to Otisville to "Greenville"
(near High Point NJ); then southeast to Unionville by the NY/NJ border,
and finished by going north roughly along the Wallkill River thru Goshen
back to Campbell Hall. Some specifics:
-
crossing Rt 17 at Brown Rd worked for us (but
Tarbell Rd did not)
-
riding South-bound on Rt 73 + Rt 35 along the ridge
got kinda repetitious: the three climbing sections felt similar, and
the long view east across the valley didn't seem to change. (?
perhaps North-bound would be better ?)
-
connecting from section C, southwest to Unionville
and our 2006 route, we used Minisink Turnpike and Pine Hill Rd, and
that worked well for us and was interesting.
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KenR, June 2007:
On a cloudy and cool Sunday, Sharon and I had an
enjoyable time exploring two routes that explored two routes that make a
North-South traverse of the western part of Orange county. We also did
some pretty riding on each end: Ulster county NY in the north and Sussex
county NJ in the south.
What's in this report -- the main sections we liked
were:
-
(A1) west of Wallkill to "Bullville" on Rt 17K
(A2 thru Pine Bush)
-
(B1) Rt 76 (alongside Rt 17) to Otisville
to Greenville (B2 further east)
-
(C1) Greenville NY south into NJ to Rt 23
(alternate C2)
-
(D1) from Rt 23 to Beemerville in NJ
Our previous North-South traverses of Orange county
roughly followed the Wallkill River (which flows north into the
Hudson river), but this day we stayed all to the west of the city of
Middletown -- often in sight of the Shawangunk ridge which runs
northeast-southwest from Ulster county thru New Jersey to Pennsylvania
and beyond far south. (In NJ the same ridge is called the "Kittatinny
mountains" and in PA it's called the "Blue mountain").
We made our whole ride into a loop (actually a "figure
8"), so one half of it was actually ridden in the north-bound direction,
the other south-bound. But here we're doing to describe our riding in
the North-to-South direction.
Sometime in the future we might want to ride
sections of this day south-bound and combine it into a loop with our
previous one-way route (reported below) ridden in reverse.
Many of the roads had little traffic on Sunday were
well-paved and pleasant with houses -- only a few farms. The
high-traffic roads usually had reasonable wide pavement.
our favorites from the day
North to South -- also with some thoughts on how to
connect between them.
(A1) west of Wallkill to "Bullville" on Rt 17K
We might get to the start of these roads by using roads
from the Farms +
Orchards around New Paltz South route, which includes roads from the
village of Wallkill.
-
starting in Ulster county west of
Wallkill . . .
-
Hoagerburgh Rd south (with great views
of big horse farm)
-
enters Orange county, changes name to
Fleury Rd, Orange country Rt 17, then curves west, changes name to
Thompson Ridge(?)
-
L on Collabar (? Rt 43 ?) south a
short ways
-
R on Bullville Rd (southwest) to its
end.
-
R on 17K west to intersection with Rt
302
(and we liked at least the first mile of Rt 302 south from there)
We also tried a longer alternative to (A1) . . .
(A2) west of Wallkill to Pine Bush and
south
-
starting in Ulster county west of Wallkill
. . .
-
Hoagerburgh Rd north to its end
-
L on Bruynswick Rd / Ulster county Rt 7
South a short ways
-
quick L on Red Mills Rd southwest, then
curves northwest
-
L on Red Mills Rd southwest to its end --
large farm complex.
-
R on Bruyn Turnpike northwest
-
L on Hardenburgh Rd
-
R on North St and south into the village
of Pine Bush, with several food options along Rt 52.
-
Rt 302 south
-
R on Ulsterville Rd
-
L on Gillespie
-
R on Bruyn
-
L on Crawford (southwest)
-
(then some other roads which were OK)
?? connecting from A1 or A2 to Rt 76:
We tried two ways which were OK but not up to the quality of some of the
other sections of our riding that day, and one bridge across Rt 17 was
closed for construction. So we'd like to find a better idea. One set of
bicycle route paint marks for somebody's century route crossed near
Bloomingburg on Rt 17K (which worked for us), another set of bicycle route
paint marks crossed further east on Sands Rd (which we found kind of coarse
pavement, but OK).
[ as of Oct 2007, the repairs of the bridge over
Rt 17 at Brown Rd had progressed to the point of having completed the
structure, but not finishing the paving or opening the road. ]
[ Tarbell Rd and Shawangunk Rd do not cross Rt
17 ]
(B1) Rt 76 (alongside Rt 17) to Otisville to Greenville
[ seemed better than continuing on Prosperous
Valley + Brola, which we tried on another ride. ]
-
straight onto Pine Grove
-
straight onto Shoddy Hollow (southwest)
-
R on State St / Rt 211 up hill
-
L on State St / Rt 211 south into Otisville, with
several food options
-
Highland Av south, then where Highland
curves left . . .
-
sharp R on Seybolt Av / Rt 73, starts
west, curves southwest and goes a long ways just below the crest of the
Shawangunk ridge, with views out across Orange county.
-
becomes Mountain Rd / Rt 35 and continues
southwest, then underneath Interstate 84, with a food store just before
reaching Greenville.
We also tried a some alternate roads further east, which
included . . .
(B2) between Rt 76 (alongside Rt 17) thru Howells to New
Hope
some of the roads included:
-
Derby Rd
-
Tally Ho Rd / Rt 60
-
Guymard Tpk / Rt 24
We connected between Guymard Tpk and Greenville on Rt
94 + Greenville Tpk, which worked OK.
(C1) Greenville NY south into New Jersey to Rt 23
These roads were hiller than the more obvious routes, but
gave us a sense of remoteness with some pretty scenes.
-
southwest on Mountain Rd / Orange county
Rt 55
-
L on Minisink Tpk
-
R on Logtown Rd (south)
-
L on Carpenter Rd
-
R on Clark Rd (south), enters New Jersey,
becomes Gemmer Rd.
-
R on Mt Salem Rd (west up steep hill)
-
L on Mudtown Rd south to Rt 23
We also tried this more obvious route . . .
(C2) Greenville NY south into New Jersey to Rt 23
Worked fine for us. Rt 23 get lots of
high-speed traffic, but mostly has pretty wide pavement. Just not as scenic
and interesting as (C1).
(D1) from Rt 23 to Beemerville in New Jersey
This was rather pretty and pleasant, especially south of Rt
650.
-
start on Rt 23
-
Rt 519 south, at least one major turn
required
-
into Beemerville NJ, where we got some
food at Space Farms
We're thinking of trying to include at least the section
from Rt 650 to Beemerville into our riding which we sometime do one-way from
Poughkeepsie NY to Bethlehem PA -- see reports below.
some alternate roads we tried near there:
-
Rt 649 just north of Beemerville was nice, and I might
prefer it over Rt 519 if going in the North-bound direction. For
South-bound I liked 519 a lot.
-
File Rd: I'd only do this North-bound (because
South-bound finishes with a long descent into a stop sign). Interesting,
but I didn't find it as pretty and pleasant as Rt 519.
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KenR, May 2006:
Sharon and I rode on our tandem bicycle from New York to Pennsylvania by
way of northern New Jersey. We think the route is rather good overall
and hope to do it again. The sections thru Ulster and Orange counties in
New York are wonderful for us, and New Jersey and Pennsylvania have some
very good sections too.
Our main route this year would have been around 136 miles from the
Mid-Hudson Bridge to downtown Bethlehem PA. The route we used was
overall similar to last summer and the
time before, but we tried several new
things: some lower-traffic roads in New Jersey and in Pennslyvania.
The route we took had the lowest total distance on high-traffic-volume
roads we've ever attempted on this route.
Some of the lower-traffic roads had some long hills or steep hills -- so
next time we're thinking we might go back to some higher-traffic roads.
First candidate for eliminating low-traffic hills would be the first
couple of miles just south of Sussex boro, NJ. Second candidate might be
in Pennslvania southwest from Pen Argyl Rd. Third might be additional
miles south from Sussex boro, NJ.
Below are some of the roads we took from Poughkeepsie NY to Bethlehem PA.
Note that
-
In the sequence of roads below, the direction of each road is
roughly Southwest or South, unless otherwise specified.
-
We rode it on the weekend -- of course some traffic patterns and
volumes are usually different on mid-week days.
Maps -- the details of roads below likely have some mistakes, and won't
be very useful without a detailed maps. We used the Hagstrom county road
maps for Ulster and Orange counties New York and for Sussex and Warren counties in New
Jersey.
New York
We took the official bicycle route from Poughkeepsie west across the
Mid-Hudson Bridge. When the bicycle access route reached the traffic
light at Route 9W, we followed these roads:
-
L on Rt 9W South
-
R on Chapel Hill Rd
-
L on Perkinsville Rd
-
bear R on Gabriety Rd to its end.
-
R on Mahoney Rd
-
bear L on Peach Rd (Mahoney turns R) to its end.
-
R on Milton Turnpike (Ulster county Rt 10) -- climb up and long
down
-
L on Barclay Rd (turn comes in midst of downhill, after
left turn for Rabbit Run Rd)
Then we joined this route:
Farms
around New Paltz South -- at mile 6.7
and followed that into the village of . . .
Wallkill NY
The village of Wallkill NY is in the valley of the Wallkill River,
which flows into the Hudson River at Kingston NY. There are several ways
to connect to Wallkill from New Paltz and Kingston or Poughkeepsie -- see
New
Paltz - Wallkill Valley routes.
From Wallkill in Ulster county, we rode into Orange county . . .
-
208 South (alongside the Wallkill River) into Walden NY.
-
Straight across onto 52 West (and after a couple of blocks we
stopped at a nice bakery on the right which said it's open every day).
Then just after crossing the Wallkill
River ...
-
L on S Montgomery St - becomes River Rd - Orange county 29 (beautiful) to its end.
-
L on 17K East into Montgomery NY, just after crossing Wallkill
River,
-
bear Right onto Bridge St
-
L on Clinton St (food)
-
R on Union St (Rt 211 South)
-
L on Boyd St, which later became Goodwill Rd
-
R on Beaver Dam Rd, later cross Rt 99 onto Neelytown Rd to its end.
-
L on 207 a short ways East (high-speed high-traffic) (food) (near
Campbell Hall train station)
-
R on Hamptonburgh Rd (up hill) to its end.
-
R on Sarah Wells Trail (beautiful, some hills) to its end.
-
L on Main St - 207 into Goshen NY (nice food stop)
distance: Wallkill to Goshen is about
20 miles, with around +950 - 1050 vertical feet of climbing.
-
Straight across main traffic light on West Main St,
-
bear Right onto entrance ramp for ...
-
Rt 6 / 17M (high speed traffic but wide
shoulders) going West,
-
L on Maple Av (there's an earlier L turn onto Police Dr which is a
little shorter and gets off the high-traffic road sooner, but that road
one-way northeast-bound).
-
R to continue on Maple Ave -- becomes Orange county 37, gets beautiful, turns west
-
L on Onion Ave, curves west with steep climb up to
big view east-ward
-
short ways on Rt 12, then second left onto
-
L on Pierce Circle (beautiful past the onion farms), leading to a
mile of dirt-gravel on Lyman Ave, then back to pavement with horse farm.
(? perhaps the gravel could be avoided by earlier more on Rt 12, then a
different Left turn down to the horse farm ?). We rode over Breeze Hill
south to end of road, then
-
R on Turtle Bay going West to its end. (Actually this time we first
turned L and make a loop around the Turtle Bay road, which was also
nice)
-
L on Rt 12
-
R (west) on Gardnerville Rd
-
L on Carter Rd
-
R on Wm Lain Rd, which leads to a very steep climb
(climb could have been avoided, with more
traffic on Rt 12 and Rt 1, but it was definitely worth going at least to
the base of this climb to see the beautiful farm which was once a rest
stop on the popular Country Roads bicycle tour. We just got off and
walked our tandem bike up the climb, then enjoyed the pretty descent and
quiet roads beyond.)
New Jersey
-
L on 284 South (some high-speed traffic, but decently wide traffic lane plus
some shoulder)
-
R on Unionville into Sussex boro NJ
distance: Goshen NY to Sussex NJ is
about 24 miles, with around 1350-1500 vertical feet of climbing.
-
R on Church St, down a rather steep hill.
-
L on Main St, where we re-fueled decadently at the Just
Desserts shop. Then we found
-
Newton Av, took that south down hill, and then continued on it
across high-traffic-volume Rt 23.
-
climbed a substantial hill on Newman Rd, and down to its end.
This didn't seem worth the work, so next time
just after crossing Rt 23 we would instead turn east near the school,
and go about a block east, then turn R onto Rt 639 South (Loomis Av?)
-
R on Newman Rd, which climbed substantial hill, and also had a
significant volume of motor vehicle traffic, to its end.
This combination of labor and traffic didn't
seem worth it, so next time we would instead go further south on Rt 639,
and perhaps try turning right on Rt 628 West to climb to the same place.
(or continue further south on Rt 565 to Rt 206)
The other major option here which might try
next time would be to continue south on Rt 565 to Rt 206, then get on
some quieter roads near Paulinskill Lake or the Paulinskill Rail Trail
-- see ideas from last year's report.
-
L on Rt 635 South, which later merges into
-
Rt 629 South, which later merges into
-
Rt 519 South, which goes into the village of Branchville, NJ.
-
continue south on Rt 519, across Rt 206
-
bear R onto Rt 627 South (while Rt 519 turns left)
-
bear R on Rt 626 West
-
L on Rt 521 South, which goes a long ways, passes by Swartswood
Lake, through Stillwater, to its end in Blairstown (food)
from Blairstown, NJ
-
L on 94 North a short ways up hill. The labor of this climb is
rewarded by pleasant riding and fine views out across the valley.
-
R on Cedar Lake Rd / Rt 616 southwest, then in the midst of
steep hill,
-
R on Sand Hill Rd
-
cross (with left and quick right) onto Polkville Rd, at four-way
intersection
-
straight onto Kill Rd (where main road curves left and starts
climbing)
-
bear Right to join Station Rd, down under a high railroad viaduct to
its and at Rt 94.
-
L on Rt 94 South up a hill.
-
R on Hainesburg River Rd. Starts with a steep-ish climb -- which is
reward by fun riding on a pretty and quiet road -- we'll be glad to ride
it again. It ends with a downhill into a stop sign just before
hitting Interstate Route 80.
-
L on Rt 657 (several food options)
-
R to cross bridge going southwest over Interstate Route 80.
-
L to southeast into the village of Columbia.
-
find Green St and take southwest to its end, which leads . . .
-
across the Delaware River on pedestrian bridge into Portland PA.
Pennsylvania
This year we chose lots of local roads to try to spend very little time
on high-traffic roads. The problem is that some of these quieter roads
have some steeper and longer hills.
-
south from pedestrian bridge in Portland PA a little ways to traffic
light
-
Right on State St for 0.4 mile
-
Right just before crossing creek onto Jacoby Creek Rd (by Hummel's
Dam, before reaching Rt
611) and go about 0.5 mile
-
Left on (unsigned) Middle Village Rd on concrete bridge #37 across
creek.
-
immediate Right onto Jacoby Creek Rd, which later passes by Railroad
Ave, becomes Million Dollar Highway and crosses a one-lane bridge, for a
total of 1.4 miles.
For many years previous we would have next
turned left onto Heiden Rd, but we knew the bridge on Heiden Rd was
closed, to this time we instead turned earlier . . .
-
Left on Sand Pit Rd.
-
Right on Ye Olde Highway to its end.
-
Right on Rt 512 West (with high-speed high-volume
traffic, but with mostly reasonable lane+shoulder width.)
-
just before traffic light, we took quieter road parallel to Rt 512
on its right side.
-
at traffic light, we took a half-Left (not full left) -- on Five Points - Richmond Rd, south about 2
miles, with a long downhill.
-
Right onto (unsigned) Locke Heights Rd (opposite Sunset), curve Right to go North,
then soon turn
-
Left onto (unsigned?) Richmond Av
-
bear Left onto Springfield Rd, which ends with a steep downhill
into a T-intersection.
-
Left on Lower South Main St (Rt 712) (later becomes Martins Creek Highway), going South about 1.5 miles. Then
after going under a railroad bridge ...
-
Right on Factoryville Rd half a mile
-
Right on Ackermanville Rd and
-
quick Left to continue west on Factoryville Rd about a mile to its
end.
-
Right on (unsigned) Franklin Hill Rd, going north a quarter mile to
its end
-
Left on Rt 191 South, starts with substantial climb, but this is
reward by a long downhill with nice views. Rt 191 gets some high-speed traffic, but has a wide traffic lane, plus
usually some sort of paved shoulder.
-
R on Pen Argyl Rd
In previous years we simply took Rt 191 south and
west thru Belfast and Stockertown and Nazareth to finish in
Bethlehem. But Rt 191 gets some high-speed traffic, sometimes
high-volume, so this time we tried some quieter roads we know well.
But these roads have some steep hills and some long hills.
It would not be smart to attempt to follow these
roads without an accurate detailed map of Northampton county, PA.
-
quick L on Benders Church Rd (west) (later pass by Heimer Rd)
-
R on Rasleytown Rd (later pass by Books Hill Rd)
-
L on Getz Rd (long climb)
-
R on high-speed high-traffic Sullivan Trail, only a short ways
until
-
L on State Park Rd to its end
-
L on Jacobsburg Rd, then soon
-
R on Jacobsburg Rd (or is it Henry Rd?) up a steep hill
-
R on Fehr Rd
-
R on Douglasville Rd (up hill)
-
L on Bowers Rd, curves right, becomes Aluta Mill Rd
-
straight cross Bushkill Center Rd (not good visibility),
continue on Aluta Mill Rd to its end
-
R on Cherry Hill Rd, and soon
-
L on High St, and soon
-
R on Gower Rd to its end
-
L on Knauss Rd to its end
-
L on Rt 946, Daniels Rd (high-speed traffic), and soon
-
R on Penn Allen Rd (up hill, then down) to its end.
-
L on Rt 248 (high-speed traffic), and soon
-
R on Gun Club Rd, shortly before its end
-
R on some road (? Blossom Hill Rd ?) to its end
-
R on Newburgh Rd (high-speed traffic), and soon
-
L on Silver Crest Rd. At four-way intersection,
-
L on Township Line Rd, at least one steep hill-climb, and some
crossings of high-speed or higher-traffic-volume roads.
-
bear Right onto Altonah Rd, climb
then when it reaches Johnston Dr we would turn L or R and take that
to other streets that lead into the city of Bethlehem, PA.
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Condition Reports
KenR, June 2005:
Sharon and I rode on our tandem bicycle from New York to Pennsylvania by
way of northern New Jersey. Our route was similar to
last summer, but we tried a couple of new
things.
The section in New York thru Orange county was pretty and
interesting. The roads we took thru New Jersey and Pennsylvania were not
quite as pretty, but worked fine for us.
Below are some of the roads we took from Wallkill NY to Bethlehem PA.
Note that
- In the sequence of roads below, the direction of each road is
roughly Southwest or South, unless otherwise specified.
- We rode it on the weekend -- of course some traffic patterns and
volumes are usually different on mid-week days.
Maps -- the details of roads below likely have some mistakes, and won't
be very useful without a detailed maps. We used the Hagstrom county road
maps for Orange county NY and for Sussex and Warren counties in New
Jersey.
New York
The village of Wallkill NY is in the valley of the Wallkill River,
which flows into the Hudson River at Kingston NY. There are several ways
to connect to Wallkill from New Paltz and Kingston or Poughkeepsie -- see
New
Paltz - Wallkill Valley routes.
From Wallkill in Ulster county, we rode into Orange county . . .
-
208 South (alongside the Wallkill River) into Walden NY.
-
Straight across onto 52 West (and after a couple of blocks we
noticed a bakery on the right), then just after crossing the Wallkill
River ...
-
L on S Montgomery St - Orange county 29 (beautiful) to its end.
-
L on 17K East into Montgomery NY,
-
R on 211 South (past coffee shop at corner of 17K + 211)
-
L on Boyd St, which later became Goodwill Rd
-
R on Beaver Dam Rd, later cross Rt 99 onto Neelytown Rd to its end.
-
L on 207 a short ways East (high-speed high-traffic)
-
R on Hamptonburgh Rd (up hill) to its end.
-
R on Sarah Wells Trail (beautiful, some hills) to its end.
-
L on Main St - 207 into Goshen NY (nice food stop)
-
Straight across main traffic light on West Main St, which merges
into (? Matthews St ?) and the entrance ramp for ...
-
Rt 6 / 17M (high speed traffic but wide
shoulders) a short ways West,
-
then Left onto Police Dr (but it's one-way
northeast-bound) or Maple Ave
-
L on Maple Ave -- becomes Orange county 37, gets beautiful, turns west
-
L on Onion Ave, curves west with steep climb up to
big view east-ward
-
short ways on Rt 12, then second left onto
-
L on Pierce Circle (beautiful past the onion farms), leading to a
mile of dirt-gravel on Lyman Ave, then back to pavement with horse farm.
(? perhaps the gravel could be avoided by earlier more on Rt 12, then a
different Left turn down to the horse farm ?). We rode to its end, then
-
R on Turtle Bay to go West to its end back to
-
L on Rt 12
-
R (west) on 62 a short ways, first
-
L on Wm Lain Rd, which leads to a very steep climb (could have been avoided, with more
traffic on Rt 12 and Rt 1, but it was definitely worth going at least to
the base of this climb to see the beautiful farm which was once a rest
stop on the popular Country Roads bicycle tour. We just got off and
walked our tandem bike up the climb, then enjoyed the pretty descent and
quiet roads beyond).
-
Straight across Orange county Rt 1 onto Lower Rd, and continue straight across State Line Rd into New Jersey,
to its end.
New Jersey
-
L on 284 South (high-speed high-traffic, but decently wide traffic lane plus
some shoulder)
-
R on Unionville into Sussex boro NJ
-
R on Church St, down a rather steep hill. (last year we avoided this
by staying on 284 longer, but this would have gotten into more traffic
and a climb to our food stop on the main street of Sussex boro).
-
L on Main St, where we re-fueled decadently at the Just
Desserts shop.
-
R on Rt 23 into a tricky traffic pattern, since immediately Rt 23
turns Right, but we got off it to continue straight south on
-
Rt 639 toward Newton, which then became 565 South (high-traffic, but mostly wide lanes with reasonable
shoulders), all the way to where it becomes
-
206 South (high-speed high-traffic, but wide lanes with wide
shoulder). Then soon after passing by 626 we carefully found off the
road on the Right side ...
-
Paulinskill Valley Trail going west here, an off-road dirt path at
first running parallel to Rt 626. This first section was bumpy and
difficult, and we would not ride this section of the path again. Then
the path crossed the Rt 519 road.
Next time we would avoid this section of
the trail by instead from Rt 206 turning R (west) onto Rt 626, L on
Rt 519, quick L to get on the off-road Paulinskill Valley Trail --
or else continue further west on 626 before turning south on some
other road.
This section of the trail does cut down on hill
climbing, but I doubt it saves time overall. Next time I'd
try to avoid it, perhaps by trying some parallel road further west.
Not sure what kind (? dirt ?) or how good the surface is on Spirol
Rd, or perhaps try Parsons Rd. Then like last year we would Junction
Rd next time to the crossing of 622, rather than the parallel
section of the Trail.
We would ride this section of the trail again,
also for its connection to pleasant riding on Kohlbocker and 610.
(last year we reached this section of trail from Rt 206 by way of
Park Rd and Plotts Rd and Junction Rd).
-
South Shore Dr -- when we saw it down below the Trail, we walked our bike down
a steep hill to South Shore Dr and continue along the
lake.
-
across onto Kohlbocker Rd (cross Rt 614).
-
R on 610, then bear Left to pass by 619 and continue on 610 to its
end
in
Stillwater NJ, where we saw a food shop.
-
L on 521 (Maple Ave - Stillwater Rd) (? perhaps it later becomes 601
at its south end ?) all the way to its end in Blairstown NJ.
-
L on 94 North a short ways up hill.
Last year we instead went the other way on Rt 94
which is a quicker way to get to Pennsylvania, but we found that the
quieter roads to the south side of it were more pretty and
interesting, so we'll likely use them again, then return to 94 at
Station Rd.
-
R on Cedar Lake Rd (? Rt 616 ?) southwest, then in the midst of
steep hill,
-
R on Sand Hill Rd
-
cross (with left and quick right) onto Polkville Rd
-
straight onto ? Kill Rd ? where main road curves left.
-
bear Right onto Station Rd, down under a high railroad viaduct to
its and at Rt 94.
Next time we would do that, but avoid the
next section by just turning Left on Rt 94 South (starts up a hill).
But this time we made the mistake of
turning around and going back up Station Rd, and tried going south
at the next junction, which turned into a big steep hill, so we're
not trying that again. Instead we went back down to ...
-
Paulins Kill Valley Trail and tried going southwest on that. It
had several messy sections, some with downed or obstructing trees, where we had to get off and walk, also
some mud and some difficult fresh gravel. Then left on Brugler,
right on Warrington to 94.
Next time we would avoid all that and just
take Station Rd down to its north end, then L on 94 South.
-
L on 94 South (high traffic but mostly wide shoulders) all the way to junction
with
Interstate 80 (a few years ago we rode on prettier and quieter alternate
roads south of and parallel to 94)
-
tricky traffic lane crossings (wouldn't want to do it in heavy
traffic),
look for exit for "Columbia"
-
northwest into Columbia NJ
-
left on Green St
-
across the Delaware River on pedestrian bridge into Portland PA.
Pennsylvania
This was hillier than New Jersey. We took some more complicated local
roads because we dislike riding on this section of 611. The good
news was that the section of Rt 512 we used was beautifully repaved. The
bad news was that a bridge was out on Heiden Rd. The surprise was
that so many nice food opportunities in Portland PA have closed during
the last year (but we still saw two remainging).
We ride this next section a couple of times a year in the opposite
direction, which is why we're not sure what the signs and road names will
look like, since we rode sorta "by feel". But I think it's OK to miss a
turn and end up on different roads, as long as we head generally west, do
not hit 611, and eventually find 512. It might help to look for painted
white arrows with "GG".
-
south from pedestrian bridge in Portland PA a little ways to traffic
light
-
Right on State St for 0.4 mile
-
Right just before crossing creek onto Jacoby Creek Rd (by Hummel's
Dam, before reaching Rt
611) and go about 0.5 mile
-
Left on (unsigned) Middle Village Rd on concrete bridge #37 across
creek.
-
immediate Right onto Jacoby Creek Rd, which later passes by Railroad
Ave, becomes Million Dollar Highway and crosses a one-lane bridge, for a
total of 1.4 miles.
-
Left on Heiden Rd (opposite Audubon Rd) for 1.8 miles to its end at
Lillian Lane near Rt 512.
There was a bridge out on Heiden Rd this time.
With some care this time we were able to get our tandem bicycle
across the creek and up and down its steep banks. In high water it
might not have been possible. (? Perhaps an alternative might have
been earlier turn off Million Dollar Highway on Sand Hill Rd or
something ?)
-
Right on Rt 512 West about half a mile (with high-speed high-volume
traffic, but with mostly reasonable lane+shoulder width.)
-
At traffic light, go half-Left (not full left) on Five Points - Richmond Rd, south about 2
miles, with a long downhill.
-
Right onto (unsigned) Locke Heights Rd (opposite Sunset), curve Right to go North,
then soon turn
-
Left onto (unsigned?) Richmond Av
-
bear Left onto Springfield Rd, which ends with a steep downhill
into a T-intersection.
-
Left on Martins Creek Highway, going South about 1.5 miles. Then
after going under a railroad bridge ...
-
Right on Factoryville Rd half a mile
-
Right on Ackermanville Rd and
-
quick Left to continue west on Factoryville Rd about a mile to its
end.
-
Right on (unsigned) Franklin Hill Rd, going north a quarter mile to
its end
-
Left on Rt 191 South, starts with substantial climb, but this is
reward by a long downhill with nice views. Rt 191 gets some high-speed traffic, but has a wide traffic lane, plus
usually some sort of paved shoulder.
We know some prettier and quieter alternative (more
complicated) roads to the west of 191 from a little before the top of that
first climb up from Franklin Hill Rd. But once we'd done most
of the climb, it would have been a shame not to enjoy the descent.
Then once we were almost to Belfast, it's not easy to get to those
quieter roads, so ...
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KenR, July 2004:
Sharon and I did a tour from New York to Pennsylvania by way of
northern New Jersey. We found it pretty and pleasant on the roads we took
thru New York and New Jersey. Our experience was that the toughest section
was in Pennsylvania.
I suspect our experience was positive because we mostly stayed off
major roads, and followed the major valleys north-south instead of trying
to go east-west and "fight" the geology of the region. Along the way we
saw many pretty farms (some being worked as we past, like baling hay) and
animals, including lots of horses, a few cows, two wild turkeys, no
camels, and one elephant.
Below are some of the roads we took from Wallkill NY to Bethlehem PA.
Note that
- In the sequence of roads below, the direction of each road is
roughly Southwest or South, unless otherwise specified.
- We rode it on the weekend -- of course some traffic patterns and
volumes are usually different on mid-week days.
New York
The village of Wallkill NY is in the valley of the Wallkill River,
which flows into the Hudson River at Kingston NY. There are several ways
to connect to Wallkill from New Paltz and Kingston or Poughkeepsie -- see
New
Paltz - Wallkill Valley routes.
From Wallkill in Ulster county, we rode into Orange county . . .
- 208 (alongside the Wallkill River) into Walden NY in Orange county.
- 52 West to S Montgomery St - Orange county 29 (beautiful)
- 17K East into Montgomery NY, some local streets to
- east on Goodwill Rd to Beaver Dam Rd to Neelytown Rd
- 207 a short ways East (high-speed high-traffic)
- Hamptonburgh Rd
- Sarah Wells Trail (beautiful)
- Main St - 207 into Goshen NY (nice food stop)
- West Main St, then Rt 6 / 17M (high speed traffic but wide
shoulders) a short ways West to Police Dr (but it's one-way
northeast-bound) or Maple Ave
- Maple Ave (Orange county 31 + 37?) gets beautiful, turns west
- Onion Ave (past non-onion farms), curves west with steep climb up to
big view east-ward
- short ways on Rt 12, then second left onto
- Pierce Circle (beautiful past the actual onion farms), leading to a
mile of dirt-gravel on Lyman Ave
- T at Turtle Bay; turn West back to
- Rt 12
- west on 62 a short ways, first left onto
- ? Lain Rd ? very steep climb (could have been avoided, with more
traffic on Rt 12 and Rt 1, but it was definitely worth going at least to
the base of this climb to see the beautiful farm which was once a rest
stop on the popular Country Roads bicycle tour. We just got off and
walked our tandem bike up the climb, then enjoyed the pretty descent).
- Lower Rd, and continue straight across State Line Rd into New Jersey
New Jersey
- 284 South (high-speed high-traffic, but decently wide traffic lane plus
some shoulder) into Sussex boro NJ (we re-fueled decadently in a "just
desserts" shop we found off the main road)
- 639 and 565 South (high-traffic, but mostly wide lanes with reasonable
shoulders), all the way to
- 206 South (high-speed high-traffic, but wide lanes with wide
shoulder) into big shopping area just north of Newton NJ (? perhaps much
of this and the next hill-climb could have been avoided by turning west
just south of 626 onto the dirt-cinder Paulins Kill Valley rail trail ?)
- west on Park Rd (turn comes by Shop-Rite supermarket near Home
Depot) up hill, then straight across onto
- Plotts Rd continuing west; then at bottom of descent just before
railroad underpass turn left onto
- Junction Rd (parallel to rail trail), straight across Rt 622 onto
- Paulins Kill Valley rail trail (dirt-cinder) (beautiful above the
narrow
lake)
- walk bike down steep hill to South Shore Dr and continue along the
lake
(we had a pleasant picnic with dessert food leftover from our stop in
Sussex
boro)
- Kohlbocker Rd
- right onto 610, then bear left to pass by 619 and continue on 610
into
Stillwater NJ (where we re-fueled)
- 521 (Maple Ave - Stillwater Rd) all the way into Blairstown NJ
- 94 (high traffic but mostly wide shoulders) all the way to junction
with
Interstate 80 (a few years ago we rode on prettier and quieter alternate
roads south of and parallel to 94)
- tricky traffic lane crossings (wouldn't want to do it in heavy
traffic),
look for exit for "Columbia"
- northwest into Columbia NJ
- left on Green St
- across the Delaware River on pedestrian bridge into Portland PA
Pennsylvania
Here it gets tricky and hillier. I hope some local rider with much more
experience will suggest some improvements for this part. We don't much
enjoy 512 to Bangor, and we really really dislike riding on this section
of 611. So we took a route which is more complicated.
We ride this next section a couple of times a year in the opposite
direction, which is why we're not sure what the signs and road names will
look like, since we rode sorta "by feel". But I think it's OK to miss a
turn and end up on different roads, as long as we head generally west, do
not hit 611, and eventually find 512. It might help to look for painted
white arrows with "GG".
- south from pedestrian bridge in Portland PA a little ways to traffic
light
- Right on State St for 0.4 mile
- Right just before crossing creek onto Jacoby Creek Rd (by Hummel's
Dam, before reaching Rt
611) and go about 0.5 mile
- Left on (unsigned) Middle Village Rd on concrete bridge #37 across
creek.
- immediate Right onto Jacoby Creek Rd, which later passes by Railroad
Ave, becomes Million Dollar Highway and crosses a one-lane bridge, for a
total of 1.4 miles.
- Left on Heiden Rd (opposite Audubon Rd) for 1.8 miles to its end at
Lillian Lane near Rt 512.
- Right on Rt 512 West about half a mile (with high-speed high-volume
traffic)
Note that the shoulder on south side of road was
much wider and smoother. And after a ways can avoid traffic bearing
right onto Lohman Dr which runs parallel to 512 a short ways to meet
Johnsonville Rd next to the Five Points intersection).
- at traffic light, go Left on Five Points - Richmond Rd south about 2
miles
- Right onto (unsigned) Locke Heights Rd, curve Right to go North,
then soon turn
- Left onto (unsigned?) Richmond Av
- bear Left onto Springfield Rd, which ends with a steep-ish downhill
into a T-intersection.
- Left on Martins Creek Highway (going South)
After this we turned Right onto Flicksville Rd to go west to Rt 191.
A couple of weeks later we came back and found a nice way to avoid two
of the hill climbs:
- continue south on Martins Creek Highway about 1.5 miles
- Right on Factoryville Rd half a mile
- Right on Ackermanville Rd and
- quick Left to continue west on Factoryville Rd about a mile to its
end.
- Right on (unsigned?) Franklin Hill Rd, going north a quarter mile to
its end
- Left on Rt 191 South
Rt 191 gets some high-speed traffic, but has a wide traffic lane, plus
usually some sort of shoulder. We know some prettier and quieter alternative (more
complicated) roads to the west of 191, but we were tired by then. So we
took 191 thru Stockertown and Nazareth to finish in Bethlehem.
Another idea for connecting with Portland PA is to stay close to the
Delaware River. We've enjoyed riding south on the Pennsylvania side as far
as Riverton - Belvidere. After that we've found it's generally better to
avoid Pennsylvania and continue south along the Delaware on the New Jersey
side. |
