Quaker Ridge Trip Reports

eanne, July 2010:

Did the beautiful Quaker Ridge ride today (7/27/10) and Lime Kiln Bridge is out at about mile 30. Not passable for bicycles as of today, so heed the detour sign that is posted warning "Lime Kiln bridge out in 1.5 miles". The bridge is due to be out, according to the sign, until 10/1/10. There is a clearly marked detour that takes you around to rejoin the cue (puts you on Rt. 22 for a bit), but it does add a few miles to the overall route.

James, May 2010:

I did the Quaker Ridge ride a few weeks ago. For the most part, the trip was fantastic, but thought I would send this update:

Just before mile marker 31.5, the bridge across the stream was out. I'm not certain how long the construction will last, but it looked like the entire thing was pretty well dismantled.

I improvised an alternative which I'm not sure I would recommend: I rode back and took a right on berkshire (alternately called Lake Ellis Rd) and followed that for maybe a mile or so, took a right onto Reagan Mills and that eventually led me back to DC rt 6. Berkshire, however, is unpaved for a good portion of the way and might be a little unsafe if riding with thin road tires: I personally walked a decent chunk of the road because I didn't want to risk puncture. This was what I came up with at the time, though and anyone planning ahead might want to plan a better alternative for passing that bridge.

Herb & Jerry, July 2009:

Rode Quaker Ridge with Variation A yesterday. Scenery on the Connecticut section is striking. Cue sheet issues: Milepost 0.9: should say 'Straight', since E. Main Street becomes Quaker Hlll Road after it crosses Rt. 22. Cue sheet is confusing. Milepost 31.5: this is a 'T' intersection. Also DC 6 is unsigned.
Another great Roberts ride.

[Ken responds: Fixed those things on the cue sheet -- glad to have riders pointing out the problems.]

Tom, August 2007:

Rode Quaker Ridge route on Aug 5, 2007. There were newly paved shoulders on Quaker Hill Road/DC67 and most of DC66 is newly paved--making those fun descents even more fun. Restroom inside Gaylordsville Country Store appears to be permanently "out of order", while Kent has sparkling new public restrooms among all the new shops tucked in behind North Main Street. A beautiful, challenging and enjoyable ride, as always.

July 2003, Greg: 

I did the Quaker Ridge route yesterday with a few friends. This time I rode the Variation A section which was nice, but the roads for this detour were pretty bad. Overall it's an enjoyable ride with 2 difficult but manageable hills.

June 2003, Ken: 

Sharon and I rode miles 13.3 to 36.0 as part of another ride.  The New York state roads were pretty nice, but some of the Connecticut roads from miles 13.3 to 19.2 were rougher than we remembered them -- guess they didn't do very well through last winter.  We also rode most of Variation A -- the second half of the segment on Church Rd / Gaylord Rd was getting pretty rough.

April 2003, James: 

Did QR with a friend today. What a day, what a route, great work.

The roads in CT south of Kent were pretty sandy and rough, a bit jarring with my Trek racing frame. Maybe my hybrid would have been better.

A minor note: coming south on DC6, one should bear right and head west on 55, not bear left and go eastbound back toward CT.

Anyway, I can't wait to pick another route for another weekend...and soon.

late November 2002, Ken: 

Sharon and I rode it on our tandem -- together with Pat and Mary, who rode it on their tandem.  Turns out they know the route better than we do -- showed us a new rest stop.  Kinda cold, glad we brought every piece of warm clothing, especially for our fingers and toes -- but sunny and very worth it.

June 2002, Greg: 

I recently did the Quaker Ridge route and it was one of the nicest routes I've taken. 

April 2002, Patrick: 

Today we followed your "Quaker Ridge" route. Although we had ridden some of the roads previously there were many that we had not been on that we had not ridden. We ride from home to Pawling quite frequently but had never been up Quaker Hill Rd. It was worth the climb.  Thanks for making these rides available.

May 2001, Ken Roberts:  

Tony, Greg, Ron, Sharon, and Ken went out on a fine day.  Metro North worked fine for getting Tony to the start, although they substituted a bus for the train for part of the journey.  E Main St out of Pawling was bumpy, especially in the SE direction.  Climbing E up DC 67 up Quaker Hill Rd was not as bad as we feared, and it was beautiful going N along the ridge.  We tried out Variation A, and the roads were quiet and pretty, although Spring Lake Rd and Church Rd were rough in many places.  Ron liked the variation a lot, but Sharon wasn't so happy with the bumps she felt on the back of the tandem.  Station Rd and Browns Forge Rd were bumpy in places.  We had lunch in Kent and then crossed back into New York -- but even though we were past the Quaker Ridge hill and staying down in the valley of the Ten Mile River, there were still lots more hills on our way back to Pawling.