Connecting New Jersey and Pennsylvania May 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.)
L on Orange county Rt 1 to its end.
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.
L on Rt 519 South, thru Beemerville and with a possible food stop at Space Farms.
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.
R on Birch or Fern to its end
L on Lake View Point
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.
L on Paulins Kill Rd, up hill then down hill to a pretty section alongside Paullinskill creek, then across the creek to the road's end.
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).
R on Rt 94 South (high-speed high-traffic) into Blairstown
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
Rt 94 South for several miles (high-speed high-traffic, but wide traffic lane and usually a reasonable shoulder), then after about 6.5 miles and just after a steeper uphill . . .
[ 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.