Connecting New Jersey to Pennsylvania June 2005
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.
Paulinskill Valley Trail after crossing Rt 519 curves more south, soon has a bumpy section thru a rock cut.
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.
Paulins Kill Valley Trail (dirt-cinder) south from crossing of 622 (beautiful above the narrow lake).
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 ...
We simply took Rt 191 south and west thru Belfast and Stockertown and Nazareth to finish in Bethlehem.