Newburgh-Beacon Bridge to Mid Hudson Walkway
Ken’s Story
We first thought of doing this route because of the concept of riding a Hudson River loop across both bridges.
We rode it around 1988 in combination with the Bear Mt to Newburgh Beacon Bridge loop, making a giant "figure-eight", crossing the Newburgh-Beacon Bridge twice in the same direction.
Herb & Jerry, August 2010:
Rode it yesterday. Still OK. Heavy pedestrian traffic on the Walkway, but still worth it! On the west side of the river, the most food options are in Marlboro.
Herb & Jerry, January 2010:
We just rode this trip. You probably need to change the title on the cue sheet because it now goes over the Pedestrian Walkway, or whatever they call it.
We did the straight route, no variations. All is OK with the route. We started from the Newburgh side of the Newburgh-Beacon bridge. You might want to note that there is a parking lot just north of the bridge on Grand Avenue. The Pedestrian walkway was packed, and today is only January 23 and the temperature is in the low 30's. Come summer, the walkway will be barely rideable, what with all the pedestrians.
Perkinsville Rd (MP 23.1) is unsigned. It is the first left after you get onto Chapel Hill Rd, just before Chapel Hill Road goes up a steep right turn.
As always, thanks for posting the ride. The trip up the east side of the Hudson seems to take forever, what with all the turns through all the neighborhoods, but I guess that's the price one pays for staying off Rt.9.
KenR responds:
* Made the name change on the cue sheet.
* Crowded walkway? Sometimes Yes -- that's why the "Mid-Hudson Bridge" option is still given in the route (and name)
* east side of the Hudson with all the turns?
Sean, October 2009:
I have just started riding last July, and have yet to buy a road bike. I have been training on my Giant Sedona since August to do this route, so for me it was quite tough. However I have to say this is a great route. there are fantastic views of the river on both sides, and of course over the bridge. Thank you for posting this, and giving me motivation to ride this. I can't wait to get my road bike and see how much better I do next time.
A couple of notes:
I noticed on the west side of the Mid-Hudson Bridge that there is a sign stating that you must walk your bike.
On the Google Map the outline shows you should take Dankammer rd, however the Cue sheet states you should stay on River road (which I did)
At Mile 7.9 stated it was an unsigned road. It is now signed as Main St.
[Ken responds: Always good to get new information: I revised the cue sheet so it now says "Main St"]
KenR, April 2007:
Sharon and I had a nice time riding this loop on a sunny weekend afternoon.
Road conditions:
The west-side access road from Rt 9W to the Mid-Hudson Bridge was re-paved smoothly.
Perkinsville Rd now has smoother pavement than last time.
Small bridge over small creek on Old Post Rd (south from Marlboro) is still closed, but they've made an obvious way for bicycles to be walked across.
still some coarse-stone pavement on River Rd between the Danskammer power plant and Newburgh, but not as much as last time.
Mid-Hudson Bridge north sidewalk and Newburgh-Beacon Bridge south sidewalk both open in good condition.
December 2004, KenR:
Sharon and John and Ron and I rode the loop starting in Poughkeepsie on a weekend day in December, including Variation A. Overall nice trip, made me want to do more winter riding. More houses being constructed in the south by Newburgh and Beacon. And I enjoyed Variation A thru the city of Beacon, and we found yet another nice coffee shop this time.
Road conditions:
Perkinsville Rd was now re-paved, with coarse-stone pavement.
Small bridge over small creek on Old Post Rd (south from Marlboro) is still closed (though section of the road just to the north of it is freshly paved), but we were able to walk our bikes around the barriers with no problem.
much of River Rd between the Danskammer power plant and Newburgh is newly paved with coarse-stone pavement.
Mid-Hudson Bridge north sidewalk and Newburgh-Beacon Bridge south sidewalk both open in good condition.
June 2004, KenR:
On a weekday I skated most of the second part of this route on the west side of the Hudson River from Poughkeepsie to Newburgh. Definitely requires expert skills and judgment to handle steep downhills on skates. And strength for some long uphills. The reward is the views, like on Ridge Rd.
Perkinsville Rd was in the midst of re-paving, so I took some alternate roads. Chestnut Lane was newly paved smooth. Bridge was closed on Old Post Rd, but it was easy to walk across it.
August 2003, KenR:
Sharon and I rode the whole route plus Variations A and C on a humid Saturday. We made extra stops for drink, but only got rained on a couple of times.
Riding through the orchards on the west side was prettier than we remembered. We noticed that there were more actual views of the River than on several of the other bridge-to-bridge loops. Somehow the hills seemed tougher than other times. Visiting Beacon by Variation A and having lunch there was interesting -- we'll probably do that again.
It was our first time stopping at the new Dia:Beacon art museum, which has some food and drink for sale in the entrance area (and air-conditioning).
We checked out that old closed bridge in Beacon over the creek further south from Rt 9D -- and it was still closed and fenced.
Summer 2003, Greg:
Among the recent routes I rode were the Beacon bridge to Midhudson bridge. The best part of that ride of course were the fantastic bridge views. The orchard view on the other side of the Hudson was great too.
August 2002, Ken:
Sharon and I rode the whole route starting in Poughkeepsie on a Sunday morning. To get to the bridge, we took the Variation that goes down by Pine St and Rinaldi Blvd, which worked fine. No problem getting across the Mid-Hudson Bridge on the north sidewalk.
Over on the West side, we enjoyed riding through the orchards with almost no car traffic. We stopped for breakfast at the deli in Marlboro. Then we enjoyed the views of the Hudson River further south, again with almost no car traffic except for the short sections on Rt 9W.
Before going to the bridge, we made a side trip into Newburgh -- into town on Liberty St, which is mostly bricks instead of pavement. Then west on Broadway, and sampled some cookies at a Caribbean shop. Then back east to checked out the waterfront which keeps looking better. And finally rode across the bridge to Beacon.
We made another side trip to the park near the Beacon train station -- lots of water plants around it this time. Then we checked out Main St, and had a snack at a new pie shop.
Going back up the East side was straightforward, and we made several little side trips to check for views of the river. Mostly light car traffic off the main highways, but more traffic than we expected on Sheafe Rd.
July 2002, hannah sent us this comment by E-mail about riding most of the second half of the route up the East side of the River:
It was a really beautiful ride that took me to places I'd never seen before. Thanks!
[ followed by lots of helpful detailed corrections and suggestions we used to revise the cue sheet directions ]