Here's the ride I did Sunday, July 20th, with an overnight. Technically, it's in Connecticut, but it's a great day or overnight ride from the Orient Point Ferry on eastern Long Island. I do this as an overnight in Mystic, CT (one of my favorite destinations), but I usually ride into Rhode Island and then backtrack to my hotel at the end of the day. I don’t really have mileage figured out, but I can tell you that it will only take about an hour or so to get to Mystic from the New London ferry terminal. How far you travel from there is up to you. NOTE: You will need knobby tires for part of this ride!!
The 2014 version of my ride goes like this:
Get off the ferry in New London and exit the parking lot. Cross the railroad tracks and make an immediate right onto Water Street. Proceed to the first light and turn right onto Crystal. Go to the end of Crystal and turn left onto State Pier Road. Turn right onto Mill Road and check out the historic mill on your left. Turn left on Cole. Turn right on Williams. At Mr. G’s Pizza, turn left onto Bailey and look for the small path that leads to the Gold Star Bridge. This first piece of the ride is through a questionably safe neighborhood. Just keep your eyes open and you’ll be OK.
Climb the bridge (this is a huge one…not a little foot bridge) and enjoy the short downhill on the other side. At the end of the bridge, the path will come to a “T” intersection. Turn right and proceed to the end of the path. Turn right and climb Riverview Avenue. Bear left onto Walker Hill Rd and cross Rt. 12/Rt. 1 (Subway Sandwich Shop w. outdoor seating and a convenience store at this corner). The name of the road changes to Toll Gate Lane. Continue to the end of Toll Gate and turn left onto Rt. 184. Make first right onto Buddington Rd. Enjoy the reservoir views on this quiet, but wide road.
At the end of Buddington, turn left onto Rt. 1. Go a short distance, cross a small bridge and turn right onto the Poqquonock River Boardwalk. (This is a wooden boardwalk, but it’s in decent shape. I’ve never gotten a flat tire here). You will likely be alone on this boardwalk, but watch your speed. At the end of the boardwalk, you will enter a small park that faces Depot Road. Turn right on Depot Rd and enter Bluff Point State Park. Follow the dirt and gravel road toward the parking area and turn left onto the dirt and gravel path through the woods. (The other path here, which runs along the water, eventually loops around and joins the other, but if you choose to explore it, you’ll have to figure out for yourself where and how this happens.)
For me, the ride through the woods was a highlight of my most recent trip through this area. An avid mountain biker in the 90’s, I had to give it up when my back problems became more severe. Although this trail is dead flat and fairly “smooth” (except for the part that runs along the rr tracks) it brought me back to the desolation of riding alone in the woods, with the crunching of leaves beneath my wheels the only sound to be heard. Anyway, as noted, the trail gets rocky as it leaves the park and skirts the AMTRAK line for a short distance. Eventually, you reach a junction, where a small dirt trail to the left leads up a short, steep hill, and the path you’ve been riding leads to a green steel fence separating the trail from Neptune Drive, gateway to a private neighborhood.
I opted to leave the people of Neptune Drive in peace this year, and to take the dirt trail to the left. With my bike fairly loaded, I had to walk it up this very short hill and continue pedaling once I reached the top. Now back to turn-by-turns…
Take the dirt path to an old, abandoned AMTRAK bridge and cross it. After crossing the bridge, count two utility poles and turn right, back into the woods. You are now headed into Haley Farm State Park. At the end of this (mostly dirt) trail, bear right onto Haley Farm Lane. Turn right onto Brook Street. Cross Groton Long Point Road and turn left onto Elm Street. (Be careful! Both GLP and Elm are marked “Rt. 215.” Be sure to go to “Elm Street!”) Take Elm all the way to Rt. 1 at the beginning of the Mystic Downtown District. Turn right to downtown Mystic and left onto Rt. 27 to get to all the hotels near I-95.
I have a few side trips I take around Mystic, including one that goes around the water adjacent to Mystic Seaport and one to Old Stonington Village, where ferries from Greenport used to meet LIRR trains that completed farmer’s rides from New York City to Boston in the mid 1800’s. You’ll probably find your own places to go in this area, but you can also continue on Rt. 1 to Westerly, Rhode Island, home of Misquamicut Beach, or even to Narragansett, another favorite destination of mine when I have more than two days off from work.
If anybody has any questions, post them here or PM me. I can help with places to stay, places to eat, places to visit, etc.