RollCNY

Over the weekend, to avoid holiday traffic in returning my boy to college, I cut across the Catskills, and ended up on 23A between Haines Falls and Palenville. That is an incredible gorge, and I am wondering if it is rideable, primarily in the uphill direction. Anyone done it? The shoulders looked non-existent, and it is tight lane width. Just looking for whether anyone has tried.

And in general, holy mackerel the Catskills is hilly. I have traveled and lived all around Northern and Central New York, the Southern Tier, the Adirondacks, but I have never zipped through the Catskills. The road topography is gorgeous, and seems like it would be a great challenge. It is honestly much hillier than the Adirondacks, at least from the bits I saw.

cleansheet

Never done it myself ( I live about 45 miles north), but quick look at Strava shows that people are riding it, but at the risk that you indicate. Have a look at cty road 16, Devils Kitchen a little bit to the south. That is the killer climb in the area.

RollCNY

Thanks, I didn't think of Strava, as I don't use it. I am tentatively planning to circle half the state in the spring, and am needing to find a route from New Paltz back to the Finger Lakes. I looked at cty road 16, and Mr. Google Maps has a note on it "closed apr". Is it a seasonal access road?

cleansheet

Yes. Closed for the winter.

TeleJohn

Seasonal = dedicated bikeway in low snow years. I like them fall/late spring.

RollCNY

In my part of the state, seasonal means unpaved, two wheel tracks, with transmission eating rocks betwixt.

TeleJohn

Where abouts in CNY?

I like the closed Green Lakes SP road (paved) and Gulf Rd (paved) hill climb between SR5 and Salt Springs. Closed 11/15-4/15. This is just east of Syracuse. Nice to ride a road without worrying about traffic. Beautiful scenic roads too.

Might be cool to catalog these roads.

Jay H

Wel, County Rt 16, aka Platte Clove road is paved and a few years ago actually repaved such that it isn't so pothole'd. It used to be part of the Tour du Pont series back in the 80s/90s (????) when it was run... but as mentioned above, is gated and generally "closed". However, the town typically puts sawhorses and other temporary structures that people do drive around so it might not entirely be car free even though the signs indicate such. It is also fairly shaded and can be icy too and there are old cars down in the gorge from people driving over the embankment too...

jay

RollCNY

I am Liverpool area now, and I can't think of any seasonal ones close by. I grew up between Cortland and Ithaca and there every seasonal use was a dirt road there. Same with roads north of Utica, like Forrestport and Remsen area. Those seasonal use roads should be 4wd even in summer.

RollCNY

Thanks for the info. I am slowly piecemeal planning a route from New Paltz back to Syracuse for next year, probably late April or first week May, so secluded in salted areas may still have ice. My best plan may be staying more southerly.

Jim Kukula

Here's a nice site:

https://www.roberts-1.com/bikehudson/r/m/climbs/more/

I live in Woodstock so I know the local roads reasonably well. Here are a couple of my routes:

https://www.mapmyride.com/us/woodstoc...oute-155268025
https://www.mapmyride.com/us/woodstoc...oute-125715929

You could stitch those together - just take 28A over to Boiceville and then 28 to Shandaken & then 46 up to Lexington. I've take 28 to Margaretville and it's fine for riding. Quite a bit of high speed traffic but a huge clear shoulder so quite comfortable. You could take 30 north from Margaretville. But that 46 north out of Shandaken is pretty!

Jim Kukula

Here's another good site with route tips:

https://ridingthecatskills.com/

YoKev

RollCNY, If you follow these suggestions, you'll have a great ride!

Jim Kukula

Oops it's 42 that heads north out of Shandaken!

RollCNY

Thanks for the additional info guys. On that same car trip, I returned on 28, and where I didn't like the speed limit, the shoulders did look very usable. All of those links are great, Jim, and so I am piecing together information. Still in the planning phase at this point, and I am fairly solid on general route to New Paltz, I am not sure if my intention is to angle back north (via 28 and the like), or head toward Liberty and 17C over Mohonk Mt.

Regardless of whether the trip works out, you have gorgeous terrain, and I definitely plan to ride some of it in the next four years (provided the kid follows up on his commitment ). It just makes me think I may need more gear combinations on the single speed.

Jay H

if you're trying to get to the catskills from new paltz, you can *start* by looking at Rt 32. that is a fairly direct route to the Kingston Area, with a lot of opportunities to go off the route, perhaps even use like the Wallkill RailTrail for a bit to Rosendale at least... Rt 32 can be busy (as an alternative to the NYS Thruway i.e. I-87 for car drivers) but it is rideable. A lot of it is avoidable which is nice since you can use google and look for parallel roads or alternative paths... When you do get to rosendale, you could also follow Rt 208/213 through downtown rosendale to get you to Rt 28a on the Ashokan Reservoir, which is about 25 miles west of Kingston so depending on your ultimate route, it's shorter. It is hillier I believe than rt 32 though as 32 still follows the valley for the most part....

Jay

Jim Kukula

One little improvement to my route north out of New Paltz... in going through Rosendale... 213 over to Stone Ridge has some dicey spots. Last time I rode through I went north on Binnewater Rd. == Ulster Co Rt 7. Then west on Sawdust Rd = Ulster Co Rt 26, continuing on to Cottekill Rd etc.

That Sawdust Rd is fun. Looks like old company houses. There were a lot of mines and quarries in Rosendale, back whenever!

This just avoids a nasty little bit of 213.