ABOUT THE PARK:
DIRECTIONS:
GPS Coordinates 41.23133, -73.77913
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| North Country Trailway Croton Lake Parking - already filling up at 7:00 AM. |
TRAIL MAP:
BIKE DISTANCE: 50.9 miles
THE BIKE:
I chose this parking spot so most of the uphill would be at the beginning and most of the downhill at the end.
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| In order to get a 4.5 mile uphill section out of the way first, I headed south. Sometimes the signs say Westchester County Trail ... |
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| ... sometimes they say North County Trail. But's it's all part of the Empire State Trail now. |
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| Early on the trail crosses a bridge over ... |
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| New Croton Reservoir |
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| New Croton Reservoir at Sunrise |
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| Following along Saw Mill River Road then crossing both on and off ramps to the Taconic State Parkway with pedestrian crossings. |
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| Turning back at the New Castle Trailhead to make that the turn around point for a future section. |
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| Passing by where I parked at about 9.5 miles. |
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| Yorktown |
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| The North County Trailway sections have awkward gates at road crossings where everyone has to go to the same side to cross. Not cool when one of those speed racers squeezes in behind you with no warning at warp speed when trying to get around the gate. Oh, believe me, he got an earful. |
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| Once on the Putnam Trailway the road crossings are much easier. |
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| There is a section that has lots of root uplifting and it is rough indeed but it smooths out again. |
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| I had no idea which way to go here - there are no signs. I had to stop to look at the Gaia app; it's to the right. |
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| Middle Branch Reservoir |
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| At these railroad tracks, according to the Putnam County site, "The trail ends at Putnam Avenue in Brewster, but work is underway for a 0.5-mile, five-span pedestrian bridge across a road, rail yard, brook, and swampy area to join the Maybrook Trailway in late 2019. " Obviously that never happened because this is where that bridge would be. So it's a bit of road biking to get to the Maybrook Trailway connection. |
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| First it's right on quiet Putnam Avenue. |
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| Then up a really steep hill where a bird flew out of the sunflowers on the right. |
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| That would be him, an American Goldfinch, having nabbed himself a sunflower seed. |
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| It looked like the sign pointed left. Cross over to the other side? No crosswalk but cars stopped and let me cross. |
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| Well, that was wrong because after only one block the trail turns left so I had to cross back over. |
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| Then it's left on North Main Street where there is mostly no bike lane but there wasn't much traffic. |
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| Then it's right on the trail uphill ... |
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| Turning around and heading back. So the bottom line is, if you are not being particular like I was, having to meet up with another section I had ridden, then skip this road part. It really isn't worth it. |
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| Back to the right on that quiet road steeply uphill. |
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| And happy to be back on the trail. |
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| There are still some uphill sections on the way back but there is a lot more easy downhill coasting in this direction. |
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| Leaving the Putnam Country Trailway back to the North County Trailway. |
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| Dark clouds were moving in so I was finishing up just in time. |
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| Back at the parking lot around 2:00 PM and it was packed with more cars coming in looking for a spot. |
