Rockland County is the bit of New York State that feels like New Jersey and the Hudson Valley at the same time: suburban towns like Nanuet, West Nyack and Blauvelt, with shopping centres and highways, and then suddenly steep wooded ridges, cliffs above the river and old villages with church spires. Blauvelt and West Nyack sit in the middle of it, a few kilometres from the Hudson.
The river is the big presence here, even if you cannot see it from the town. Just east, the Palisades and Hook Mountain rise above the water, and the village of Nyack, on the bank, is a lively little place of old houses, cafés and antique shops, where the painter Edward Hopper was born; his childhood home is now an arts centre. The new Governor Mario M. Cuomo Bridge, which replaced the old Tappan Zee in 2017 and 2018, crosses the Hudson here with a cable-stayed span and a path for walkers and cyclists.
Swimming in the area is mostly in pools rather than lakes. Rockland Lake, a few kilometres north, was once the centre of a huge ice industry, where blocks of ice were cut in winter and shipped down the Hudson to New York City; today it is a state park with a lake for walking and boating, and swimming pools for summer. Tallman Mountain State Park, near Sparkill, also has a public pool. The lakes and reservoirs in the area, like Lake DeForest, are mostly off limits to swimmers.
The riding is mixed. The main roads, Route 59, Route 303 and the Palisades Interstate Parkway, are busy and suburban, but the smaller roads up onto the ridges and along the river, such as Route 9W and the road to Hook Mountain, have good curves and great views over the Hudson, especially in autumn. Traffic is heavy at rush hour, and the roads can be rough. Watch for deer in the wooded areas.
Blauvelt and Nanuet have fuel, diners and shopping, and Nyack has the best food in the area, with restaurants and cafés along Main Street and Broadway. Stop there, walk down to the riverside park and watch the light on the Hudson before you head back south over the bridges.