Highway 218 cuts along the side of Storm King Mountain like a shelf, and few roads in New York State feel so dramatic. The route was blasted out of the cliff in the early twentieth century, a narrow ledge above the Hudson with a low stone parapet and a sheer drop to the river on one side and rock on the other. Opened in the early 1920s, it was among the first scenic roads built expressly for motorists, and for a rider the experience is intimate, twisting and slow, with the river shining far below.
Storm King holds a special place in American conservation history. In the 1960s the power company Con Edison proposed building a giant pumped-storage plant inside the mountain, and local residents and a new group called Scenic Hudson fought it for years, arguing that natural beauty deserved legal weight. The court case that followed helped establish the right of citizens to challenge environmental decisions, and the project was finally dropped in 1980. The movement it started is often seen as the beginning of modern environmental law. Close by, the Storm King Art Center spreads vast sculptures across a hillside meadow.
The land around is steeped in history. West Point, the military academy, stands on the river a few kilometres north, and the old town of New Windsor was the site of the Continental Army's final encampment at the end of the Revolution, in 1782 and 1783, when thousands of soldiers waited here for peace. The Hudson narrows at the Highlands into a fjord-like gorge, with forest-covered mountains rising from the water.
The road demands care. The corners are tight and blind, the shoulders are narrow, there is rockfall in spring, and it is sometimes closed for repairs, so check before you go. Large vehicles are discouraged, but cyclists and walkers are common. The best time is early morning in autumn, when the leaves are turning and the river is misty. Fuel and food are in Cornwall, New Windsor and Newburgh, and there is nothing on the mountain itself.