Appalachian Trail Ridge Day
3 passes in 660 km, topping out at 1120 m
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Why this ride
A rider’s loop: clean exit, memorable middle, calm return. A 660 km loop that starts and ends near West Long Branch, about 12 h of riding. On the way it passes Dover Beaches North and Wurtsboro. The climbs: near Saint James, Scenic stretch near Fort Salonga and in Crandon Lakes.
Roadbook
- Fuel stop near West Long Branch
fuel
Fuel at 0 km.
- Dover Beaches North
food
When Hurricane Sandy struck the Jersey Shore in October 2012, Ortley Beach, part of Dover Beaches North, was one of the hardest-hit places on the coast. The storm surge swept across the barrier island, destroying hundreds of houses and leaving sand piled in the streets. The community has been rebuilt, with new houses raised on stilts, but the memory of the storm is still fresh.
Dover Beaches North lies on the Barnegat Peninsula, a narrow strip of sand between the Atlantic and Barnegat Bay, in Ocean County, New Jersey. Route 35 runs along the island, through a string of beach towns, and the ocean beaches are wide and sandy, with lifeguards in summer. Seaside Heights, to the south, has a boardwalk with amusement rides, arcades and food stands.
Barnegat Bay, on the western side of the island, is shallow and calm, popular with boaters, kayakers and crabbers. Blue crabs are a local delicacy, and the seafood shacks along the bay serve them steamed, with Old Bay seasoning.
The riding on the island is flat and straight, with Route 35 carrying heavy traffic in summer. The bridges to the mainland can be congested on weekends. Watch for pedestrians, cyclists and cars pulling out of driveways.
Fuel is easier on the mainland side of the bridges than on the island. Off season, from October to May, the whole peninsula falls quiet, the boardwalk shutters come down, and Route 35 becomes a pleasant, breezy ride between ocean and bay with hardly anyone else on it.
- High point near Saint James
pass
This is where the road stops climbing.
- Scenic stretch near Fort Salonga
pass
Fort Salonga takes its name from a British stronghold of the Revolutionary War. Fort Slongo stood on a bluff above Long Island Sound, and in 1781 American troops crossed the water from Connecticut and raided it. Nothing much remains, but the name lives on in this leafy corner of the North Shore, between Kings Park and Northport, where wooded hills drop to rocky beaches and the Sound glitters to the north.
Riding here means Route 25A, the old North Shore road that wanders east from the city through villages, past estates and over gentle hills. It is not fast, but it is pretty, with stone walls, old churches and the occasional glimpse of the water. Nearby, Sunken Meadow State Park has a long boardwalk and views across to the Connecticut shore, and the bluffs at Fort Salonga itself offer a quiet stop with similar outlooks.
Traffic can be heavy, especially on summer weekends when half of Long Island heads to the beaches, and the road is lined with driveways and junctions, so stay alert. Deer are common at dusk. Northport, just to the east, is a lovely harbour village with a main street sloping down to the water, cafés and a long maritime history, including shipbuilding and oystering.
For fuel and food, Northport, Kings Park and Commack all have plenty of choice, and delis and bagel shops abound. From here, the route continues east towards the North Fork, where the land narrows, vineyards and farm stands replace the suburbs, and the lighthouses at the end of the island beckon. Fort Salonga is a gentle pause on the way, a reminder that even the busy North Shore keeps pockets of history and quiet.
- Near Wurtsboro, on the way back
swim
Gliders have been launching from the airfield at Wurtsboro since the late 1920s, and it claims to be the oldest soaring site in the United States. On summer afternoons, sailplanes circle silently over the Shawangunk Ridge, riding the thermals and the updrafts along the cliffs. The spot is close to Wurtsboro, in the valley between the Shawangunks and the Catskills, in Sullivan County, New York.
The Delaware and Hudson Canal, which carried coal from Pennsylvania to the Hudson in the nineteenth century, ran through this valley, and traces of the old towpath and locks survive. The Bashakill, a large marsh south of Wurtsboro, is a wildlife area full of birds, beavers and turtles, with trails and a boardwalk.
Sullivan County was the heart of the Borscht Belt, the resort area where Jewish families from New York spent their summers in the mid-twentieth century, and comedians like Jerry Lewis and Joan Rivers started their careers in the hotel showrooms. Most of the big hotels have closed, but the memory lingers.
For a swim, the lakes of Sullivan County have beaches and swimming areas, and some state parks have designated areas. Check before you go, as rules vary.
The roads are the reason to linger. Route 209 runs along the valley with the ridge always in view, and the climb over the Shawangunks on Route 52 towards Ellenville gives a famous lookout over the whole valley to the Catskills. Surfaces vary, frost heaves are common, and deer are everywhere at dusk. Wurtsboro's small main street has fuel and a diner or two, and Ellenville has more.
- Photo stop in Crandon Lakes pass
- Mott Haven
finish
The southernmost tip of the Bronx is where Mott Haven and Port Morris meet the Harlem and East rivers, a grid of brick tenements, warehouses, rail yards and highway viaducts just across the water from Manhattan and Randall's Island. The area takes its name from Jordan Mott, an inventor who opened an iron works here in the 1840s, and the factories that followed made the South Bronx an industrial district for generations.
Mott Haven became a symbol of urban decline in the 1970s, when fires and abandonment swept through the South Bronx, and it was also part of the borough where hip hop was born at block parties of that era. Today it is changing fast, with new apartment buildings, galleries and restaurants along the waterfront, while many long-time residents worry about rising rents. The historic district around Alexander Avenue has handsome rows of nineteenth-century brownstones and churches, and the streets have a lively, Latin flavour, with music, bodegas and food carts.
The riding in is pure city. The Major Deegan Expressway, the Bruckner and the approaches to the Third Avenue, Willis Avenue and Triborough bridges cross here in a tangle of ramps and viaducts, with heavy trucks heading to the markets at Hunts Point, potholes, and fast lane changes. Some bridges are free and others charge tolls, collected electronically. It is noisy and hectic, and after a day in the Appalachian hills or the Catskill gorges it will feel like riding into a beehive.
Fuel, food and coffee are easy to find, and the neighbourhood's restaurants serve Puerto Rican, Dominican and Mexican food at fair prices. A plate of rice, beans and roast pork is the right meal after a long ride.
To clear your head before parking up, Randall's Island is just across a footbridge or a short ride away, with parks, sports fields and paths along the river where you can watch the sun set behind Manhattan. From here, every route into the city or home is close, and you have the satisfaction of having ridden from the mountains to the middle of one of the world's great cities in a single day.
- Back to Appalachian Trail
finish
It is flat, leafy, comfortable suburban country a few minutes from the beach, with big oaks, old estates, horse farms and the sort of golf courses that surround an affluent coast. The sense of the sea is never far, in the gulls and the light.
History has left a few marks. At Monmouth University, in West Long Branch, the great mansion known as Shadow Lawn stands on the campus, a grand building that was rebuilt after a fire in the 1920s. Its predecessor served as the summer White House of President Woodrow Wilson in 1916, when he accepted his party's nomination there. Not far away, Monmouth Park, in Oceanport, has hosted thoroughbred racing since the nineteenth century, and the Long Branch beachfront, once a resort for presidents, still has a long boardwalk and old Victorian houses.
The riding nearby is gentle coast and country. Ocean Avenue and the roads along the barrier beaches offer sea views and cooling breezes, though weekend traffic in summer is thick. In the inland lanes, you pass horse paddocks, farm stands with sweet corn and tomatoes, and tree-lined stretches with stone walls. Surfaces are generally good, though potholes appear after winter, and in July and August the shore can be slow and crowded. Sunrise rides along the oceanfront are a pleasure in May or September, when the roads are open and the beaches nearly empty.
Fuel, diners and delis are everywhere. West Long Branch has about eight thousand people, and the larger towns of Long Branch and Red Bank are close, with plenty of cafes and music venues. Asbury Park, famous for Bruce Springsteen and its restored boardwalk, is a short ride south. Pork roll breakfast sandwiches are the local speciality, and a boardwalk slice of pizza is a good lunch. May to October is the main season, and the quietest roads come on a weekday in September.