Find the top rated birding trails in Beacon, whether you're looking for an easy short birding trail or a long birding trail, you'll find what you're looking for. Click on a birding trail below to find trail descriptions, trail maps, photos, and reviews.
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Completely paved and in great condition from Wassaic to Millerton. Tree covered and shaded most of the way. Passing farmland, ponds, horses, sheep, apple farms. Only a few roads you pass over. One main road (not very busy at all) and a few smaller country roads (saw no cars). They are currently extending it farther North of Millerton but for now, the ride firm Waasaic to Millerton and back I believe is just about 20 miles.
My wife, dog and I ride the trail nearly every day. The Hartley road entrance is a bit tricky but once you figure out how to get to in its a piece of cake. Hint...when you get into Goshen and get to the end of the first part of the trail follow the dirt path to the fence, there is a gate, be courteous and shut it behind you and ride thru the development and you will be in connect with railroad ave and see the connection for the rest of the trail. Enjoy!!!
Beautiful in fall, but a workout going from Brewster. A few major hills.
Having not ridden this trail before we made the mistake of trying to start at the very bottom end of the trail (0.0 mi), and later in the day than normal. Even though the TrailLink map indicates that parking was 2.5mi further north, we figured we'd give it shot. Mistake. Don't do that. There truly isn't any place to park, unless you want to leave your car randomly on the side of the rode on somebody's private property. 😂
We parked up in the Gardiner lot (Main & 2nd, 2.5mi mark on the trail). We rode north from there. What a great ride. Trail is mostly shaded, covered by the tress. The leaves where changing colors. It made for a very tranquil, fall covered tunnel feeling. The was flat and well maintained. We encountered other riders, joggers, and walkers along the way. We passed through farmland, apple orchards, and small communities. The trail takes you over roads and streams.
We stopped in New Paltz for lunch. We found a bike rack near the edge of the trail and locked our bikes there. We sat outside and enjoyed a nice meal at The Parish (New Orleans fare).
We continued our ride north for another 3mi or so before we had to turn back as it was getting late and didn't want to be on the trail when the sun set. (Note - we got a very late start at the beginning of the day). The trail north of New Paltz seemed to grow less traveled, a bit more narrow. As much as we enjoyed the souther portion of our ride, it seemed to me that the norther portion was shaping up to be even prettier.
We definitely plan to ride this trail again. (I've tagged it in my Google Maps) We will plan for a longer day so that we can explore further north of New Paltz. I think I will pack lunch in a backpack so that we can stop somewhere along the trail, stream side as there where some nice pull off areas.
The trail itself is beautiful, however you take your life in your hands trying to pull in/out of Rt. 299 with your vehicle as the cyclists fly past the giant stop signs. There needs to be speed bumps or a gate to force them to stop. This is a fatality waiting to happen.
I'm a local who lives just down the mountain and I often frequent the trail. I love the tracks that remain from the some of the first times our area was booming. Tourists seem to hate them, which is ironic because that's how they were able to get to the area back in the day.
This is a great, scenic route that weaves its way through at least 3 different parks in the area, and under quite a few bridges. Mainly flat and most of the trail is covered by nice tree canopy to keep you shaded. We had a great time traveling the entire length of the trail (and back) today. However, that said, I do have to agree with some of the other posts on this site...the path can get a bit congested in areas (like the trail head by the duck pond, and as you ride through the parks). This is the only reason i didnt give a 5 star review. A lot of the walkers didnt honor the keep right except to pass rule, others walked 2 sometimes 3 abreast taking up the majority of the pathway, and still others stopped in groups in the middle of the trail. My advice would be to hit this on off peak days/hours, but if you do go on a weekend or holiday, and your on a bike, just make sure you announce yourself and advise those in front of you that you are passing on the left. The majority of trail users were considerate and moved over to the right when needed. All in all, it was a great ride, and i would recommend it to beginner to intermediate cyclists.
We just finished riding this trail yesterday 9/9/19 and we have to say this is the best maintained paved trail we have ever rode our bikes on.
We started from the southern endpoint in Hopewell Junction and rode the trail to Poughkeepsie where we rode over the Walkway Over The Hudson on onto the Hudson Valley Rail Trail to New Paltz. There are train stations along the way where you can sit a a picnic table and eat or you can try one of the food trucks at the walkway before or after crossing the Hudson.
The trail is wide with plenty of room for three bikes to pass each other and there are not too many road crossings and none of them are busy roads. The thing that stood out to us as we rode was the trail signs directing you to the different points and the entrance and exit ramps to the many parking areas and local road access points along the way with the many benches to sit if you want to take a break. The trail is mostly wooded and there is not much to see as far as scenery but if you looking for a level smooth place to ride, this trail is a great choice.
This trail is just 1.2 miles from our home and is by far our favorite trail to ride. We enter the trail at the northern endpoint in Dutchtown in Haverstraw and ride to Nyack Beach Park and back. The 12.3 mile ride can be done in less then an hour or you can ride up the mountain and include the loop around Rockland Lake State Park where you can also park and enter the trail from. This trail winds up and down along Hook Mountain State Park with views from high over the Hudson River and then down along the rivers edge to Nyack Beach State Park. If you can get out during the week you can have the trail to yourself. Hybrid or mountain bikes are the better choice but you can make the trip on a road bike if your carful. If you live in this area you shouldn't miss this hidden gem.
We have biked this trail numerous times over the past 7 years and it's one of the trails we always go back to. We usually start at the Millwood parking lot and head north. The bridge over the Croton Reservoir is the highlight of the trip. There are horse farms and wooded sections along a rock gorge before you merge onto the Putnam Trailway. The trail is crowded on weekends so if you can get away during the week you will have this trail to yourself pretty much until the afternoon.
We had a wonderful time riding from Gardiner on the southern endpoint to Rosendale when we turned around due to the weather changing for the worse. We rode back to New Paltz and ate at "The Station" restaurant right on the trail before heading back to our car in Gardiner. The trail was level and wooded which was a blessing since the temperature was nearing 90 degrees. There are several bridges and streams to cross and beautiful scenery.
The only drawback was since its a packed dirt trail there was quite a bit of mud to evade or in some places unable to evade. The thick black mud coated our bikes and ourselves pretty good. Our advice is to avoid riding in the rain or just after a heaving rain and pick a nice dry day to ride.
Overall we loved the trail and will go back this fall and finish the northern section and adjacent trails.
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