Difficulty Rating:
5 out of 5
There are now 6 route variations of this route. The labeled RWGPS link is the original route: east of Hudson access, Rt 23A ascent, Mohonk on return.
A great summer ride with lots of climbing on beautiful roads. It requires lots of daylight (see note below), stamina and buff quads—leave yourself plenty of time to make the return train before dark as there are no bailouts. Lunch at Maggies Krooked Cafe in Tannersville or, a better option is Brios in Phoenicia as only 45 miles left to Poughkeepsie after one of the main climbs of the day: Hunter Mountain (4.3 miles and about 1500 feet of vertical). At 95 miles the route climbs Mohonk. 6500+ vertical climbing. Unless you have legs of steel, a compact double or triple is de rigueur for the Devil's Kitchen ascent. Metro North both ways, bike pass needed. Check current timetable. This ride requires a lot of daylight: consider May, June, July, beginning of August.
Revisiting this ride 2 years later, we have an updated west of Hudson, Devil's Kitchen, Mohonk addition that employs the New York State Trail as much as possible. Thank you Ryan Watkins, Will Fleming, Bryan Li, and Derek Chu.
I put the restaurants in italics because restaurants are in flux post covid. Do your homework online and make sure the places you intend to eat are in business and open when you intend to be there. Short of that, carry plenty of pocket food and fluids for this ride.
HS 6/22/2023
HS 3/5/2021
