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| Back to the main page for this ride Route description: North County Trailway, Westchester New information, updated spring 2004 Mileages between points: =============================== Eastview Spur Trail: 1.2 miles Eastview <--> Pleasantville: 3.7 miles (approx.) Pleasantville <--> Millwood: 4.9 miles Millwood <--> Kitchawan (reservoir bridge): 2.8 miles Kitchawan <--> Yorktown Heights: 4.5 miles Yorktown Heights <--> Baldwin Place (county line): 5.6 miles Baldwin Place <--> Old trail end: 2.0 miles (approx.) Old trail end <--> Closed bridge: 3.3 miles (NOTE: After the short on-road section, the trail turns right, and this is not well marked as of spring 2004. Look for the fire station at the first cross road. The trail turns right after crossing this road.) =============================== TOTAL: 28 miles one-way (approx.) DESCRIPTION: The North and South County Trailways follow the railroad bed of the old Putnam County Railroad, and are part of the Westchester County Trailway system. The South County Trailway runs from the Bronx up to I-287 (Cross-Westchester Expressway). The North County Trailway starts at Eastview, just off the Saw Mill Parkway a few miles north of I-287. The North County Trailway extends clear up into Putnam County, and may someday extend all the way into Connecticut. Of the two trailways, the North County is by far the nicer and longer. At the moment there is a very poor dirt track between the two trailways. It is possible to ride between the two on paved roads, but that requires negotiating an extremely congested and busy road in Elmsford (Rt. 9A), so it's not really worth it. Someday they may complete the link between the North and South County Trailways and create a paved trail that lets you ride all the way from the NYC line up into Putnam County, but for the moment the longest usable stretch is between Eastview and a bridge under construction about 6.25 miles north of the Putnam County line. This bridge is near US Route 6, and a casual post-ride survey showed that there is paved trail beyond it, though the extent of this is not known. The Directions page for this ride shows three spots to meet, from Eastview (the southernmost limit of the North County Trailway) to Millwood, about nine miles north. The meeting place chosen need not affect the length of the ride, since all the access points are right on the trail... just ride back past your car on the return leg if you want a longer ride, and turn around when you're ready to go home. The southern end at Eastview has a spur trail about 1.2 miles long (not part of the old railroad bed) that skirts the two Tarrytown reservoirs. It's entirely possible to do a long day's ride (nearly 50 miles) on the existing trailway if you ride the entire length of it both ways including the spur section, with almost no interaction with traffic, no climbing of any note, and beautiful scenery. What more could you ask for? There are a few spots (some just south of Millwood, some about 2.5 miles up into Putnam County) where the trailway is actually on a road, but these places are short and have good, wide shoulders... it's certainly safer than many if not most of the other ride routes we do. The total amount of on-road riding is less than a mile and a half along the entire rideable length of the trailway. By parking in Millwood and turning around where it meets the road in Mahopac, it's possible to completely eliminate any riding on roads (except for the odd street crossing). The trail is in excellent condition and is paved along its entire length. Being an old railroad bed, there are no significant climbs (except for a few moderate ones on the Putnam County section way up north), though it does tend upwards ever so slightly going north from the reservoir bridge to Yorktown Heights (maybe one or two percent). The flip side is, of course, that you get to go downhill most of the time coming back south... there are some top-gear stretches that go on for miles. Whoo hoo! The trail is equipped with police call boxes, but no facilities. It does pass through Yorktown Heights about 7.5 miles from the north end (Yorktwon Heights is about 16 miles from Eastview, 12 miles from Pleasantville, seven miles from Millwood), and you should be able to find a spot to rest your area or grab a snack. There also are some stores not far from where the trail crosses the Putnam County line at Baldwin Place, as well as a deli across the road where it merges with the trail north of Baldwin Place. As of spring 2004, there was a pile of dirt and rocks inexplicably placed across the trail in Mahopac, where the trail empties out onto the road for a short stretch. It's easy to bypass this, since there is a cross street only a few dozen yards from the blockage. The trail effectively ends at an uncompleted bridge across a deep gorge about 5.5 miles up into Putnam County. Paved trail is visible beyond this bridge. There also are signs of work on the bridge, so it should be completed in the not too distant future. |