New York, New Jersey & Pennsylvania
When I travel around the country by motorcycle I always get the same astonished reaction from the motorcyclists I meet on the road. “How can you even think of riding in New York?” Stereotypes being what they are, out-of-towners always equate the State of New York with New York City. Let’s put New York in perspective for the ‘foreigners’. The State of New York occupies a land mass of 54,556 square miles. The 5 boroughs of New York City occupy a mere 302 of those square miles. In the map image below the area shaded in blue shows the 5 boroughs of New York City. There’s a whole lot of New York outside of the city!
I’ve written before about riding in New York’s Catskill Mountains. I’ll be writing about riding in the far more impressive Adirondack Mountains; as well as in the stunning Finger Lakes Region of Western New York in later posts. In this episode I’m just going to talk about some great riding near NYC (New York City). The area we’ll be riding today is shaded in purple in the map image above.
Getting Out Of Dodge
The little red dot in the map above represents where I live out on Long Island. I have to ride through the traffic horror story of metropolitan New York to get to the wonderful areas north of the city. My go-to procedure is to leave home at dark and be through NYC before sunrise. Ninety percent of the time I’ll cruise right through without dropping below sixth gear. Sometimes an overnight construction project will bite you in the butt and get you caught up in ridiculous traffic delays…even in this early AM hour.
Great Riding Near NYC
First stop today is Harriman State park…less than 30 miles north of New York City’s George Washington Bridge. Route 106 (a/k/a Kanawauke Road) takes you east-to-west through the park on some of the most scenically beautiful and technically-challenging roads you’ll find anywhere.
This road is no secret to New York area motorcyclists, so try to get there early in the day to enjoy it to the fullest. Furthermore, Harriman State Park, with its numerous lakes and beaches, is a popular destination for folks escaping New York City on weekends. It can get pretty congested later in the day.
Parked alone alongside Lake Kanawauke in the early morning hours
The park was especially deserted this day. It had just reopened two days earlier after a near month long closure. The powerful record-breaking storms that rolled through this area of New York State did some serious damage to infrastructure. The main thoroughfares obviously got the first attention from the construction crews brought in for road repairs. These park roads were the last to reopen. As of this riding day (August 5, 2023) Bear Mountain State Park, just 12 miles north, was still closed.
Some damage from the storms that roared through New York in early July 2023
Lake Tiorati
I took a right off route 106 onto Seven Lakes Drive and drove north a couple of miles to Lake Tiorati. It was eerily deserted at this normally popular spot. The recently-removed road closure barriers, installed following the storms, were still lying by the side of the road. I broke the morning silence by launching my drone into the skies to capture an aerial view of Lake Tiorati before attempting to head further north.
I found the road to Bear Mountain State Park still under storm closure at the Tiorati traffic circle. Did a 180 degree sweep around the traffic circle and headed back south to Route 106. Stopped for one more photo op by the edge of Lake Kanawauke before heading west out of the park.
A New Route Begins
I should mention that I had planned most of today’s routes before leaving home using Kurviger, what I consider to be the best motorcycle trip planning app out there. The second segment of today’s ride started at the western boundary of Harriman State Park. The GPS led me on nothing but remote, rural back roads through Orange County, NY and into Sussex County, NJ.
One of the great twisty, curvy motorcycle roads suggested by the Kurviger navigational resource
When I was looking over the maps yesterday I spotted a town named Beemerville on the computer screen. I had Kurviger route me through this town with the hope of finding an appropriate sign to park my BMW motorcycle under. The Beemerville Garage provided me with the perfect backdrop I was hoping for.
Breakfast Break
Somewhere outside of Beemerville I spotted a sign for The Airport Diner. I recalled having a good meal there on a previous ride so I followed the signs. It didn’t disappoint. Not only were the Eggs Benedict absolutely delicious, they were only $9.99! Nope…we’re certainly not in NYC any more.
The Airport diner is located right on NJ County Road 639 at the Sussex Airport. On a nice day like today you get to pass the time at breakfast watching numerous parachutists landing in the fields adjacent to the airport.
Next Stop: High Point
The highest elevation in New Jersey is at a somewhat laughable altitude of 1803 feet. It is located at High Point State Park…a park that is highlighted by The High Point Veteran’s Monument. The official description on the visitingnj.org website states:
“At 1,800 feet, the views from here of the Kittatinny Mountains are spectacular, but for a real bird’s-eye view, climb the more than 200 stairs to the top of High Point Monument.”
I went a step further than that. I deployed my drone again for this view captured from 300 feet above the highest point in New Jersey:
Even on this beautiful Saturday there were very few visitors at the monument. The picture below shows the nearly deserted parking lot.
When you enter the park there are two options to reach the monument. Opt for the “scenic route”. It is a one lane, one-way road that is a lot of fun on two wheels. Another bonus: There is no parking charge imposed upon motorcycles at this state park.
On To Milford, Pennsylvania
One of the reasons I did this great riding near NYC today was to meet up with some friends from the MSTA (Motorcycle Sport Touring Association). They were having their annual “Eagle’s Quest Rally” in the popular destination town of Milford, PA. Once again the Kurviger Navigation App put me on some spectacular motorcycling roads.
Every kind of rural, deserted back road; from the high speed sweeper above, or the shaded, forested lane below, were encountered.
Have I told you how much I like the Kurviger App? What was truly amazing was that the New Jersey State Fair was going on about 12 miles away when these photos were taken. I barely passed another vehicle on these back roads the whole time.
Hawk’s Nest
I passed within a few miles of NY Route 97 on my way to Milford. For those that don’t recognize this numbered road it is locally known as “Hawk’s Nest Highway”. It runs alongside The Delaware River; the boundary between NY State and Pennsylvania. The featured photograph at the beginning of this post is a ground level view of Hawk’s Nest. I took a short blast on Hawk’s Nest because…well, because it’s there. I stopped at one of the scenic overlooks and sent my drone up for a final aerial image of the day:
A warning to those that might travel out of their way to ride “Hawk’s Nest”… The section of this iconic road, with its incredible curves, and scenic Delaware River overlooks, is only about 2-1/2 miles in length. Don’t get me wrong. Route 97 is a nice ride. But this awesome curvy, scenic section of it is rather short.
Staying The Night
I continued west on NY Route 97 to Lackawaxen, PA before turning south, and then east, back towards Milford. By the time I arrived at my motel I had put a tad over 200 miles on the odometer. Amazing. All of this great riding near NYC! For my two-wheeled friends on Long Island this is an easy day trip…round trip…especially if you don’t take all the little out-of-the-way detours I took. Today was some of the best riding I’ve done all year. That says a lot if you know that I’ve also ridden the Blue Ridge Mountains, The Great Smoky Mountains, The Foothills, “421 The Snake” and “The Back of the Dragon” this year.
I made this trip into an overnighter to hang out with my colleagues from the MSTA. We stayed at The Myer Country Motel in Milford, PA. What a great place for a motorcycle group gathering. The venue has about 20 individual cabins arranged in a circle around a common lawn with picnic benches, bar-b-que grills and shade trees. Everyone has their own private cabin, yet everyone has a great area to socialize. Bonus: Each cabin has its own private driveway for your bike.
Private driveway alongside every cabin at The Myer Country Motel
The rooms were comfortable and clean. My cabin had a brand new bathroom with stunning contemporary tile and fixtures. The rest of the room was typical 1960’s rural cabin style.
Old Friends, New Friends
A dear friend of mine, of some 30 years, rode over to Milford on his Triumph; from his home in Pennsylvania’s Pocono Mountains. We met at The Dimmick Inn…one of the most popular spots in Milford. This iconic venue features a well-stocked bar, a huge indoor dining room; plus outdoor dining, with live music, on the deck that wraps around the building which was built in 1828. The menu features everything from typical pub fare to rack of lamb. There’s something for every palate and budget.
I spent the evening with my MSTA friends and we got together the next morning for breakfast before saying our good-byes. The riders had come from as far away as West Virginia and Maine. I headed back to Long Island through New York’s Hudson Valley and Connecticut. Overall it was a wonderful two days of great riding near NYC. If you find yourself in the area give this region a try. You won’t be disappointed. The complete curvy map image of Saturday’s ride is below.
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Beautiful area, a great choice to escape LI