Washington Valley Park (Somerville, NJ) 7 miles

Ok, so this is a weird one. I read somewhere online that this trail made it into the top 10 most scenic trails in the US. So after such praise, gotta try it, right? WRONG! This was the most confusing, agonizing trip ever.

First of all, getting there from NYC is tough - expect at least a 1.5-hour trip + multiple tolls.

Second, where the hell is the TRAIL? I tried to follow directions from this website (http://www.trimbleoutdoors.com/) to no avail. We found the "parking lot" mentioned in it, which had a huge NO PARKING sign next to it, but we never located the "entrance" to the trail, because it just was not there. We ended up parking in the Newmans Lane parking lot that looked like an entrance to the trail and it kind of was, except that the trail was more of a hiking trail or a super advanced mountain biking trail that stretched for 1 mile only. Then we looked for the entrance to the other side of the park that we never found. It was soooooo frustrating! Several times we would spot something that looked like a trail alng the Gilbride Road just to discover that 1000 feet into the woods it became un-ridable.

For a while we refused to give up and attempted to ride down Miller Lane. We did discover a paved trail there but our excitement was NOT warranted, b/c the paved trail was like 500 feet long. Then we spotted an unpaved trail and followed it down the hill expecting to reach the Buttermilk Falls judging by the map, but what we found was a dam full of teenagers and another unridable trail. That was when we gave up...

Anyway, a total waste of a day: there were no signs anywhere, parking was hard and we did not find any paths worth riding. Not surprisingly, I give this trail a D grade. Venture at your own risk!

Forest Park Trail (Kew Gardens, NY) 6 miles

This trail was the natural choice for us, because it is so close to our house and we have known about it for a while. It is a paved 3 mile stretch with several major road crossings. If you do not want to ride in traffic or cross roads the trail will be about 1.5 miles long. You can park anywhere along the Park Lane South on the south side of the park.





Well, let's just say we were not at all impressed by this park. The trail is rather short and seems to be crowded at all times. Also, it gets rather seedy in the evening with questionable characters lurking in the woods. The unpaved trails that look like they would be fun to mountain bike on, are actually for horse riding only and you will get fined if you bike there.

Overall, the trail gets a C grade. There is not enough space for a good ride and riding back and forth is just not fun. The crowds do not help either.

Cunningham Park (Queens, NY)

Cunningham Park gives you the best of both worlds: 1st class professionally-crafted and maintained mountain biking trails and a 4 mile (round-trip) Greenway path for a relaxed bike in the woods. As long-time residents of Queens, we honestly had no idea we had such an amazing park literally minutes away from us and we credit our new bikes for the find.

The three levels of mountain biking trails will rock your world.  "Easy" gives you a long fairly bumpless ride around the park. It is easy to follow the trail signs and stay on the path. "Medium" gets a little more adventurous with tons of rocks, fallen trees for jumps and challenging turns. "Hard" trails are the crazy ones with jumps, trees in the road and steep hills. As you can see, there is a trail here for everyone. It also does not hurt that the vegetation is ridiculously rich and you feel like you are biking in a jungle.

When you are tired after hours of mountain biking, relax on the 2-mile Greenway, a popular local walking/biking spot that is moderately crowded. 

Tip: park in the nifty parking lot right off of Hollis Hills Terrace (make a right on Hollis while driving West on 73rd Ave) and you will be right at the start of the Greenway.

The terrain in hilly and may be challenging at times, but definitely manageable. As an added bonus, you reach the Alley Pond Tennis club at the end of the greenway, so you can score a quick game of tennis.

Overall, Cunningham Park gets an A grade for the mountain biking trails and a solid B grade for the other paved trails, including the Greenway connection to Alley Pond Park.

Little Neck Bay Trail through Alley Pond Park (Queens, NY) 16 miles

Cunningham and Alley Pond Park trails deserve their own entries so I will discuss them separately. This particular route was devised by moi after I saw the NYC biking map, but I think I am not the first one to come up with the idea to "connect" the trails in Alley Pond and Little Neck Bay.

So on Monday, we got bored by the trails in Cunningham Park and decided to try to reach the biking path along Little Neck Bay from Alley Pond. The result was some strenuous street biking, some problems with navigation, but we made it! The ride was about 18 miles round-trip (actually it would be around 16 miles if we did not get lost).

We started at Cunningham Park, then connected through the greenway path to Alley Pond Park and then navigated the streets until we hit the Little Neck Bay bike path that stretches along the Bay all the way to Throgsneck Brigde. Unfortunately, it also stretches along a busy Cross Island Parkway on the other side and whatever fresh air you may be getting from the salt water breeze, will be counteracted by the fumes emanating from the highway.

The pathway is a regular paved biking path, rather even with lots of walkers, roller bladers and fellow bikers. Again, not the 1st choice for a mountain biker, but I felt it was a must do while exploring Queens.

Overall, we give this route a C grade. The highway makes the path way less enjoyable than it can be and street navigation is a bit tricky.

Rockland Lake Trail (Congers, NY) 3 miles

Rockland Lake Biking Trail should be mentioned among good trails in the Nyack vicinity. If you have completed the Havestraw trail (you can see it on the map below following the Hudson bank on the right), but still in the mood for some biking, you can try this 3 mile recreational trail that loops around the majestic Rockland Lake.

The park is a giganticly beautiful picnic oasis and thus may be quite crowded on the weekends, but it is an otherwise pleasurable ride through varied scenery including some secluded wooded area. Pack a picnic and $8 if you want to venture on this ride.

Tip: park 300 feet away from parking field 3 at the Havestraw Trail entrance (take a right at the fork among the houses on Rockland Lake Rd)  and save yourself the admission fee.

Overall, this trail gets a solid B grade. It is not mountain biking per se, but quite a scenic route that deserves a loop while you are in the area.

Havestraw Trail (Nyack, NY) 10 miles

I found this trail by chance while google-mapping the tri-state area with a "biking directions" option on and it has proven to be one of the best trails we have encountered so far. It is easily accessible from NYC via the Tappan Zee bridge and is located minutes away from a cute town of Nyack, NY in Hook Mountain State Park. Being a State Park, obviously, there is an $8 entrance fee during summer time.

You can choose to park on Nyack Beach where you will find facilities and the "official" entrance to the trail. The first 1.5 mile stretch is an unpaved gravel-like even road that trails along the bank of the Hudson River. You will encounter tons of people taking leisurely strolls with their pets so be careful while navigating.

Once the trail veers off away from the beach and into the woods, a real mountain biking trail starts. Dubbed the Havestraw Trail, it is a 3.5 mile ride through a dense forest along the elevated bank of the Hudson. You will be surrounded by pristine nature and gorgeous mountains and the trail is only partially paved. The terrain is hilly and there are several prolonged descents and ascents, but mostly it is an enjoyable, albeit tough, ride through beautiful historic scenery.

You may choose to forego the ride through the beach and the $8 fee and enter the trail through the road next to Rockland Lake Park (follow Route 9W to Rockland State Park, drive into the park grounds and look for a fork after the second parking lot field, take a right at the fork and the entrance to the road leading to the trail will be right after the cute antique-looking firehouse). You can park your car at a small parking lot on top of the hill (the entrance point to the Havestraw Trail is marked on the map) and descend down a rather steep hill. Yes, the ride down is enjoyable, but boy is it hard to climb back up, especially when you are tired after several hours of biking.

The Havestraw Trail ends in Havestraw and there is also a small parking lot there. However, there are no facilities and your closest water source is 2 miles away in the Town of Havestraw, so be sure to pack enough water to last you for the whole trip. As novices in the biking world, we learned the hard way the importance of taking enough water with us.

Overall, the trail gets an A grade from us: it was scenic, mostly unpaved and not crowded despite it being Memorial Day weekend. We will definitely be back!