I was thinking of getting vacation home in Catskills. Any suggestions of where to look for good cycling (hopefully from out door) and not too far from good hiking. I was so far thinking of Big Indian/Phonecia area. Saw some condos on realtor.com for Denver, NY, but don’t know much about that area. Any suggestions?
isn’t there a small stage race in the catskills? found it…
http://www.tourofthecatskills.com/
dont know if that answers your question though… i live near there, but have never ridden there…
Catskills is a fairly large region. You can draw a triangle from New Paltz to Binghamton to Windham and you will find the riding pretty good with some nice steep little hills. The hiking in Big Indian is fine and Denver NY is just off the backside of the Devil’s Path. I prefer to be little further north closer to Hunter/Windham area just to have variety to ski in the winter.
Real Estate is going nowhere so just rent a place for a season and see how it goes. The only way to really know is to try it.
Rapha has a east coast ride posted through the region - New Paltz - Gunks - Sugarloaf - Big Indian
http://www.rapha.cc/new-paltz
Look at stage 3 of the above mentioned race (the 100km route) that is an epic ride. Especially the initial descent for 20km~.
I did the stage race back in August and it was amazing (came within 90seconds of yellow). It is a very beautiful area. My only complaint is some of the climbs are pitch climbs rather than steady climbs, and Devil’s Kitchen, that hill is the thing of nightmares. Unless your sadistic I would avoid it.
Devil’s Kitchen which is Platte Clove Road has an awesome swimming hole about a 1/2 mile back from the base of the climb.
First this: http://www.catskillscycling.com/
Are you looking in those areas for a particular reason? Are you NYC/NJ?
There’s plenty of options outside those areas as well. I live west of there, not officially in Catskill park. Mtn biking and trails out the back door, tons of quiet country roads in every direction.
You will pay a little more for proximity to the ski centers. And there are a lot of places on the market right now.
Live in Norther NJ. No particular reason for any particular area - just looking on realtor.com. Slide Mountain is our favorite hike in area, so that is what made me think of Big Indian. Any other suggestions for places we should check out? Thanks!
And just think, you could ride the AmZof route just for fun…
I would love to ride the AmZo course for fun. Last year I could not see, but the views 2 years ago while riding that course was what got me thinking about this in the first place. Still glad I did the short course at AmZo, though!
Here’s one, near New Paltz, on and around Mohonk Mt.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/16972694
I think they do some kind of race near here.
That is a familiar loop to me.
Update: Thanks for the great advice. My wife and I got an incredibly inexpensive condo in Denver, NY. Roads are quite, with big shoulders, and great for riding. 26-mile rail trail is 7 miles away and great for mountain biking. Trail running literally out the door. Close proximity to good mountains for hiking/trail running. Signed up for the Tour of the Catskills stage race, Hunter Mountain Spring classic, and HITS Hunter Mountain. Really great area for training.
That’s my favorite bike loop (Axles of Evil recommendation), except I start in New Paltz and continue on to Rte 209 and come up the backside of Mohonk.
That loop and being able to run on the Rail Trail AND the Gilded Otter is the ONLY reason I will visit my SIL who lives in New Paltz…
I actually look forward to seeing her now.
Ron W.
And just think, you could ride the AmZof route just for fun…
2 loops a year is enough.
I actually look forward to seeing her now.
Ron W.
Who is “her”? Your SIL?
Not sure if you have tried this one, The Dreaded Poppeltown Road. It’s short, the climb is only about a mile, but taken from the North, it’s got some nice steep sections.
Many of the roads around New Paltz are fantastic.
I actually look forward to seeing her now.
Ron W.
Who is “her”? Your SIL?
Not sure if you have tried this one, The Dreaded Poppeltown Road. It’s short, the climb is only about a mile, but taken from the North, it’s got some nice steep sections.
Many of the roads around New Paltz are fantastic.
That route will be on my list in June…
Thanks for the tip
Ron W.
You have to run the Devil’s Path from West Kill to Indian Head some day. It is a great path.
ha ha
Run the DP? Has anyone done that? I do know about the Escarpment Trail Run. http://escarpmenttrail.com/
There’s one place on the DP, I think it’s near Twin, where you actually stem to get up. I did it in Light Hikers and that was a mistake. Trail runners? Your feet would have to be really tough.
Running up Slide would work. There’s a really old carriage road that goes to the top. BITD, there was an observation tower on the top, people would take a steamer up from NYC, carriages to and up Slide MT. Running down the other side towards Cornell would get crazy though.
I wanted to buy a place in the Cats. My wife said Hamptons and that’s where we’re at. Lots of great training but the Montauk Trail Run and the Cyclocross Race “Weekend in the Hamptons” seem to be done. There’s a great marathon though in September.
There is so much good riding up around there that it’s too much to list.
But here is a great loop that I did last April that I really liked.
http://ridewithgps.com/trips/213750
I also want to ride up the Bellayre access road but have not had a chance to do it just yet.
If you are doing to Tour of the Catskills, you best be prepared for some serous climbing.
Good luck on the new place.
ha ha
Run the DP? Has anyone done that? I do know about the Escarpment Trail Run. http://escarpmenttrail.com/
There’s one place on the DP, I think it’s near Twin, where you actually stem to get up. I did it in Light Hikers and that was a mistake. Trail runners? Your feet would have to be really tough.
Running up Slide would work. There’s a really old carriage road that goes to the top. BITD, there was an observation tower on the top, people would take a steamer up from NYC, carriages to and up Slide MT. Running down the other side towards Cornell would get crazy though.
I wanted to buy a place in the Cats. My wife said Hamptons and that’s where we’re at. Lots of great training but the Montauk Trail Run and the Cyclocross Race “Weekend in the Hamptons” seem to be done. There’s a great marathon though in September.
I wear vasque velocity. There are a few sections of some class 3 scrambling over rock but nothing special. You just need to know how to move over rock. I run a pair of aussies along huckleberry point trail and the lower section of indian head from Platte Cover road to the lake. I rather deal with scree than mud any day. You can always split it and do east and west sections. The escarpment is slightly longer in my opinion.