My last day was 56 miles, from Mahopac to the Battery in Lower Manhattan. In this area, the Empire State Trail follows an old railroad line from Putnam County to the Bronx known as the New York and Putnam Railroad.
As I crossed into Westchester County I began biking on the North County Trailway This section of the trail was recently repaved and great to ride on. One important caveat (as shown in the video below) is at each intersection there are pinch points where you must bike through a very narrow area. In some spots I had to get off my bike and walk through this spots.
This nice lady I spoke with on the trail was wearing some cool sunglasses made by Kapvoe.
The trail goes through Downtown Yorktown Heights and there is a great trail side cafe in this here. I did not stop but it looked good, and lots of cyclists eating there.
Past Yorktown I crossed over the Croton Reservoir. I found the sign on the bridge a little ironic because you might not survive if you jumped off here.
Past the reservoir the trail continued through Westchester County. Many areas were in the old railroad right of way, but others are on road. The section shown below did not feel very safe to me, especially considering how close I was to the guide rail. Falling onto a guide rail does not look like fun. It's better than fully on road, but it was loud near the cars.
In Elmsford, the trail goes on road very briefly between the North County and South County trailways. I had to get off my bike and walk this section because of the heavy traffic and a cattle fence thing in the photo below, quite annoying. There is a small sign for the Mario Cuomo Bridge but I cannot vouch for it being useful in any meaningful way. There are a couple of stores in Elmsford where you can get a sandwich or water, but the whole area did not feel very appealing.
Past Elmsford there was one port-a-potty but aside from that there are no bathrooms in westchester county on the trail.
In Ardsley there was one hotel on the trail called Ardsley Acres. Unfortunately from the looks of the crowd milling around outside, it seemed to either be a shelter or a flop house. After googling, I found out that the Ardsley Acres is now housing migrants. There was security patrolling the grounds. This was unfortunate because this looked like a great location for potential cyclists. I do not recommend staying here.
I biked through Yonkers and there wasn't a ton to see. Some sections of the trail go through park areas, and some parts go through houses. There is a big sign as I entered New York City in Van Cortlandt Park.
I enjoyed riding Van Cortlandt Park because it felt more wooded and serene than the section in Westchester County. Unfortunately I ran over a chipmunk here, and when I turned around he was already "toes up".
After the trail ends I meandered around the park until it spit me out at Broadway near 242nd street. There is a water fountain here. This is the only water fountain I encountered after Highland, nearly 90 miles away. The planners of the empire state trail need to do a better job on water fountains.
After Van Cortlandt park the trail goes onto NYC streets in the Bronx and I skirted the eastern edge of Manhattan College. A lot of double parked cars made biking around here not that fun. Crossing over the Broadway Bridge into Manhattan is a little scary because the roadway is metal decking.
The Empire State Trail goes near Baker Field in Inwood and then down Seaman Avenue to Dyckman Street. At Dyckman Street I ascended a large hill to get near Washington Heights and the George Washington Bridge. After a brief steep descent near the Little Red Lighthouse, I was on flat ground all the way to the end of my ride. The smog at this time was quite uncomfortable.
Biking from Washington Heights to Harlem was a breeze down the bike path. In Harlem near 125th street there is another water fountain. It was sort of ironic that the trail goes 90 miles without a water fountain, but there are at least 8 water fountains from the city line to the end of the empire state trail. It made me wonder why the rest of the state doesn't invest more in water fountains in their parks.
Biking past Harlem through Riverside Park on the Upper West Side was fun, through an area called Cherry Walk. Biking this in the spring is beautiful here because the cherry trees are in blossom. Sometimes tree roots can be a problem here, but it seemed like a relatively smooth ride in most spots.
Once I got below 59th street, the path was directly next to the west side highway. 59th street to the end of the Empire State Trail was my least favorite section to bike on. It was EXTREMELY CROWDED. The bike path was filled with tourists and buses trying to cross, as well as cargo bikes, people learning to ride bikes, rollerbladers, joggers and other people just standing around. It left a very sour taste in my mouth. Due to a terrorist attack in 2017 there are bollards and barriers everywhere to get on the bike path. It is a generally sucky experience. There is some movement on perhaps closing a lane of the west side highway to add additional bike capacity. I am in favor of this.
Right near the finish line of the Empire State Trail I passed through Battery Park City which had some nice plantings and landscaping on the path. Notice there are joggers here, which I had to watch out for.
The Empire State Trail ends at the lower tip of Manhattan at the Battery! My friend Gary met me at the end and was able to snap this cool photo.
About 100 feet before I reached the end of the trail, there is this cool commemorative signage showing the entire trail.
The info on these signs is worth reading, and I was exhausted by this point.
Here is a photo of me doing my thing at the end of the trail!
After finishing I had a burger at PJ Clarke's in Battery Park City, and then crashed. All in all it was a great trip and I'd recommend it to anyone!
In my final installment, I will put together a list of suggestions and improvements for the
Empire State Trail!
Great trip report! Agree with you on the lack of bike infrastructure on the trail. in September 2022 I did Montreal to NYC (but thru Vermont via the Champlain byway, which is awesome) picked up the Empire trail near Lake George. I had to scramble to find hotels (especially cheap ones) and did some wild camps based on reddit user suggestions. Overall the trail is amazing for such a long distance. Loved all the history and small towns on the Hudson. I had a sweet ride on the section through upper Manhattan on the west side. I guess it was because it was a Fall weekday. If you haven't done the GAP/C&O, try that, it is just as good, eithe…
The reason why NYC has water fountains is because NYC has a water supply system so NYC DEP is able to hook up fountains in NYC parks. It is up to the individual municipalities in upstate NY through where the trail passes to place water fountains if they have a water system (my understanding is a lot of those small towns rely on well water), so it can a big challenge to place water fountains in those rural locales since most of them do not have reservoir-fed tap water systems nearby.