Sunken Mine Road – Gravel NY

Areas north of NYC experienced torrential rains during a mid-July storm (2023). It’s already mid-September, but some roads and trails have not yet been repaired. Be extra careful if you plan to ride in these areas, below.

Parts of Sunken Mine Rd, in Puntam County, NY were destroyed during the aforementioned storm. I’ve heard from a few groups of riders who found this out the hard way. In one case, a rider went down pretty hard as they approached the destruction. Even on the “better” parts, I’ve heard that the road/trail is pretty rough and there are many downed branches. The photo above the post, with the rider in yellow, is of Sunken Mine Rd. It was taken by Ken shortly after the July storm. Thanks Ken!

NOTE: Many of the dirt roads in Putnam County are in rougher shape than usual. On our last ride, we encountered many more washouts, big potholes, or soft spots (where riders lost traction) than usual. Old Albany Post Rd is one example of a great dirt road, which is rideable, but extra caution is required – particularly when going downhill, where speeds will be high. We purposly routed uphill only for most of our time on that road, with one short exception, which you could consider cutting around by staying on Rt 9 in that direction.

Black Rock Forest is a beautiful place to ride. That said, it should be avoided by bike until the roads and trails can be repaired (consider a hike instead). The trails and some of the other infrastructure at this research forest were badly damaged in that July storm. I think some of that damage will take a long time to repair. Note: bikes are only allowed on the roads / jeep roads — see their trail maps. Currently, trails are open for hiking but they state: “Please exercise extreme caution on trails and roads, and especially stream crossings!”. Has anybody been to Black Rock Forest recently and ridden on the bike-allowed trails? It would be great to understand current conditions.

Storm King Highway still has a section that was washed into the Hudson River. Yes, this is a paved road, but it is also the main way to travel through that area, on a bike, without riding on the side of the highway (9W) with an intermittenly disappearing shoulder (the shoulder turns into a drainage culvert in places), which I do not recommend. You will *not* be able to walk around that destroyed part. One section of the rear slope is a sheer rock face with water running down it, like a waterfall that is ready to carry you down the cliff.

Know about other damaged dirt roads we should watch out for? Let us know! email: track.smart@gmail.com. In particular, we tend to ride in these areas, which are within striking distance of NYC: Westchester, Putnam, Orange, and Dutchess Counties in NY; Litchfield County in CT; and the Bedminster region in NJ. Thanks!

The photo below is the state of Storm King Highway as of recently (September 2023). I’m not going to provide a photo credit since you aren’t supposed to visit that spot. The waterfall-like section is not visible in the photo, but please understand that you will not be walking around this mess. You will be stuck on one side or the other.

On Sunday, March 26 a dozen GrNY riders joined in the Unofficial Frozen Apple Ride (a completely informal group ride). There were around 30+ riders at the start, so a big group. The official Frozen Apple Ride was supposed to happen in March of 2020, but was cancelled due to COVID restrictions. It was sponsored by the Westchester Cycle Club (WCC), Pedal Peekskill, and River Outpost Brewery. Laura (of WCC) thought it would be fun to bring it back as an informal group ride, which was a great idea.

It was a lot of fun! It was great to meet a number of new riders and enjoy some dirt roads with good scenery and very few cars. Some of our faster riders did an extended route, so we would finish in a similar amount of time to other GrNY riders. Some of us gathered at the River Outpost Brewery for burgers and beer after the ride. That was a fun post-ride stop, though be forewarned that they were very busy on what was a beautiful, warm, sunny day. Getting beer from the bar wasn’t too hard, but ordering food was hit-or-miss (they closed the kitchen to new orders periodically to allow them to catch up).

The route is mostly on dirt roads and pavement. HOWEVER, expect a challenging forest trail around mile 18 (shown in blue). If you don’t feel comfortable riding all of it, walking won’t slow you down much. It’s an uphill grade, so nobody will be going particularly fast. It’s also a fairly short section. Also: Sunken Mine Rd and the forest trail are not maintained in the winter and are snow-covered for much longer that you would expect in the winter and early spring! One rider visited the route just a week earlier and found large sections covered in snow. Most riders parked at Lents Cover Park, which worked out well.

Main Route (42 miles, 4100ft): https://ridewithgps.com/routes/42308101

Extended Route (48 miles, 4800ft): https://ridewithgps.com/routes/42308406

The extended route doesn’t add a lot of new roads. It largely crosses over the original route. It was created so that faster riders would end in a similar amount of time as slower-moving riders. This worked out well.

OUR ACTUAL RIDE: https://www.strava.com/activities/8783273906

Tag: Sunken Mine Road

Warnings about damaged dirt roads and trails in our region

Unofficial Frozen Apple Ride + Bonus Dirt