Palisades MTB Plug

[raisingarizona]

Thanks for tour hard work OP. I know how difficult it can be to get things done. It sounds like your group is crushing it.

 

[raisingarizona]

It’s too bad Harriman State Park has never been on board for developing a multi use trail system. There’s a lot of killer terrain in there.

 

[Brownski]

I think they opened up one trail to biking up around Anthony Wayne someplace. And one corner of the park over by the Thruway in Sloatsburg is open to climbing now. Harriman is a complete shitshow on summer weekends

 

[jasonwx]

It’s too bad Harriman State Park has never been on board for developing a multi use trail system. There’s a lot of killer terrain in there.

True
But they aren’t needed
Lots of primo riding in the area

 

[jamesdeluxe]

Can't remember if I told this story before -- after moving back to the NYC region in 1997, I used this book for info about rides on Long Island, NJ, Westchester, the Gunks, the Catskills, even a couple in the ADKs. Back then, the internet was still in its infancy so books were your only option unless you knew people with local knowledge.

The author had detailed descriptions of a dozen rides in Harriman so during the summer of 1998, I did one, the Doodletown Tour, then the following weekend decided to do a second, #19 below. I photocopied the pages, put them in my pocket, drove up, and started riding -- there were no signs at the trailhead saying I shouldn't.

After five minutes on the double-track access trail, a police squad car (not even a SUV) comes zooming up through the trees with its lights flashing and siren blaring, no joke -- it felt like a drug bust on TV. The cop gets out of his car and explains that mountain biking in all of Harriman is illegal and that he was impounding my bike until I paid a $350 fine. I told him that the ride was detailed in a book. He's like "what book?!?" I handed him the chapter from my pocket and he sat there looking through it.

Eventually, he lightened up and said that I could have my bike back but not to ride there anymore. While I was standing there, he also radioed the park HQ and told them to call the publisher to get the book pulled from shelves until they took out all the illegal rides. Sheesh.

 

[tirolski]

Bought a mountain bike (DiamondBack) in ~’84 when the things first came out. Used to ride around CNY and took it to the Daks a few times for some trail riding before disallowed. Never was chased by cops. The thing is a tank, but needs a tune up.

 

[Low Angle Life]

I've got a 40ish mile gravel loop that utilizes the old carriage roads in Harriman and Sterling, sure its not exactly legal but these are stolen lands so I'll pay homage to Ramapough Lenape and just pretend I'm a lost road biker if anyone gives me a hard time. There is no such such thing as poaching if you have curly bars and are wearing lycra. https://ridewithgps.com/trips/38214639

 

[Teledork]

I've got a 40ish mile gravel loop that utilizes the old carriage roads in Harriman and Sterling, sure its not exactly legal but these are stolen lands so I'll pay homage to Ramapough Lenape and just pretend I'm a lost road biker if anyone gives me a hard time. There is no such such thing as poaching if you have curly bars and are wearing lycra. https://ridewithgps.com/trips/38214639

Looks very cool, and pretty close to my office. Gonna have to give it a shot!

 

[raisingarizona]

Can't remember if I told this story before -- after moving back to the NYC region in 1997, I used this book for info about rides on Long Island, NJ, Westchester, the Gunks, the Catskills, even a couple in the ADKs. Back then, the internet was still in its infancy so books were your only option unless you knew people with local knowledge.

The author had detailed descriptions of a dozen rides in Harriman so during the summer of 1998, I did one, the Doodletown Tour, then the following weekend decided to do a second, #19 below. I photocopied the pages, put them in my pocket, drove up, and started riding -- there were no signs at the trailhead saying I shouldn't.

View attachment 8664


After five minutes on the double-track access trail, a police squad car (not even a SUV) comes zooming up through the trees with its lights flashing and siren blaring, no joke -- it felt like a drug bust on TV. The cop gets out of his car and explains that mountain biking in all of Harriman is illegal and that he was impounding my bike until I paid a $350 fine. I told him that the ride was detailed in a book. He's like "what book?!?" I handed him the chapter from my pocket and he sat there looking through it.

Eventually, he lightened up and said that I could have my bike back but not to ride there anymore. While I was standing there, he also radioed the park HQ and told them to call the publisher to get the book pulled from shelves until they took out all the illegal rides. Sheesh.

That’s a great story and holy heck, what an extreme reaction to a harmless mistake. I think a kind warning would have been sufficient but I’m also not surprised.

Whoever wrote that book sure didn’t do there homework.

 

[jamesdeluxe]

Whoever wrote that book sure didn’t do their homework.

The book was otherwise very helpful to me -- you can see from the check marks in the table of contents how many of the rides I did -- but yeah, I find it hard to believe that he knowingly or neglectfully included a dozen that were off limits to mtb. I wonder if they were legal when he was researching/writing it and then Harriman State Park made the decision to nix biking? You can see two other non-Harriman rides that I discovered to be illegal.

That was the exact same time frame (1998-ish) that the 2,200-acre park in my future home in NJ, South Mountain Reservation, also banned offroad biking. It's a bummer because the trails are killer; however, I understand the issue. Too many people from NYC were coming out (often via the convenient NJ Transit trains) and hikers were getting annoyed by riders brushing past them at full speed. It's impressive that popular places like Lake Minnewaska/Mohonk have been able to maintain a civil mixed use of their network over the decades. That said; those trails are all wide "carriage roads," not single track.