Mills Norrie to Bear Mountain (50 miles)

On Thursday morning we left Mills Norrie relatively early. It was cold in the morning, probably in the low 40s, and misting as we left our cabin in the park and rejoined state route 9 to head toward our next destination, Bear Mountain. After just a few miles on the road we passed through Hyde Park and stopped off to see the Vanderbilt mansion. I understand that this was one of their smaller mansions, probably the equivalent of a rustic cottage for them. I scooted around back to catch a view from their terrace, looking down the Hudson River valley. Lovely spot!


Further down the road in Hyde Park we pulled off the road briefly to see FDR’s childhood home. I don’t think we went far enough into the compound to see his house (we stopped at a house in the front of the estate) but it was still cool to stop at FDR’s home. Past Hyde Park we passed through Poughkeepsie, which was interesting because the scenery went sort of like:

Sprawl > blue collar urban > expensive > middle class

Just in the course of a mile or two. But it definitely seemed like a real working town, not just a quaint tourist destination like some of the smaller villages we had passed through. Next we passed through the little town of Wappingers Falls, and it was at this point that we briefly lost track of the route 9 markers. The state 9 bicycle route is fairly well marked… until it isn’t. Or until the signs tell you to turn right instead of turning left, for instance. In Wappingers Falls we perhaps made a wrong turn, or perhaps not. At any rate, thanks to our maps we knew in general where we needed to be, so we were able to rejoin the route quickly. Unfortunately it was at this point that the official route joined up with a highway/freeway, so we found ourselves on the shoulder of a pretty busy road for about 5 miles before rolling into Fishkill. Fortunately, in Fishkill we found a great little lunch spot where we could relax, warm up, and get away from the highway traffic for a bit. It was a little place called Pamela’s Java Hut. Those who know me know how much I love a tiki island theme, so this was right up my alley. Also, it was warm and they were serving chili that day, so, Score!



Past Fishkill, route 9 took us off of the highway (thanks Albany!) and back to more infrequently-trafficked roads. About 10 more miles took us to Cold Spring, a really nice little village back on the river front. In Cold Spring we stopped to get food supplies at a local diner and bakery. Rachael has some interesting stories about that place… maybe she’ll share some of them (hint hint). While in Cold Spring the locals (or local Harley riders) seemed to think that the dark clouds were going to open up in a full downpour at any moment, so we were a bit motivated to hurry on towards Bear Mountain without too much delay.

It was also at this point that we decided to call Bear Mtn to ask if there were food stuffes in the immediate area because we weren’t sure whether to buy dinner at Cold Spring or wait until later. The Bear Mtn folks advised Rachael that we were being upgraded from our reserved lodgings (in the rustic stone cottages) to the Overlook Lodge. Another score!

From Cold Spring we just had about 8 miles to go to get to Bear Mtn, but we were riding at a decent pace to try to beat the rain. Just before Bear Mtn we crossed over the bridge to the west side of the river, and took a few moments to appreciate the river that we had been travelling alongside for so many miles on the trip.



Just on the other side of the river we arrived at Bear Mountain. On way up the road to the Overlook we passed by the stone cottages, which looked pretty nice really. These cottages were built in 1935 as a WPA public works project. Rachael had thought the ride up to the Overlook was going to be a lot worse than it was, so she kept trying to manage my expectations for the climb (like, we could still stay at the cottages if you want! They’re right here!) But in fact it wasn’t that far up the hill to get the Overlook, which was super nice but still under renovation. It seemed like we were the first guests to stay in our newly renovated rooms; even so it felt incredibly luxurious to stay in brand new rooms with new beds and marble bathrooms. It was a big step up from the comfort station at the Mills Norrie State Park. Even the promise of their modest continental breakfast in the morning sent us into raptures. Breakfast! Brewed coffee!!

So after a long day in the saddle, we were all checked in and decided to take it easy by… going for a long walk around the lake. There’s a nice path that goes all around the lake, and then we forged our own path up the hill, through the brush, back up to the Overlook. Along the way we popped our heads into one of the stone cottages; it looked nice. Strangely at the front desk of the Overlook I had overheard a guest complaining about the cottages smelling of smoke, and the woman at the front desk had said something like, "Yeah they do smell like smoke". Sure enough the one we walked into did smell of smoke, and the fire alarm was buzzing, so they must have had some kind of incident. That may have accounted for our mysterious upgrade to the lodge. At any rate, the accommodations were great and the good night’s sleep was much needed as we prepared for our last day on the road, heading back into Manhattan.