SOUTH COUNTY TRAILWAY LETTERBOX:
IRVINGTON, NEW YORK
-BIKE IT OR HIKE IT-
Planted: June
14, 2008
Length:
South County Trailway; 15 miles
Terrytown Lakes Spur Trail; 1.3 miles
V. Everett Macy Park; Drive-by
Neperan Road parking lot to Letterbox; 4.6 miles
Route 117 parking lot to Letterbox; 7.8 miles
Difficulty:
Easy. Paved trail along a mostly flat rail bed.
Moderate. The two on-road detours contain narrow bike lanes or no sidewalks and
the second detour has a steep hill accent.
Directions:
To
start from the Route 117 parking lot; (Along the North County Trailway
and 3.3 miles to the start of the South County Trailway). Take the Route
117 exit off the Taconic State Parkway or Route 9A to Route 117 west. The
lot is on the left side. An overflow lot is located just west of this lot.
To
start from the Neperan Road parking lot; Take exit 23 off the Saw Mill River
Parkway and travel west. The parking lot is located on your right, across from
the old Terrytown Lakes Water Works building, where the trail crosses the road.
To
start from V. Everett Macy Park; Also for a drive-by. Saw Mill
River Parkway, exit Dobbs Ferry/Ardsley. At light, make left onto Route 9A
(Saw Mill River Road). Park entrance approximately 3/4 of a mile on the
left.
The South County Trailway is one of three
interconnected trails, the Putnam County Trailway and North County Trailway
being the other two, that currently take you from New York City to Carmel, NY.
See; Putnam County Trailway
Letterbox and North County Trailway
Letterbox .They are all built on the former rail bed of the Putnam Division of the New
York Central Railroad. This former railroad provided freight and passenger
service from 1881 to 1958 between the Bronx and Putnam County. For more information visit;
SOUTH
COUNTY TRAILWAY .
The Metro-North Railroad's Harlem Line has
a stop in Pleasantville, which is 1.4 miles from the Route 117 parking
lot along the North County Trailway and a stop in Bronxville,
which is 1.6 miles from the South County Trailways on-road section at Palmer
Road. This gives
the hearty biker the option of doing a roughly 29 mile round trip (including the
Terrytown Lakes Spur), returning to your vehicle via the Metro-North Railroad.
This is how we were able to bike so much of the trail without having to
backtrack. The route to the stations are on-road and include a couple of tough
hills and thus are recommended for experienced bikers only. For more information
visit; Metro North
Railroad . If you click on the individual stations, they have available
both directions and maps. For information concerning taking your bike on the
Train visit; METRO
NORTH; BIKES .
Starting from the junction of the North and South
County
Trailways;
Note; Traveling west
along the Terrytown Lakes Spur Trail,
the trail heads up a short hill and then down
to
Neperan Road. Turn right along the sidewalk and you'll come to a bike route sign. The
Neperan Road
parking lot is on your right. Take the cross-walk over
Neperan Road
and enter the dirt driveway for the Terrytown Lakes Water Works
building. Pass through the gate and enter the paved trail. This will take you
alongside Lower Terrytown Lake/Reservoir. The trail heads into the woods
as it follows the lake. Very peaceful compared to the North and South
County Trailways that parallel the Parkway. This trail ends after 1.3 miles
at the junction of
Sunydale Ave
and
Neperan Road. You can cross the road to a parking lot located at the top of Upper
Terrytown Lake/Reservoir.
Note;
North takes you along the North County Trailway towards the Route
117 parking lot.
Traveling South along
the South County Trailway, you cross two bridges over
Neperan Road
and the
Saw Mill River Parkway
. The
Saw Mill River Parkway
follows along your right, however, you soon head into the woods and gain a bit
of a distance from it. After 1 ¾ miles the paved trail ends at
Warehouse Lane
and you start the first of two on-road detours. Future
plans call for continuing the trail straight ahead with
construction slated for 2009.
Turn left and follow
Warehouse Lane
out to
Saw Mill River Road
(Route 9A). Turn right and follow Route 9A (Caution! No bike lane
or shoulder to speak of and only a sporadic sidewalk in places), under I-287,
until you come to
Tarrytown Road
(Route 119). Cross this road and then turn right down it as the paved trail
picks up again on this side of the road. This is a 1 mile detour.
Note; An Alternative Detour which I believe would be much
safer (I haven't tried it, but spotted it on Map Quest after the fact) would be
to take
Warehouse Lane
out to
Saw Mill River Road
(Route 9A). Turn right and follow Route 9A for a short distance,
then turn right onto
N. Payne Street
(looks residential or industrial). Turn left onto
Hayes Street
which then turns into
Vreeland Ave.
This brings you to
Tarrytown Road
(Route 119). The paved trail picks up across the street at mile 2 ¾ . Please email me at letterbox@snet.net
if you attempt this route, so that I may update these clues.
The paved trail travels
through Elmsford, past the old train station on your left (now a restaurant) and
also past a picnic table and benches. The
Saw Mill River Parkway
will be to your right, however, you'll soon head into the wooded Rum Brook
Park. You'll travel underneath I-87, which will parallel you to your
left. You cross over the Saw Mill River several times before coming
alongside
Woodlands
Lake
. When you reach the end of the lake a pedestrian bridge heads right over the
small dam. This brings you to V. Everett Macy Park at 4 ½ miles. The old
buildings above you are closed to the public (looks like they might have served
as some type of rest stop for the
Saw Mill River Parkway
in the past?). Turn right and pass through the parking lot (Porto-potty located
here) to a short paved trail. This brings you to a memorial for the Irish
Potato Famine. After checking out the memorial, walk along the grass path
between the lake to your right and a habitat area on your left. Enter the path
into the woods and you'll be surrounded by 4-5 very large trees. Look to your
left and spot a large diameter Maple tree. Go to the backside (watch out for
lurking Poison Ivy) of this tree and spot a pile of rocks. Lift up the flat rock
on top to reveal the South County Trailway Letterbox. Back on the trail,
continue south and you'll cross over the Saw Mill River via an old
trestle bridge. The trail is still wooded, but eventually travels through more
industrial type areas. You also inch closer to the
Saw Mill River Parkway
. There is a parking lot just after you cross over
Farragut Ave
and then you cross over the Saw Mill River again. After you travel over
Saw Mill River Road
(Route 9A), the trail passes through a more urban area. The paved trail
then ends after 10 ¼ miles at
Touissant Ave.
This starts the second on-road detour of 2 ¼ miles. Turn right onto
Touissant Ave
and take out to
Tuckahoe Road
. Turn left and travel downhill to the traffic light. Turn right and head up
Mile Square Road (quite a climb). Look right to spot a stone arch supporting the
old rail bed above it. As you head up the road you'll see the old rail bed on
your right (not yet developed). This is a steep, narrow road with only a narrow
sidewalk, so use Caution. Close to the top of the road you'll cross a bridge
over the old rail bed. After cresting the hill, you'll cross over
Palmer Road
at 11 ½ miles.
Note; We doubled back to Palmer Road after we hit the end of the
trail and took it 1.6 miles east to reach the Metro-North's Bronxville Station.
This also takes you to the start of the Bronx River Greenway, which is
1.4 miles east along Palmer Road, next to the Bronx River Parkway. SEE; BRONX
RIVER GREENWAY LETTERBOX .
Shortly after crossing
Palmer Road
you'll come to a Y in the road and a sign reading "Frank Egan
Park". Mile Square Road continues left,
however, you need to travel right down
Cook
Ave.
Redmond
Park
entrance is just over a ½ mile from
Palmer Road
. Enter the park and turn left. Follow the road around the ball fields to a
parking lot. Notice the pavilion with the golf-tee shaped roofs. My friend and I
got stuck seeking shelter under them during a walloping thunder & lighting
downpour. A paved path leads from this parking lot up to final section of the
trail at mile 12.5. The trail heads through the woods and after a ½ mile you
cross two bridges over
Yonkers Ave
and the
Cross Country Parkway
. The trail heads slightly downhill along a ridge with the
Saw Mill River Parkway
up to your right and soccer fields down below on your left. At 13.5 miles, you
travel below a pedestrian bridge that crosses over the Parkway. Soon, you'll
spot
Tibbetts
Lake
along the left side of the trail. The trail then levels out and after traveling
beneath the stone arched bridge carrying
McLean Ave
you reach the end of the trail after 15 miles. This is the border between
Westchester
and
Bronx
Counties
and an entrance to Van Cortlandt Park via the Old Putnam Rail Trail,
a hard packed rail trail. SEE; OLD PUTNAM
RAIL TRAIL .
HH
CLICK HERE FOR MAP
LETTERBOX LAST VERIFIED
ON
APRIL 9, 2009
TO EMAIL A VERIFICATION
CLICK HERE
BEFORE YOU SET OUT BE
SURE TO READ THE
WAIVER OF RESPONSIBILITY AND
DISCLAIMER
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