Length: 15.8 miles

Elevation change: 1,705 feet

Nearby Towns: New Paltz, Gardiner

Begin and End: At the Mohonk Preserve Testimonial Gateway

Note: Class 1 (pedal-assist, no throttle) electric bikes are the only type of e-bike allowed in the Preserve.

DOWNLOAD THE MAP AND TURN-BY-TURN CUE SHEET

A cedar gazebo looking out over the Shawangunk escarpment in Mohonk Preserve in New Paltz, New York.

The Rugged Beauty of Mohonk Preserve

In 1869, when Albert Smiley purchased a 10-room inn on Mohonk Lake, the plan was to “preserve a natural paradise for guests, a place to rejuvenate away from the stresses of work and city life.”

Today, Mohonk Preserve, just outside New Paltz, New York (and just south of the Catskills) is so much more. For the present-day hiker and biker, it holds a magnificent network of over 70 miles of well-tended carriage roads that thread the woods, fields, hollows and cliffsides of this 8000-acre preserve.

And it’s a gift of singular beauty. Rugged cliffs. A sparkling lake. Whimsical cedar gazebos at unexpected turns in the trail. Old farm fields and a majestic entry at the Testimonial Gateway. Well-kept carriage roads to travel on. Cool forests of hemlock and pine, with that familiar quartz conglomerate softened by a mantle of fallen pine needles and duff.

Cedar trail signs at Mohonk Preserve in New Paltz, New York. The carriage roads are well-marked and tended, but make sure you have a paper map with you, or load the RideWithGPS app on your phone and bring along a backup phone charger.

The Carriage Roads

Like the carriage roads in Minnewaska State Park Preserve, Mohonk’s surfaces vary widely: here a road is a level, well-maintained cinder; here, the road is rocky and steep.

I’ve chosen these roads so your ride will be mostly rock-free, but there are places where you may want to dismount and push uphill. These stretches don’t last, though: overall, the route is easy to ride, especially on the downhill stretch that comes roughly halfway through the loop.

The carriage roads are well-marked and easy to follow, but I strongly recommend having the RideWithGPS route on your smart phone, and even the hard-copy map set from the New York-New Jersey Trail Conference.

Trail Surprises

For me, there is something so transporting about entering the Preserve. You ride under this fabulous stone gate and immediately the landscape changes, from the haphazard fields and orchards of New Paltz to the ordered allee of pin oak, a sort of tunnel to the ridge you’ll climb.

The spring house on Forest Drive.

The Sky Top Tower, atop Skytop Crag, acts as a sort of pivot around which you circumnaviate the ridge on carriage roads. Here and there glimpses of the stone tower — there are exactly 100 steps to the top floor — open up through the pines.

In other spots, a gazebo peaks down from high on a ridge. Or, the Mohonk Spring house appears in a remote area of the preserve, with just enough trickle of mountain water to call to you from the trail.

This route is one of surprises, and scenery as rich as anywhere in the Northeast. There’s not a dull part of this bike ride, and as I ride along, a favorite carriage road is replaced in my estimation by the one right after it.

Let’s take Humpty Dumpty Road, overlooking a valley of gigantic white boulders called “Giant’s Workshop”. What do I love?  The hemlock and pine and pitch pine. The massive white Shawangunk conglomerate boulders, covered with rock tripe lichen. The shaggy cedar post fencing. Small, perilously-perched gazebos leaning out over pale rocky cliffs. That deep blue early springtime sky. The gargling crows on the updrafts. A winding carriage road. I feel like I’m anywhere but New York.

The shaggy cedar-rail fencing along Humpty Dumpty Road in Mohonk Preserve. The views of the Shawangunk escarpment from this road are lovely.

The Ride

I highly recommend becoming a member of the Preserve if you plan on visiting the preserve often.

For one thing, it covers the price of entry to the Preserve for a year. Without it, a day pass is $20.00/day for bikers. (The day pass allows you to access the preserve and Mohonk Mountain House’s grounds, but not the house itself.)

For another — and my favorite perk — it allows you access to the park beginning at 7am, instead of 9am for the general public. If you’re an early riser, this means you can have the place all to yourself, which is significant when you consider the Preserve sees hundreds of visitors on the weekend, and parking lots fill up very quickly.

And on a bike, you can reach the more remote parts of the Preserve before the general public has tied their shoes.

Little gazebo on Mohonk Lake. ©Electric Bikeways 2021

The Self-Guided Route

Begin at the Mohonk Preserve Testimonial Gateway parking area on Route 299, just past the intersection with Gate House Road. (The stone arch is a gift to Mohonk Founders Albert and Eliza Smiley, in commemoration of their fiftieth wedding anniversary in 1907, when the arch was built).

The first part of the route begins a gradual ascent of the ridge. This climb persists through the first half, mostly gradually, but more challenging in some places, though briefly.

Follow the route laid out in RideWithGPS.com, using the app for your smart phone. (See route, below.) You’ll pass an old farm’s field, the Duck Pond, and lovely Mohonk Lake before dipping into a hollow of old timber houses, home to Mohonk Mountain House’s workforce.

By the time you reach Humpty Dumpty Road, you’re halfway through, and it’s now downhill all the way. The gazebo outlooks are perfect spots to take a break and relax, listen to the cawing crows and gargling buzzards riding the updrafts over “The Giants Workshop”, and have a snack.

And then it’s back down again, a comfortable stretch of carriage road, scenery along the ridges. Heading back south, you’ll cross rolling hills of hemlock forest, stream-cut gorges and farm fields before re-connecting with your route in.

The Pin Oak Allee west of the Testimonial Gateway trailhead in Mohonk Preserve in New Paltz, New York.

.

These notes are descriptive only. You should always use the RideWithGPS app and/or download the turn-by-turn directions (provided above) for precise navigation.

The Details:

Elevation change: 1689 feet up and down over the whole ride.

Direction: For best results, leave your car in the Mohonk Preserve Testimonial Gateway  parking area off Route 299. The parking area is just west of the Gate House Road intersection. The lot is locked until 7:00 am, when Mohonk members can enter.

At the far end of the parking area, past the bathroom block, you’ll find a cinder-lined path that joins the Pin Oak Allee trail, the start of your ride.

The Carriage Roads:

• Lots of dirt, some stones, some beautiful cinder, and a brief paved section in the Mountain House area.  A hybrid bike at the very least, or a mountain bike is your best bet (although I met a friendly gentleman on a road bike! He rides the trails two or three times per week and has no difficulty.)
• There are brief steep sections that may require pushing your bike uphill or at very least putting on your strong legs.

Afterwards:

New Paltz — which you probably passed through on your way to the trailhead — has a multitude of after-ride eating and caffeine options. 

I also love the German-themed Mountain Brauhaus, (3123 Route 44, at the corner of US 299). It’s an extremely popular spot for climbers and hikers. My absolute favorite dish there is the spaetzle, a kind of cheesy dumpling with vegetables. The Brauhaus does a wonderful version.

Sunrise through the Testimonial Gateway

More e-bike routes you might like: