Difficulty Rating:
1 out of 5
This urban adventure goes down the Jersey side of the Hudson and offers spectacular views of Manhattan. You'll start by going thru a couple of very pleasant neighborhoods, with a pit stop at a cafe/boutique (don't buy anything more than you can carry!). Once you get onto JFK Boulevard, stop a couple of times for photos. Then look for all the history along the route: the site of Burr & Hamilton's duel, with a statue depicting it; several moving 9/11 monuments; WWII monuments; Black Tom Island. Picnic in Liberty State Park, then continue on thru Bayonne and cross the Bayonne Bridge on the new bike/pedestrian path. Be prepared...it's a bit of a climb at about 7% for almost a mile. Take a fairly direct route from the bridge to the Staten Island Ferry for the trip back to lower Manhattan.
There are several ways to make the route shorter and just do the parts you're most interested in. Here's one that follows the same route all the way to Black Tom Island and then returns to Hoboken for the ferry to W. 39th St: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/34893945. This route will be just over 30 miles, mostly flat. Linda Wintner has made a few revisions to this route and added more detailed notes to cues in the cue sheet: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/35611974.
Or, you can skip the first section or the route by taking the ferry from W. 39th St to the Port Imperial Ferry Terminal in Weehawken. Turn left on the waterfront bike path and follow it south for about half a mile to pick up the route at mile 13.7. Then continue on to the Bayonne Bridge.
Cautionary notes: A good portion of the route follows mixed use paths - use caution and yield to pedestrians. We suggest you keep the group size small - no more than 6 - so as to stay together on the paths, keep pit stops reasonably short and not overload the ferries. When we scouted this (December 2020) there was some road construction, some of which is indicated on the cue sheets. We highly recommend that you read the cue sheet in advance even if you intend to use a GPS device - there are many notes on the cue sheet to guide you on the route. Ft. Lee and Cliffside Park don't seem to have very many street signs, so a combination of GPS device and cue sheet will keep you on track.
CW 12/2020
rev. cw 4/21
