Have you ever stood on the Metro-North train platform on a Saturday morning and seen groups of people looking like they are ready for a bike race?  They are most likely heading upstate to take advantage of a number of bike paths and trails found just outside the city.

One of these rides begins in Brewster, NY.  Metro-North runs approximately once an hour on the weekends to this town in Putnam County.  From the train station, it’s one mile to the entrance and start of the Putnam Trailway.

Starting Out

The Putnam Trail follows the New York Central Railroad’s Putnam Division line.  The path will turn into the North County Trailway and that feeds right into the South County Trailway.  

What was once a working train line has been paved and works it way south along lakes, rivers, fields with plenty of tree cover for most of the trip.  The path is used exclusively for recreation so you will see a number of walkers, runners and bikers.   

Finishing the Bike Ride

The ride from Brewster back to Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx is approximately 50 miles.  There is no need to race and you can spend the full day working your way along the trail taking breaks to enjoy the quite landscape outside the city. A cool summer or spring day is great for this ride but I think a brisk fall day would be near perfect.

While the path does have some hills, it is all paved and aside from the distance isn’t too high a degree of difficulty.  The added bonus of this trail is there are numerous towns and Metro-North stops along the way so if you want to finish early, just look on your phone and locate the nearest train station which is usually a few miles away.  Once you are back in the city you can hop on a subway or get in a few extra miles riding back to your apartment.