From Long Island · Skyline, Wanaque & Clinton Road

This full-day version starts in Long Island (Melville). The first 56 miles take the faster roads (the Long Island Expressway, NJ-4 and NJ-208) to reach Oakland, where the good part begins. The core stretch, Skyline, Wanaque & Clinton Road, runs 32 miles to Butler.

The ride home is the quick way: 61 miles on the Long Island Expressway, NJ-208 and I-95 back to Long Island. All in, it's about 149 miles and 4.5 hours in the saddle, before any stops for gas, food or photos. There's time to take it easy.

Full-day version that starts in Long Island: it adds the ride there and back to Skyline, Wanaque & Clinton Road. Here is what you'll find on the core stretch:

The closest real mountain curves to the GW Bridge: Skyline Drive climbs through the Ramapo woods, then you trace the Wanaque and Monksville reservoirs, and Clinton Road drops through dark, tight forest along the Clinton Reservoir. Mid-radius blind corners, very few straights, and almost no towns until Newfoundland. Good for a half-day or a long after-work ride. Watch for cyclists and police on Skyline, and for potholes and gravel on Clinton Road, which draws sightseers after dark.