Stewart State Forest:

Beacon Metro North to Stewart State Forest:

I've put a route together in the link below on GoogleMaps (see link) that I pretty much followed from the Beacon Metro North station, over the bridge, through Newburgh and to the entry off of 207 called Lorraine Drive Trail, which includes a small parking lot. It says about 1.5 hrs to get there, which is probably traveling at 10 mph. I think I made it a bit faster. I've also included a link to Stewards of Stewart, which has some nice info on the trails there and some routes for several events held there, which may be nice for an organized ride. It's a really big place, so might be useful.

goo.gl/maps/z7DreiCqVeQ2

Stewart State Forest:

Check this website out:

stewardsofstewart.org/site/category/trails/

I camped in the eastern most campsite shown on the map on Ridge Road. It's very primitive. No water, bathrooms or even a mulch or rock for setting your tent up, so just an FYI. I do not know about the campsite to the west. Your are supposedly to have some sort of permit to camp there, but I just set up after dark and tore down my tent before sunrise before heading back to Beacon.

I entered through Lorraine Drive, and then headed North along Maple Ave. to Great Swamp Road, where there is a really cool boardwalk area through wetlands. Keep in mind that the roads shown in black are gravel. The multi-use trails in purple are probably your best bet if you have an adventure bike, as the trails are more smooth. I road a drop-bar adventure bike with 27.5 x 2.25" wide tires with some meaty tread and had no issues. I road around quite a bit on these black and purple trails and didn't explore much on the yellow routes (there was a gun-shooting event on the western part of the forest, so didn't explore much). I believe there is more elevation change on the western side of the park though, so up to you to explore, depending on the type of riding you are doing.

I would recommend checking the trail conditions before you go, especially now that the ground is thawing and in early spring. There are quite a few low areas that get pretty muddy. I planned my trip on a weekend after some dry weather, so all was good. The parking lot at Weed Road and 207 is where a lot of mountain bikers park, especially on the weekend. I remember leaving through there on Sunday and it was packed full of MTB folks.

Water and Food:

I suggest if folks are interested in getting food to either bring there own, or grabbing it in Newburgh. There is not much between Newburgh and Stewart. For water, I would say the same and bring it in. Thee parking area off of 207 at Weed Road may have water, as they have a restroom indicated, but I cannot verify this. I remember I didn't bring enough water, so take that into account.

Had a good day of riding and would be good with a group....lots to explore and if its a day trip, you probably wouldn't repeat any riding once you're on the trails.

Hope this helps, and let me know if you have any further questions. I'm available by phone to discuss tomorrow if you want: 347-399-1984.

Happy Trails,

-Tyler Krob