Would You Ride Your Bike Over This Hudson Valley Bridge?
The Walkway Over The Hudson is the ideal place to cross the Hudson River, but what if you had to pedal your way across the Kingston-Rhinecliff Bridge? According to the New York State DOT, if you're thinking about it, you just have to let them know. But absolutely no pedestrian access. But that's not the case for every local bridge.
The Bear Mountain Bridge has access for both bike and foot traffic. This is actually where the Appalachian Trail crosses the Hudson. The Hamilton Fish Newburgh-Beacon Bridge is accessible via a path on the south side. You can cross the Mid Hudson and Rip Van Winkle but don't think of walking on the George Clinton Kingston Rhinecliff. And no it's not named for the doctor of funk, it's the former Governor of New York.
If you want to give the ride a try you can call the New York State Bridge Authority but please be careful. It's more than a mile long and 150 feet above the water.
I don't know about you guys, but riding my bike across this bridge is very low on my list of priorities. It's not as bad now, but do you remember how much scarier it was before they redid and widened the deck?