(also provides alternate route to Bear Mountain and the Appalachian Trail)
Use Metro-North/Hudson Line. From Grand Central (and Harlem-125th Street), the trains make five stops near trailheads:
Effective March 26, 2023, on Saturdays, Sundays and holidays, six trains, which depart from Grand Central Terminal at 6:50, 7:50, 8:50, 9:50 and 10:50 a.m., and at 12:50 p.m., will stop at the Manitou and Breakneck Ridge stations. Although these are scheduled stops, only one car (usually the first car of the train) will be opened at these stations, so you should specifically inform the conductor that you want to get off there. Return trains will stop at 3:14, 4:14, 5:14, 6:14 and 7:14 p.m. at Breakneck Ridge, and at 1:29, 2:29, 3:29, 4:29, 5:29, 6:29 and 7:29 p.m. at Manitou. TRAINS RUN IN BOTH DIRECTIONS ON BOTH TRACKS, SO STAY ALERT.
Although these are scheduled stops, the train will not open a door for you to board unless the engineer or conductor sees you. If you wish to board a return train from one of these stations, make sure that you are at the small platform provided on the western side of the tracks, where you can be seen.
See Appalachian Trail Guide NY/NJ, Dutchess County section. The Appalachian Trail station is located just north of the Appalachian Trail crossing of the Metro-North Harlem Line. Service to this station is provided only on weekends and holidays. Trains leave Grand Central Terminal at 7:09 and 9:09 a.m. Return trains to Grand Central depart from the Appalachian Trail station at 2:35, 4:35 and 6:35 p.m. At other times, service (about every two hours) is available at the Pawling and Harlem Valley-Wingdale stations, each of which are within about two to three miles of the Trail.
Shuttle services between AT trail points
(including the Long Path)
See the Conference's Harriman-Bear Mountain and Hudson Palisades maps. Take the Coach USA bus that departs the Port Authority Bus Terminal at 8:45 a.m. The return bus departs Bear Mountain at 5;19 p.m., but a 2.5-mile walk over the Bear Mountain Bridge to Manitou enables you to take a Metro-North train to Grand Central (as noted above, the last train departs at 7:29 p.m. on weekends). Another option is to stay at the Bear Mountain Inn or at motels in Fort Montgomery.
Use these stops on the Coach USA (NYC-Middletown NY route) from PABT, www.coachusa.com. Buses leave in the morning, returning in the afternoon.
You can also reach the western side of Harriman by train, via NJ Transit/Metro-North's Port Jervis Line. Trains leave from NJ Transit's Hoboken Terminal, and connections from Penn Station in New York City are available at Secaucus Junction. Hourly service is available to Suffern, with less frequent service to Sloatsburg, Tuxedo and Harriman stations. For more information, go to www.njtransit.com or new.mta.info.
See Conference's online Long Path Guide and/or Hudson Palisades maps. You can walk across the GW Bridge to reach Fort Lee, southern entrance to the NJ Palisades. For Long Path north into Harriman or south to High Tor & the Palisades, use Short Line (West Point Route) to Mt. Ivy: Early mornings from PABT, return late afternoons. NOTE: The Coach USA buses that run along Route 9W now provide only very limited weekday service and can no longer be used to access the trails along the Palisades from New York City.
You can walk across the Tappan Zee Bridge for return to the city via the Metro-North Hudson Line (Tarrytown station)
in the NJ Palisades Interstate Park, use the Long Path information listed above.
For a detailed description of this trail, see Hiking Long Island. To reach the northern section, take the Port Jefferson Branch of the Long Island Rail Road to Smithtown. To reach the southern section, take the Montauk Branch of the Long Island Rail Road to Great River. For train schedules, go to new.mta.info. A one-way, 15-mile hike is possible by taking the train to Great River and hiking north to Smithtown. There is now just one campsite along the trail; permit required, call Suffolk Parks, 516-854-1320.
For a detailed description of this trail, see Hiking Long Island. To reach the northern section, take the Port Jefferson Branch of the Long Island Rail Road to Cold Spring Harbor. To reach the southern section, take the Babylon Branch of the Long Island Rail Road to Massapequa. For train schedules, go to new.mta.info
If you really want to test the limits of a 50-mile radius, catch a morning Short Line express bus from PABT to the Mountainville stop for Schunemunk Mountain and Black Rock Forest. Return buses leave from late afternoon until approximately 7pm from Mountainville. See the Conference's West Hudson Trails maps.
Bus service to New Paltz from New York City, Nanuet, Newburgh and Kingston is available via Adirondack Trailways, www.trailwaysny.com (800) 776-7548. Limited weekday bus service to New Paltz from Kingston and Highland is available via Routes R and H of Ulster County Area Transit, www.co.ulster.ny.us/ucat (888) 827-8228.
Trail Conference Headquarters in Mahwah, N.J., is accessible via buses that stop at Ramapo College of New Jersey, right next door to our HQ.
Passaic County, with some trails in Bergen & Sussex Counties: See Conference's Northern New Jersey Highlands Trails maps. Use NJ Transit, (973) 762-5100, or call PABT at (212) 564-8484. Hours may vary seasonally, especially in summer. Call ahead!
NJ Transit Bus #197 leaves PABT Saturday and Sunday mornings for:
Access to the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area, Worthington State Forest, and the Appalachian Trail. See Trail Conference map set Kittatinny Trails.
Martz Trailways (800-233-8604 or www.martztrailways.com) provides frequent non-stop express bus service daily from New York PABT to Stroudsburg/Delaware Water Gap. From the Martz bus station, walk down the street (Main Street / Rt 611 South) into the Village of Delaware Water Gap and proceed to crosswalk marked "Appalachian Trail." This leads to the pedestrian walkway over the I-80 bridge crossing the Delaware River. The AT leads to the welcome center for the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area on the New Jersey side of the river. Here, in addition to the AT, there is access to the Mt. Tammany Trail, with links to many other trails in Worthington State Forest.