New York's Hudson River Valley is a beautiful and dramatic region rich in history, arts and culture. When fall foliage transforms the hills and valleys framing the majestic river into mosaics of red, yellow, orange, and gold, the landscape is breathtaking. Last year's first-ever offering of this tour was a sellout and a huge success, but we're making a few changes to provide an even better all-around experience in 2024.

To begin with, Saratoga Springs is such a destination spot that we'll begin by staying two nights there, with the first day entirely yours/on your own to explore and enjoy it. (If you rent a bike from us, you can use it to cover more ground!) The city is home to Skidmore College and known for world-class horse racing, renowned performing arts and natural springs spas, plus 13 golf courses, 10 museums, a historic battlefield, fabulous boutiques, antiques and restaurants. The Empire State also has one of the best paved rail-trail networks in the country, and we'll traverse well over 100 miles of them (of the 168 total miles of cycling) as we explore farmland, forests, and wetlands, crossing the Hudson four times including on several spectacular bridges that endure as engineering marvels of their day. We'll stay overnight in the state capital of Albany, followed by the quaint villages of Hudson, Kington and Fishkill.  The tour features a timed-entry tour of the Olana Historic Site, the home and studio of renowned 19th century painter Frederic Edwin Church, the first student of Thomas Cole of the Hudson River School of landscape painting.  We'll also visit wineries, breweries, farmstands, and ice cream shops, stay in historic inns and B&Bs, and enjoy some fabulous cuisine. We finish up with a quick tour of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, founded in 1802. Check out the detailed day-by-day itinerary below.

Tour Leaders: owner Ned Raynolds and Mike Hicks

Arrive in this lively, interesting city to check in at the historic Inn at Saratoga Springs, then go explore!

This is a day to continue exploring the wonderful small city of Saratoga Springs on your own, by foot, bike, or whatever transportation you can find. Horse racing, history, winetasting ... Do some research in advance, perhaps get tickets to a tour or a show, or just play it by ear according to the weather. Be back to the Inn at Saratoga by 5:00 p.m. though, for our meet & orientation meeting, and a group dinner right there in the Inn's Side Room restaurant. 

41 miles -- We'll make our way out of Saratoga Springs to Ballston Spa via paved bike paths and local roads. At Ballston Spa we'll pick up the Zim Smith Mid-County Trail for 11.5 miles down to the outskirts of Mechanicsville, on the Hudson River, where we'll have lunch at a classic local diner called The Ugly Rooster. Then we'll head south toward Albany, connecting with the Champlain Canalway Trail into Waterford, where the Mohawk River meets the Hudson, and the eastern terminus of the Erie Canal. After a rest stop to check out some of the historical markers, we'll follow the Empire State Trail, much of it right along the banks of the Hudson, into downtown Albany for our night's rest. Dinner is on your own at one of many restaurants or breweries within walking distance. 

 39 mi. -- Today we'll ride right out from the Hampton Inn downtown Albany and make our way over the Hudson River on marked bike paths, and jump on the Albany-Hudson Electric Trail. The AHET follows a 36-mile course through the former Albany-Hudson Electric Trolley corridor from Hudson to Rensselaer. The electric trolley ran for 30 years before closing in 1929. The corridor is now owned by National Grid, which gave permission to the Hudson River Valley Greenway to construct and maintain the trail. The journey includes passage through Hudson Valley's farmlands and orchards, access to a handful of charming communities in Rensselaer and Columbia Counties, and multiple crossings of the Valatie Kill, a picturesque stream. We'll ride right to our historic boutique hotel just south of downtown, The Wick (once a candle factory from the 1860s) with some time to relax and then explore the town and find a place for dinner on your own. 

 37 mi. A good portion of today's ride is on-road following the NY State-designated Empire State Bike Trail. We'll make an early stop just 5 miles into our ride at the Olana Historic Site for a guided tour of the home of famed Hudson River landscape artist Frederic Edwin Church, and then continue along the quiet country road that parallels the Hudson, stopping in the cute town of Tivoli for lunch of your choosing. We'll continue south across the campus of Bard College and then cross high above the Hudson on the Kingston-Rhinecliff Bridge to head into Kingston. Our lodging tonight is at the unique Hutton Brickyards Riverfront Hotel & Venue. After we've had a chance to relax & refesh we'll walk or cycle the mile into town for dinner at the riverfront Old Savannah Southern Table & Bar. 

37 miles - We'll make our way to the gorgeous Walkill Valley Rail Trail which takes us through quiet forests and farmland. Then in New Paltz we'll connect to the Empire State Trail, crossing the spectacular Walkway Over the Hudson, a steel cantilever bridge spanning the river between Poughkeepsie on the east and Highland on the west. Built as a double track railroad bridge, it was completed in 1889 and formed part of the Maybrook Railroad Line of the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad. Taken out of service in 1974 after it was damaged by fire, It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979 and designated as a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark by the American Society of Civil Engineers in 2009. It was reopened in October 2009, as a pedestrian walkway - the world's longest elevated pedestrian bridge (bikes are allowed too :)). In Poughkeepsie we'll pick up the William R. Steinhaus Duchess Rail Trail for 13.1 miles of smooth, paved riding into Hopewell Junction. There's we'll load into the van for a short 4.6 mile ride to our night's lodging at the historic, luxurious Brinckerhoff Inn in Fishkill, where we'll enjoy a barbecue dinner. 

23 miles. On our last day we'll be only on local roads as we once again cross the Hudson (this time alongside 1-84 on the Newburgh-Beacon Bridge Pedestrian & Bike Trail) and then head south along the riverfront to Newburgh to Washington's Headquarters State Park, where the strategy that brought the Revolutionary War to its successful conclusion was devised. Riders can explore the small park while we load the bikes into the trailer for transport down to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. We'll go through security and take a 5.5 mile tour on our bikes, then get some lunch, and then load into the van for our ride back up to Saratoga Springs (a 2:15 ride). Plan to arrive back in Saratoga Springs for the conclusion of the tour around 4:30. It will also be possible for us to drop you off at Albany Airport, or the Albany Amtrak station, if that's how you arrived.