View Full Version : NY N.Bound and best way to get to towns
Needed -info and tips as to how to hike thru New York on NB thru hike. They don't allow hitch hiking. AWOL didn't provide a whole lot on that subject. Doesn't seem to be any towns really close enough to walk into and thumbing it technically illegal in NY. Need all the good insight I can get and would appreciate name(s) of better town(s). Obligated to duck into NY towns at some point and just want more specific advice other than "just read a guide book"- Your advice will be appreciated.
Leanthree
11-10-2016, 22:23
Greenwood Lake is a compact and decent town that can be reached on a bit less than a mile steeply descending side trail.
Ft. Montgomery is less than a mile from the trail.
Pawling is nice, but there is also a decent short term resupply about a half mile east of the trail at a deli/convenience store.
That should get you to Kent or Salisbury CT depending on your pace and how frequently you like resupplying. In NY and CT you can get town food most days if you try to.
New York does not have a "Trail Town" in the common use of the term. No hiker hangouts hostels or cheap hotels. (Unionville NY is on the NJ section of the AT) They do have a gardening center that offers a few services in addition to your tree and shrubbery needs on the AT just North of Pawling. For transport to the towns that NY does have, other than Hitching, you can call a Taxi. If you want to spend the night in a motel in Ft Washington you can call the nearby motel and they will come and get you. The nice thing about hiking NY is the availability of gas station/convienance stores etc. Also NY is well connected to long distance mass transport to and from all of the bigger towns. I know this ain't much help but as a major law breaker, I hitch hike. If caught I plead ignorance express sorrow and ask for forgiveness. So far so good.
StubbleJumper
11-12-2016, 14:50
Legal or not, I just hitchhike anyway because the theoretical maximum punishment is only a minor citation (ie, a few dollars).
I've been stopped by a sheriff's department once, and nothing really came of it other than a verbal warning that hitching was illegal. However, there's always a small risk that you could run into a cop with an itchy trigger-finger or one who wants to turn a minor offence into something more than it is. In particular, when I was stopped for hitching, I was walking with a partner who was carrying 1/8 oz of weed (pretty common amongst hikers), and if that cop ever found a reason to arrest us and search us, then that could have been big trouble for my buddy. Better to avoid these sorts of encounters if you are holding.
orthofingers
11-12-2016, 16:11
I have hitchhiked all over New York State. The only time I was stopped by a cop was for him to give me a ride about five miles up I-81. I'm not saying that makes it right but that's been my experience anyway.
Feral Bill
11-12-2016, 16:54
Needed -info and tips as to how to hike thru New York on NB thru hike. They don't allow hitch hiking. AWOL didn't provide a whole lot on that subject. Doesn't seem to be any towns really close enough to walk into and thumbing it technically illegal in NY. Need all the good insight I can get and would appreciate name(s) of better town(s). Obligated to duck into NY towns at some point and just want more specific advice other than "just read a guide book"- Your advice will be appreciated.
Hitch hiking in New York is most certainly legal. Standing in the roadway to solicit a ride is illegal, but the roadway does not include the shoulder or berm. How you respond to an officer who either does not know this or does not care is up to you.