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View Full Version : How much to NYC?



Kage
04-02-2009, 20:05
Does anyone know how much the train ride is from the trail to NYC? I'm thinking about making the trip since I have a couple of friends in the city I could stay with.

Cookerhiker
04-02-2009, 21:04
Here's the link to the Metro North Railroad timetables (http://as0.mta.info/mnr/schedules/sched_form.cfm) for the lines east of the Hudson. You can find the fares there.

A-Train
04-02-2009, 21:50
You can ride ShortLine Bus to NYC Port Authority for 13 bucks, RT 26.

Or you can take the train from Pawling/AT stop and pay betwen 12-16 dollars one way or 24-32 RT.

Most people seem to focus only on the train stop, while I think the Bear Mtn Bus option is better. It leaves from right outside the Inn twice a day where the train only stops at the AT station on weekends, otherwise you need to walkor hitch to Pawling.

If I were in the middle of a thru-hike I'd want a break at Bear Mtn to break up NY, not at the end with the excitement and easy miles of CT ahead.

Strategic
04-03-2009, 11:19
A-Train has it right for the Short Line bus out of Bear Mt. Inn; I used it last year when I ended a section there and it was a comfortable and even scenic ride back into the Port Authority in NYC. Very nice indeed.

The Metro-North system is also good, and not just from the AT stop at NY-22. You can also access Metro-North trains from several other points along the trail in NY. If you look at the lines west of the Hudson the best stop is at Harriman station on the Main/Bergen Co./Port Jervis line, about 1.25 miles north of the trail crossing on NY-17. You can even call a cab from the phone booth at the trail crossing (NY-17 and Arden Valley Rd.) if you don't feel like a road walk and the ride up is cheap (so is the train). That will take you in to Penn Station in NY.

The other Metro-North stop that's useful in this area is the one across the Hudson from Bear Mt. at Peekskill station on the Hudson line (this line and the Harlem line below are both east of the Hudson). The next stop north on that line is even closer to the trail (Manitou), but it's a very limited commuter stop and not much use most of the time. I'd only bother with Peekskill if you can't get the Short Line bus out of Bear Mt. Inn though, since it's harder to get to (but useful if you miss the last bus of the day, as the trains run much later into the evening). This is one you'll want to hail a cab to get to, but they can be called easily from the Bear Mt. area.

If you want to get further before you go off-trail, then the AT stop on the Harlem line is okay, but the service there is limited to weekends, so you'll have to plan carefully if you want to end up there at the right time. The alternative station, if you end up there mid-week, is Harlem Valley/Wingdale station to the north on NY-22, which is closer than the Pawling station to the south (a little under 2 miles vs about 3.5 miles).

There is one other option that you might want to consider: a NJTransit bus from the trail crossing at NY-17a, just south of Wildcat shelter (NY-17a is the first paved road after you cross the state line into NY). It's as good as the Short Line run from Bear Mt., but runs more frequently since it's a commuter service. The NJTransit route is bus 196(express) or 197/198 out of the Port Authority to Warwick. There's a stop on NY-17a at Kain Rd., about .2 miles north of the trail crossing, but be aware that its a flag stop, so the bus won't pause if you aren't there to be picked up. It's directly across the road from that old favorite of thru-hikers, the Bellvale Creamery.

Here are a set of links to help out:


The Metro-North/NJTransit printed train schedules (http://www.njtransit.com/sf/sf_servlet.srv?hdnPageAction=TrainTimeTablesTo) for lines west of the Hudson (the Main/Bergen Co./Port Jervis line).
The Metro-North printed train schedules (http://mta.info/mnr/html/planning/schedules/schedules.htm) for lines east of the Hudson (the Hudson and Harlem lines).
The Short Line scheduling and ticketing page (http://www.coachusa.com/shortline/ss.tickets.asp) (they don't issue printed schedules).
The NJTransit 196, 197/198 printed bus schedule (http://www.njtransit.com/pdf/bus/T1196.pdf).

I should also note that you can buy tickets in advance for the Metro-North trains and the Short Line bus online, which can be a real advantage when coming in off the trail. The NJTransit bus won't let you do that, but you can pay on the bus itself and they carry change so it's not so much of a problem.

Hope all this helps. I'm a big advocate of mass/public transit as a way to get to and from the trail whenever possible, so I have a small but growing collection of resources on this and am happy to share.