I had a chance to do something I haven't done in a long time the other day: drive a good part of the
Taconic State Parkway. It's a legacy from a different era; in many ways it's like a trip back through time to a world where the automobile still seemed like a magic carpet, letting ordinary people roam at will across the countryside at speeds no horse could match, with a freedom not found on trains bound to rails and timetables.
More below the Orange Omnilepticon.
The Taconic State Parkway is an escape route into the country from out of the city. The map at this link shows its route today, in red. It runs just over a hundred miles up the east side of the Hudson River Valley from Kensico Dam in Westchester County all the way up to Chatham in Columbia County where it terminates into the Berkshire Spur of the Governor Thomas E. Dewey New York State Thruway, the "Erie Canal of the Atomic Age".
The Wikipedia entry for the Parkway is a fascinating read about the history and ideas that went into its long construction. It wasn't completed until 1963, and its beginnings date back to 1925 and a young Franklin Delano Roosevelt. The name gives an indication of the nature of this highway, which was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2005.
It's a parkway, with the emphasis on park. There are no tolls, trucks are banned from it, and it's routed in a way that avoids most of the cities and towns along its length. It was laid out with an eye to giving travelers scenic vistas of the Hudson Highlands, the Taconics, the Catskills, the Hudson River Valley as the road sweeps over the landscape. From the Wikipedia article:
Landscape architects like Gilmore Clarke worked closely with engineers and construction crews during the Taconic's construction, often on site. Some features of the road's design address practical considerations and increase safety. Curves that climbed or descended were banked to increase vehicle traction and permit better drainage. Likewise the curves in undulating terrain are located to reduce blind spots at crests and keep the sharpest turns out of valleys. These also make sure that views of distant landscapes open up on downgrades and on long curves, when they are less distracting.[11]
Closer to the road, on the northern sections in Columbia and Dutchess counties, the road was routed to showcase a nearby view of wooded hillside or a farm. Since trucks were not permitted on the road, in many sections tree branches overhang the roadways, creating a park-like feel. The curve of the northbound Amvets bridge over Croton Reservoir echoes the surrounding hills. On the medians and berms, plantings were carefully planned to maintain continuity with the surrounding woods. On the descent into Peekskill Hollow in Putnam Valley, the trees and shrubs above the retaining wall on the east side were transplanted from the path of the highway, which retained the appearance of the local forest and saved money.[12] Overpasses, both carrying roads over the parkway and carrying it over roads, were faced in native stone.[11] The grade intersections, usually a feature engineers tried to avoid, helped keep local east–west routes open[13] and connect the parkway to the landscape it traversed.[14]
My trip was over the section of the Parkway between I-84, a major east-west route between Danbury, CT and Newburgh, NY north to the exit for
Hudson -
Ancram. The section of the TSP immediately south of I-84 traverses some steep hills and can be pretty hemmed in by the terrain - though with some spectacular views too. The section I drove gets to open up more - the road has more room to stretch out. There are places where trees hanging over the roadway make it seem like a tunnel, and other places where the view opens up for miles.
The speed limit on the Taconic State Parkway reflects that it was built for driving as opposed to making time. It's a route that practically demands driving a convertible with the top down on a sunny day. The road is seldom boring - it's constantly moving in gentle curves across the land, up and down hills instead of blasting straight ahead across the landscape. In several places along the route, the center grassy median featured large patches of wildflowers in full bloom, deliberately spared by mowing crews.
It's 55 mph on the section I drove, and the NY State Police can be vigilant. Ramps can be tight - they were built for a slower era. While some sections have been updated with steel guard rails, much of it retains the character of the original design, with stone walls and stone facing on bridges. Be warned, deer can be a problem at twilight and after dark - the Parkway is very open to the landscape. There are no services on the TSP (there used to be, but they were closed years ago.) You'll have to find them on the side roads.
The Taconic State Parkway is a link to all kinds of outdoor opportunities, like Fahnestock, Baird, and Lake Taghkanic state parks among others. There are historic sites all up and down the Hudson River Valley. (Here's one; here's another.) Make a side trip to Poughkeepsie, and you can enjoy one of the newest parks in New York State with spectacular views of the Hudson River from a repurposed railroad bridge. Turn off onto the side roads and you'll find farm stands, bed & breakfasts, towns that have been there for several hundred years. It's a region with all kinds of attractions.
I ended my trip on the Taconic State Parkway at the exit for Hudson - Ancram. Head west about 11 miles towards Hudson, and you'll pass numerous farms stands filled with locally grown produce this time of year. As you get near the town of Hudson, NY, you come around a curve and suddenly there's a spectacular vista of the northern Catskills across the Hudson River.
Decisions, decisions. If you go left at the intersection coming up in the picture above, within a mile or so you'll find the turn off on the left leading to the home of landscape painter
Frederick Edwin Church and his incredible Persian fantasy of a home,
Olana. It's hard to say which is more amazing -
his home or the views from it high atop a hill.
If you go straight instead, you'll find yourself crossing the Rip Van Winkle Bridge, headed right for the Catskills.
There's a walkway all the way across the river on the south side of the bridge. It offers spectacular views. You can see the Catskills off to the south and west, the river spreading below with boats and ships on it, Amtrak running up the east side of the river, and Olana looking down from the hill to the east.
And if you had turned right to travel a couple of miles to
Hudson, NY, you might visit
the
Hudson Opera House, the
FASNY Museum of Firefighting, or just go down to the river and take in a view of an
incredibly picturesque lighthouse.
Feel like checking out the Taconic State Parkway and the area? Chatham at the northern end will be hosting the Columbia County Fair Wednesday 8-29 to Monday 9-3. The Wikipedia article is practically a mile by mile guide to the TSP. Looking for more info about the Hudson River Valley? The I Love New York guide to the region is here.
Enjoy!