Hudson Calling
Before COVID turned half of Upstate into Hamptons-on-the-Hudson, there was just Hudson, the original “it” river town. Hype aside, Hudson is a great place to visit and an even better place to bike to, especially when the bike trip begins in the heart of the Mohawk River Valley.
Ride Details
93 miles
2 day ride
Depart: Amtrak Empire Service
Penn Station >> Amsterdam
Return: Amtrak Empire Service
Hudson >> Penn Station
Mostly Asphalt with some crushed stone
Stay in Albany
This trip marries two premier trails, and I personally couldn’t be happier that they’ve come together as part of the Empire State Trail to make this ride possible. The Erie Canalway Trail was my intro to bike tripping. The Mohawk River Valley section that this trip covers is among its most scenic highlights. The Albany-Hudson Electric Trail is brand spanking new as of late 2020, carving a half moon line through the rolling farm country of Rensselaer and Columbia counties before descending into Hudson. It's a great ride and a glorious destination.
Day 1: Amsterdam >> Albany
First a story… In 2016, I biked from Buffalo to Albany on the Erie Canalway Trail (now part of the Empire State Trail). It was my first big bike trip, and I had no idea what I was doing. It was also an exceptionally hot and humid week for early June. By Day 7, I was exhausted, dirty, and hurting all over.
After 40-some miles I pulled into Canajoharie, a small town due west of Amsterdam sitting about halfway between Utica and Schenectady. Canajoharie is the former home of the Beech-Nut baby food company and current home of a rusting factory and high unemployment rate. It was about 2:30pm and the temperature was pushing 90 degrees. I needed food and water.
Most of the storefronts in Canajoharie were boarded up, with two exceptions: a pub with an Irish flag out front, and a "cucina" with an Italian flag. The cucina also had two shiny Schwinn cruisers out front, so I opted for the bike friendly option.
As I walked in, a little old Italian man met me at the door with a big mustache and a "Bongiorno!" He looked comically stereotypical, as if Roberto Benigni had just stepped off the boat at Ellis Island in a Mario Brothers costume. I quickly eyed the menu and asked for the gnocchi.
"You are-a biking?" the little Italian man asked in heavily accented English. I nodded affirmatively. "Then you have-a the pasta fazool. It's-a super food."
“Super food?” I asked.
"Only good stuff, all homemade,” he replied. “You have-a the carrots, beans, onions, the pasta. It's-a super food. You bike-a another 30, 40, 50 miles or more. No problemo!"
Well… I don't know what that little old Italian man put in his pasta fazool, but it was super food indeed! I biked further and faster that day than at any other point in the entirety of my cycling career. I became convinced he drugged me with whatever they pumped into Lance Armstrong’s seven Tour de France victories. All this is to say, I recall next to nothing of the road from Amsterdam to Albany as I flew through the Mohawk River Valley high on pasta fazool, so please forgive the brevity of the recommendations that follow.
Spending a night in Amsterdam? Depending on train schedules and your schedule, you may want to arrive a night before. If you do, stay at the Amsterdam Castle, because, well, it’s a castle… in upstate New York… enough said.
Eat in Schenectady. If memory serves me right, Ambition Coffee & Eatery is a good option. Plenty of other places in that area on Jay Street too.
Don’t forget the locks! You’ll pass a few en route. The important one is Erie Canal Lock E-2 in Waterford, it’s the last lock on the Erie Canal. Your guess is as good as mine on why “Lock E-2” instead of just “Lock 1”. The mule statue in front of the Waterford Harbor Visitor Center is a requisite bike selfie backdrop.
Check out the Capitol. Specifically, the New York State Capitol. It makes a nice grand finale and another good spot for a bike selfie. Naturally, it’s at the top of a steep hill, as I’ve found almost all bike trip finish lines tend to be. The Egg nearby is also a crowd pleaser.
Dinner at Jack’s Oyster House. Or really anywhere that suits your fancy. After a week of lousy diner eats across Western New York, I was especially keen on a little fine dining when I arrived in Albany.
Stay in Albany. No specific recommendation, but there are plenty of options.
Day 2: Albany >> Hudson
Get breakfast in Albany. Daily Grind looks promising. Or try Betty Boop Diner or The Breakfast Spot for the usual diner cheap eats.
Smoothie stop at Mi Ecuador Juice Bar. This place is muy bueno and conveniently located right near the northern trailhead of the Albany Hudson-Electric Trail. Take an empanada or three for the road.
Ignore Google Maps. As a new trail, the Albany-Hudson Electric Trail is not yet marked on Google Maps, so the map linked above will send you on roads. Ignore it. Follow the Traillink map here. Once you’re on the trail, everything is well marked to take you all the way to Hudson.
Check out Stuyvesant Falls. It’s a lovely sight. For a little historical detour, head a couple miles up Route 25 to the Martin Van Buren National Historic Site. FDR’s Hyde Park estate gets all the hoopla, but Martie was the OG New Yorker to occupy the Oval Office.
Enjoy Hudson! This is a great town with plenty to see, eat, and drink. It’s also a very bikeable scale, so roll around a few and explore. If you decide to spend the night before training back to NYC, book yourself into the Rivertown Lodge.
