Low Impact Bicycle Rides in the New York / Long Island / Hudson Valley Region

BROOKLYN BIKEWAYS

1. Belt Parkway Trail

aka Leif Erikson Trail

Eastern Section -Canarsie Pier to Sheepshead Bay  

This trail was originally built in the 1940's to provide bike and pedestrian access to the beaches and recreational areas along Jamaica Bay. In the late 1990s, it was  resurfaced with a fresh coat of blacktop from just east of the Canarsie Pier all the way to Knapp Street in Sheepshead Bay.  In September, of 2002, new pavement was laid all the way to Cross Bay Boulevard in Queens, although a couple of sections are still missing.  Also, an extension appears to be in place at Erskine Road, leading to a new shopping center on the eastbound side of the parkway.

Two words of caution: Some of the bridge overpasses are still in need of widening, repaving, and guardrails. Whether or not the city will ever address these issues remains to be seen. For now, use caution when crossing the bridges, as the right of way is very narrow and not in such great shape.  Also, this path can get tricky on a windy day and tends to accumulate sand (from the adjacent beaches) in certain areas. Be careful!

Start the trail at The Canarsie Pier in the Gateway National Recreation Area. You can reach this by taking the Belt Parkway to Exit 13 (Rockaway Avenue) and following the signs a short distance south of the parkway. This is a great little park complete with stone checkerboard tables, a restaurant, and an outdoor snack bar during the outdoor season. I'd imagine this is the kind of gathering place that made Brooklyn the "Capitol of the World" at one time.

For now, head west from Canarsie Pier, until the eastern extension is complete.  This will take you all the way to Knapp Street in Sheepshead Bay, crossing only one street (Flatbush Avenue) along the way.  At Flatbush, you may want to make a left and detour to Floyd Bennett Field, NYC's first municipal airport, dedicated in 1931.  In its heyday, famous aviators including Howard Hughes and "Wrong Way" Corrigan used the field for their record-breaking flights.  Today, the field is part of the Gateway National Recreation Area and still houses many remnants of the aviation era for all to explore.  (For info, call 718-338-3799.)  

Further down Flatbush Avenue, you can cross the Gil Hodges Memorial Bridge and bear right to explore Breezy Point, a cozy little beach community with a modest, but functional bike lane along its one and only access road.  To the left off the bridge, you can ride a short bike path along the water to Jacob Riis Park, a community beach named after an early 1900s journalist who crusaded for better public recreation facilities.   The path ends abruptly, though, with no place to go but back.  Also visit Fort Tilden, an inactive naval base just adjacent to Riis Park.

Anyway, back to the path along the Belt Parkway.  Before you reach Knapp Street, you'll also pass the Jamaica Bay Riding Academy and a small beach (name, anybody?).  When the path ends at Knapp Street (about 5 miles from Canarsie Pier), you can either turn around or carefully walk your bike into the heart of Sheepshead Bay, where you'll find delis, restaurants of all cuisines, and a great dockside area to hang out for a while.

Connecting To The Western Section of The Trail

At Knapp Street, you have the option of connecting with the western portion of this trail by riding "on-road" for about 4.5 miles through some interesting sections of Brooklyn. To do this, at the end of the path at Knapp Street, continue straight onto Emmons Avenue and carefully ride or walk your bike through Sheepshead Bay.  Be sure to take in the vibe of the water and the boats, which will be on your left all through this area.  Where the water ends, you'll see a Holocaust Memorial Park on your left. This is Manhattan Beach. Shortly after, the name of the road changes to Neptune Avenue.  If you're interested, ask someone here for the best way to detour to Coney Island for a look at what this once bustling tourist spot has become.  If not, continue on Neptune to Cropsey Avenue and make a right. Here, you'll cross over a small bridge. At the very end, make a left onto 52nd Street, and a quick right onto the sidewalk that parallels the Belt Parkway service road. Take this sidewalk all the way to the Toys R Us shopping center in Bensonhurst and find the continuation of the paved path in the far corner along the water.

Western Section - Bensonhurst to Bay Ridge

If you don't mind putting up with a lot of trash scattered along the bike path, this is a great ride full of waterviews, history, and interesting characters!  To start at this point, take the Belt Parkway to Exit 5 (Bay Parkway) and enter the Toys R Us parking lot just south of the exit. Park legally and enter the trail in the far corner of the lot, along the water.  Otherwise, continue from the point described in the above connection.

This path will take you right under the Verazzano Bridge, the world's largest single-suspension bridge (built in 1964) and past Fort Hamilton, built on a hill from which the Continental Army confronted invading British warships in 1776. For the entire trip, you'll be riding along the lower New York Bay, watching giant freight vessels from all over the world enter and exit New York Harbor. This historic waterway housed a prison for Confederate officers during the Civil War (now the Brooklyn footing for the bridge) and, during WWII, was protected from German U-Boats by a giant net, now on display at the Harbor Defense Museum in Fort Hamilton.

The trail runs about 4 miles until you reach the DEP Water Pollution Control Facility. From here, if you still have a few pedal strokes in you, you can make a right, go under the parkway and make a quick left onto an extension of the bike trail.  If you cross the street at the end of this short extension, you can ride a short distance through Owl's Head Park. The trail ends at Colonial Avenue.

Option:  

1.  To reach the Brooklyn Bridge from Owl's Head Park, take 66th or 67th Street to 3rd Avenue, which runs under the Gowanus Expressway, and make a left.  At approximately 2.5 miles, bear left onto Hamilton Avenue.  At less than a mile, make a right onto Clinton Street.  At 1.5 miles, Clinton bends right and turns into Tillary Street.  As you approach Flatbush Avenue, you'll see the bridge on your left and the entrance to the bike path.  Be careful crossing the streets here!  NOTE:  This route was sent to me by a visitor to the site.  I haven't tried it myself, but I'll try to add more detail when I do.  Also, note that Brooklyn Heights, just a few blocks from the entrance to the bridge, has a lot of outdoor cafes for lunch or dinner.  BONUS OPTION!  After you cross the Brooklyn Bridge, if you can work your way across town to Battery Park City (just ask!) you can connect to the bike trail that runs all along the water there.  This is turning into a whole day's worth of riding, isn't it???