New York - Top Bike Climbs

Complete List of Climbs

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Total Climbs: 75

Top 100 World: 0

Avg. FIETS (Top 5): 5.4

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Cycling New York

Cycling New York State - photo collage, PJAMM Cycling logo in corner, road sign for New York, the Empire State, bike parked in front of bronze bull statue, bike parked in front of waterway with PJAMM Cycling logo draped over it, bike parked in front of various city blocks, including one with Empire State building in background

We travelled to the northeast US in August 2015 and June 2020

to document the top climbs in this corner of the country.

WHITEFACE MOUNTAIN

#1 NEW YORK/#42 US

Cycling New York State - photo collage, PJAMM Cycling logo in corner, sign for Whiteface , In Memoriam plaque, bike parked next to sign for Whiteface Mountain Veterans Memorial Highway

Whiteface Mountain.

Cycling New York State - photo collage, PJAMM Cycling logo in corner, road signs for New York, Empire State, Whiteface Mountain, aerial view looking down over water

New York is home to only one of the Top US 100 Bike Climbs, but that one climb is extraordinary. As of 2015 Whiteface Mountain was the smoothest roadway for an entire climb we had ever encountered. Additionally, the views along the way, including Lake Placid, are extremely scenic. The castle at the end is the cherry on top of this fantastic road bike climb.

Cycling New York State - photo collage, PJAMM Cycling logo in corner, mile markers showing elevation along roadside

Cycling New York State - photo collage, PJAMM Cycling logo in corner, lush greenery surrounding both sides of smooth, newly paved, two-lane roadway

Cycling New York State - summit tunnel

Summit Tunnel

Photo: Green Racing Project

BEAR MOUNTAIN

THE MOST POPULAR BIKE CLIMB IN NEW YORK

Cycling New York State - Bear Mountain Bridge as seen from above during fall

Bear Mountain Bridge, as seen from Perkins Memorial Drive mountain summit.

Ride 4.5 miles, 1,230’ at 5.2%.

The centerpiece of the wildly popular Gran Fondo New York, from what we can see on Strava and the traffic to our website over the past five years, Bear Mountain -- while not the most challenging -- is certainly the most popular road bike climb in New York.

Cycling New York State - photo collage, PJAMM cycling logo in corner, bike parked against tree overlooking greenery and against wooden bench, sign for Bear Mountain State Park, aerial views of bridge crossing river and waterway surrounded in greenery

NEW YORK’S STEEPEST MILE

GLADE HILL ROAD (CATSKILLS)

Cycling New York State - Glade Hill, bike parked against Stone Gazebo in green field

Cycling Glade Hill -- a brutal bike climb!

Ride 1.9 miles gaining 1,261’ at 12.4% averager grade.

This is the steepest mile in New York State at 13.5%.

Cycling New York State - Glade Hill, photo collage of views along ride, PJAMM Cycling logo in corner, bike parked at various locations within lush greenery, red barns, country roads

OH MY!!!!! 12.3% average grade -- this is a B R U T E!!! This is the third ranked hill climb in New York and has the steepest grade of any ascent over one mile in length (NYCC Steep Hill web page). Glade Hill Road is one of the five New York top climbs in the Catskill Mountains, the primary climbing zone in New York State.

Cycling New York State - photo collage, PJAMM Cycling logo in corner, bike parked in front of various old country buildings and barns, one-lane country roads

Climb begins in, and runs through, a very rural farming and ranching section of the Catskills.