The Colonial Greenway
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On October 4, 2009 the second Paine to Pain trail race was held on the Colonial Greenway.
The Colonial Greenway is a joint project of the County, the Town of Mamaroneck, the Villages of Mamaroneck and Scarsdale, and the City of New Rochelle to connect Twin Lakes/Nature Study, Saxon Woods, and the Leatherstocking trails. Larchmont and Eastchester are also invovled. Except for one final link between the latter two on Old White Plains Road in Mamaroneck (which currently exists, but is hazardous, see below), the Greenway already exists in each of these trails. When it is done, it will be a 12+ mile loop course. The particulars are set forth in the individual trail sections:
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One can connect between Saxon Woods and Leatherstocking. From Leatherstocking to Saxon Woods, you continue across Old White Plains Road, a bit to the right to a less obvious trail opening. This is a narrow up and then down trail. You turn left on the street and follow it to your left until it gets to Old White Plains Road. You make a right there (on the big street you hit, Old White Plains Road) and after about 500 feet, you hit the trail entrance, on the right side of the road. That final 500 feet will be protected eventually by a sidewalk, as part of the Colonial Greenway. Eric Turkewitz writes, “There isn’t any marker. Proceeding from the corner of Deerfield and going right, you pass 2 vacant lots and then driveways for 3 houses. Then there is a small bit of woods that touches the road. That is the spot where the trail is.” And the connection back is, naturally, the reverse. But the road currently is narrow and windy so particular care is mandated.
As I note on the homepage, Eric Turkewitz of the Sound Shore Runners is working with officials from the County, Mamaroneck, New Rochelle, and Scarsdale to develop the Colonial Greenway, a 13+ mile loop (with only a slight amount of paved-road-running around New Rochelle, Mamaroneck, Scarsdale, Eastchester, and New Rochelle). Work is moving along, and they hope to have a detailed map fairly soon. I have a separate page for the Leatherstocking Trail, which runs from New Rochelle to Mamaroneck. The map above is courtesy of Guillermo Gutierrez, of SSRMC, who ran the Colonial Greenway with a GPS monitor. The Greenway will have a short-cut through trails, including Ward Acres and the Larchmont Reservoir, near Pine Brook Boulevard.
| From the City |
| Printable Copy |
From the City
You can get to this trail system via MetroNorth. The best way is from the Mamaroneck Station. It’s .5 miles and while it sounds complicated, it’s not; here’s a map. Here are Metro-North Map (New Haven line in Red) and Metro-North Schedule (28 minutes from 125th Street and 38 from Grand Central Terminal). It’s a bit over 0.5 miles and slightly uphill. Here’s a map.
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From the back of the train (northbound), head south and go under the bridge by which the tracks cross Mamaroneck Avenue. Get to the left side of Mamaroneck Avenue. From the back of the train (northbound), head south and go under the bridge by which the tracks cross Mamaroneck Avenue. Keep going straight; Mamaroneck Avenue goes to the right, but stay straight on Old White Plains Road. You pass a number of stores and cross over I-95 and the road goes up. The Leatherstocking Trail heading south begins shortly after you cross I-95; it’s on the left of the picture on the left (across from the deer sign).
To get to Saxon Woods, follow the instructions above; this entrance will be much easier when the Greenway is completed. Here’s a map.
You can make it a day-trip from the City, having, say, a picnic on the park on Long Island sound. I should also note that Mamaroneck is one of the few communities in which there is a town close to the trail, so you could do the same thing by driving and parking in the town. (There is parking at the marina, but I don’t know what the parking rules are there.)
Last edited on ... October 4, 2009
