Seven Lakes Drive is a north–south

parkway A parkway is a landscaped thoroughfare.''"parkway."''Webster's Third New International Dictionary, Unabridged. Merriam-Webster, 2002. http://unabridged.merriam-webster.com (14 Apr. 2007). The term is particularly used for a roadway in a park or ...

located in the

Hudson Valley The Hudson Valley (also known as the Hudson River Valley) comprises the valley of the Hudson River and its adjacent communities in the U.S. state of New York. The region stretches from the Capital District including Albany and Troy south to ...

region of

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

in the United States. It extends for just under on a northeast–southwest alignment from an intersection with

New York State Route 17 New York State Route 17 (NY 17) is a major state highway that extends for through the Southern Tier and Downstate regions of New York in the United States. It begins at the Pennsylvania state line in Mina and follows the Southern T ...

(NY 17) in the village of

Sloatsburg Sloatsburg is a village in the town of Ramapo in Rockland County, New York, United States. Located east of Orange County, it is at the southern entrance to Harriman State Park. The population was 3,039 at the 2010 census. The village is named ...

to a junction with U.S. Route 9W (US 9W) and US 202 south of the

Bear Mountain Bridge The Bear Mountain Bridge, ceremonially named the Purple Heart Veterans Memorial Bridge, is a toll suspension bridge in New York State. It carries US 6 and US 202 across the Hudson River between Bear Mountain State Park in Orange Co ...

in the town of Stony Point. Most of the highway is located in either Harriman or Bear Mountain state parks, except for a small stretch near its western end. Ownership of Seven Lakes Drive is split between three entities, two of which are also responsible for maintenance of the road. Sections of Seven Lakes Drive and several other roads in the park system (Tiorati Brook Road, Lake Welch Drive, and Perkins Memorial Drive), are closed for the winter from December through March.

Route description

As its name implies, Seven Lakes Drive passes by seven lakes located at various points along the road. From south to north, the lakes are

Lake Sebago At , Lake Sebago, near Sloatsburg, is the largest lake in Harriman State Park in the U.S. state of New York. The name is Algonquian for "big water". It is located just south of Lake Kanawauke and is accessible via Seven Lakes Drive and the P ...

and

Lake Kanawauke Lake Kanawauke is a primarily man-made lake in Harriman State Park. The name is Onondaga in origin, and means "place of much water". There are three parts to the lake, lower, middle and upper; the total area is . It is located in the Town of T ...

in the towns of

Haverstraw Haverstraw is a town in Rockland County, New York, United States, located north of the Town of Clarkstown and the Town of Ramapo; east of Orange County; south of the Town of Stony Point; and west of the Hudson River. The town runs from the we ...

and

Tuxedo Black tie is a semi-formal Western dress code for evening events, originating in British and American conventions for attire in the 19th century. In British English, the dress code is often referred to synecdochically by its principal element fo ...

; Lake Skannatati and Lake Askoti in Tuxedo; Lake Tiorati in Tuxedo and

Woodbury Woodbury may refer to: Geography Antarctica *Woodbury Glacier, a glacier on Graham Land, British Antarctic Territory Australia * Woodbury, Tasmania, a locality in Australia England * Woodbury, Bournemouth, an area in Dorset *Woodbury, East Devo ...

; Silver Mine Lake in Woodbury; and Queensboro Lake in

Highlands Highland is a broad term for areas of higher elevation, such as a mountain range or mountainous plateau. Highland, Highlands, or The Highlands, may also refer to: Places Albania * Dukagjin Highlands Armenia * Armenian Highlands Australia *Sou ...

. The highway is not owned by a single entity; instead, the

New York State Department of Transportation The New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) is the department of the New York state government responsible for the development and operation of highways, railroads, mass transit systems, ports, waterways and aviation facilities in ...

(NYSDOT), the

Palisades Interstate Park Commission The Palisades Interstate Park Commission (PIPC) was formed in 1900 by Governors Theodore Roosevelt of New York and Foster Voorhees of New Jersey in response to the quarrying operations along the Palisades Cliffs of New Jersey. The Palisades, a Na ...

(PIPC), and the village of

all own different parts of the road. In Sloatsburg, the westernmost from NY 17 to Waldron Terrace is state-owned and maintained as New York State Route 981G (NY 981G). Seven Lakes Drive is locally owned and maintained for another east to Johnsontown Road. The remaining is owned by PIPC and maintained by NYSDOT as New York State Route 987E (NY 987E). The NY 981G and NY 987E designations are reference routes and are unsigned.

Southern Rockland County

Seven Lakes Drive begins at an intersection with NY 17 in the village of Sloatsburg. It heads northeast through the community, crossing over the

Ramapo River The Ramapo River is a tributary of the Pompton River, approximately 30 mi (48 km) long, in southern New York and northern New Jersey in the United States. Course The Ramapo river rises in Round Lake, a small freshwater lake in the Town ...

and intersecting a handful of residential village streets before passing under the

New York State Thruway {{Infobox road , state = NY , type = NYST , alternate_name = Governor Thomas E. Dewey Thruway , maint = NYSTA , map = {{maplink, frame=yes, plain=yes, frame-align=center, frame-width=290, type=line, stroke-width=2, type2=line, from2=New Yor ...

( Interstate 87). The highway continues to run past homes on the opposite side of the Thruway overpass, where it intersects Johnsontown Road, a road that parallels Seven Lakes Drive for before terminating at a dead end adjacent to the parkway. Seven Lakes Drive meets a short, unnamed connector to Johnsontown Road just later, at which point the road begins to pass through undeveloped wooded areas on its way across Stony Brook and into Harriman State Park. Just east of the Stony Brook bridge, the Pine Meadow Trail begins on the southeast side of the highway. The road loosely parallels Stony Brook as it heads deeper into the park and serves the Reeves Meadow Visitor Center. The center is also a

trailhead A trailhead is the point at which a trail begins, where the trail is often intended for hiking, biking, horseback riding, or off-road vehicles. Modern trailheads often contain rest rooms, maps, sign posts and distribution centers for information ...

for the Reeves Brook Trail, with the Pine Meadow Trail passing the facility on its southeast side. Past the visitor center, the parallel alignments of Seven Lakes Drive and Johnsontown Road come to an end as the latter ends at a

cul-de-sac A dead end, also known as a cul-de-sac (, from French for 'bag-bottom'), no through road or no exit road, is a street with only one inlet or outlet. The term "dead end" is understood in all varieties of English, but the official terminology ...

adjacent to the former. The dead end serves as the trailhead for two hiking trails: the Blue Disc Trail, which starts just before the cul-de-sac; and the White Bar Trail, which begins at the cul-de-sac's northern end. Not far from this point, the Kakiat Trail crosses Seven Lakes Drive on its way toward

Kakiat County Park New Hempstead is a village in the town of Ramapo, Rockland County, New York, United States. It is located north of New Square, east of Wesley Hills, south of Pomona, and west of New City. The population was 5,132 at the 2010 census. Residents ...

. Continuing on, Seven Lakes Drive begins to parallel the White Bar Trail as both head to the northeast through the rugged, forested terrain of the park. Eventually, the White Bar Trail splits from the parkway and proceeds to the north while Seven Lakes Drive remains on a generally northeasterly track. Stony Brook reaches its source at

, the first of the seven lakes the road passes, where the Tuxedo–Mount Ivy Trail briefly follows the parkway before turning off to the east. The highway runs along the southeastern shore of Lake Sebago for just over , passing a lakeside parking area and a ski trail. Past the lake, Seven Lakes Drive makes a slight turn to the north before intersecting with the

Lake Welch Parkway Lake Welch Parkway, sometimes labeled Lake Welch Drive, is a parkway located within Harriman State Park in southern New York in the United States. It extends for on a southwest–northeast alignment from an intersection with Seven Lakes Drive t ...

by way of an elongated traffic circle. The road reverts to a northeasterly routing past the junction, briefly paralleling the Rockland–

Orange Orange most often refers to: *Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis'' ** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower *Orange (colour), from the color of an orange, occurs between red and yellow in the visible spectrum * ...

county line as it runs past

's southeastern edge. Seven Lakes Drive crosses the county line near the lake's midpoint.

Orange and northern Rockland counties

The parkway continues to follow Lake Kanawauke to Kanawauke Circle, where it intersects with County Route 106 (CR 106), formerly part of NY 210. Not far from the junction, Seven Lakes Drive passes two more lakes, Lake Skannatati to the west and Lake Askoti to the east, as it slowly curves to the north. The highway crosses the

Long Path The Long Path is a long-distance hiking trail beginning in New York City, at the West 175th Street subway station near the George Washington Bridge and ending at Altamont, New York, in the Albany area. While not yet a continuous trail, relying ...

near Lake Skannatati and connects to a parking area near Lake Askoti. Another trail, the Red Cross Trail, traverses Seven Lakes Drive at the northern end of Lake Askoti. About a half-mile (0.8 km) north of Lake Askoti is Lake Tiorati, located along the eastern edge of the road. As the highway runs past the lake, it turns back to the northeast and eventually reaches Tiorati Circle at the northern tip of the lake. The junction serves as the east end of

Arden Valley Road Arden Valley Road is a scenic road located in Southfields, New York, in the United States, that travels through Harriman State Park and is owned by the Palisades Interstate Park Commission. At long, it begins at New York State Route 17 (NY ...

, the west end of

Tiorati Brook Road Tiorati Brook Road is a scenic road located within Harriman State Park in southern New York in the United States. The highway extends for between Tiorati Circle, a traffic circle connecting Tiorati Brook Road to Seven Lakes Drive in Orange County ...

, and the trailhead of the Lake Tiorati Trail. Seven Lakes Drive continues northeast from the circle, intersecting with several trails, including the Ramapo–Dunderberg Trail and the

Appalachian Trail The Appalachian Trail (also called the A.T.), is a hiking trail in the Eastern United States, extending almost between Springer Mountain in Georgia and Mount Katahdin in Maine, and passing through 14 states.Gailey, Chris (2006)"Appalachian Tr ...

. A crossing of the Menomine Trail follows as the parkway turns to the east. The Menomine Trail follows Seven Lakes Drive for a short distance to nearby Silver Mine Lake on the south edge of the road. The Silver Mine Ski Road, a trail paralleling most of the lake, meets the parkway at the eastern lakeshore. From here, the road parallels Queensboro Brook for roughly to reach the Long Mountain Roundabout adjacent to Queensboro Lake, the last of the seven lakes from south to north. Here, Seven Lakes Drive directly intersects US 6 and indirectly connects to the nearby

Palisades Interstate Parkway The Palisades Interstate Parkway (PIP) is a limited-access highway in the U.S. states of New Jersey and New York (state), New York. The parkway is a major commuter route into New York City from Rockland County, New York, Rockland and Orange County ...

(PIP) by way of ramps leading away from the circle. Seven Lakes Drive follows US 6 through the circle, joining the route as both roads merge onto the PIP. The overlap with both US 6 and the PIP lasts for just as Seven Lakes Drive leaves the PIP at the next junction, a

trumpet interchange In the field of road transport, an interchange (American English) or a grade-separated junction (British English) is a road junction that uses grade separations to allow for the movement of traffic between two or more roadways or highways, using ...

southwest of Bear Mountain. Seven Lakes Drive heads eastward from the interchange, running along the southern base of the large mountain as it intersects with several trails and passes seamlessly into the adjacent

Bear Mountain State Park Bear Mountain State Park is a state park located on the west bank of the Hudson River in Rockland and Orange counties, New York. The park offers biking, hiking, boating, picnicking, swimming, cross-country skiing, cross-country running, sledd ...

. Just east of the park boundary, the highway crosses the county line once again, re-entering Rockland County near its northernmost point. At the southeastern edge of Bear Mountain, Seven Lakes Drive begins to descend a series of switchbacks as it enters the

Hudson River The Hudson River is a river that flows from north to south primarily through eastern New York. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains of Upstate New York and flows southward through the Hudson Valley to the New York Harbor between N ...

valley. The road gradually makes its way to the western edge of the river, where it ends at an intersection with

US 9W U.S. Route 9W (US 9W) is a north–south U.S. Highway in the states of New Jersey and New York. It begins in Fort Lee, New Jersey, as Fletcher Avenue crosses the US 1–9, US 46, and the Interstate 95 (I-95) approaches ...

and US 202 due east of Bear Mountain's and just south of the

History

The origins of Seven Lakes Drive date as far back as the 1920s, by which time the basis for the modern road was in place from the southern tip of

to the banks of the

. At its south end, the highway connected to Johnstown Road, which continued southwest to

and northeast to Lake Welch. The section of Johnstown Road southwest of this point was also known as Stony Brook Drive, named for its proximity to Stony Brook, a tributary of the

. Stony Brook and Seven Lakes drives were renamed Seven Lakes Parkway . Although the road's name has since reverted to Seven Lakes Drive, the Seven Lakes Parkway name is still used by NYSDOT for the section owned by PIPC and designated NY 987E. In 1960, the state of New York made plans to construct a extension of Seven Lakes Drive leading southwest from Kanawauke Circle to Sloatsburg. As planned, it would be built in the then-Stony Brook Drive corridor as a straighter alternative to the original highway. The new road was completed in 1962, lessening or eliminating several curves that existed in the old route. Most of what was originally Stony Brook Drive was dismantled as part of the route's construction; however, a section near Sloatsburg was left intact and renamed Johnsontown Road. The road only connects to Seven Lakes Drive at its west end; the east end of the highway is at a

adjacent to where Seven Lakes Drive merges into Stony Brook Drive's old right-of-way. The portion of Johnsontown Road outside of the Sloatsburg village limits is now maintained by

Rockland County Rockland County is the southernmost county on the west side of the Hudson River in the U.S. state of New York. It is part of the New York metropolitan area. It is about from the Bronx at their closest points. The county's population, as of th ...

as CR 97.

Major intersections

References

External links

*{{Commons category-inline Parkways in New York (state) Transportation in Rockland County, New York Transportation in Orange County, New York Bear Mountain State Park Harriman State Park (New York)