carcrazy95
10-08-2009, 06:52 PM
This week I had a chance to drive one of my very favorite roads for the first time in my RX8: the Taconic Parkway in New York, from end to end, New York City to Albany.
I have always thought that the Taconic Parkway is one of the Great drives in this part of the country. It's a beautiful, winding 2-lane road which snakes its way along the east side of the Hudson River, starting at the end of the Henry Hudson Parkway in New York City, and continuing about 150 miles due north to Albany. The road loops, twists, and turns its way through some absolutely spectacular scenery in the Hudson Valley of New York, and through the rolling Hudson Highlands range, past gently rolling hills and farms with sweeping vistas of forests and lakes.
The road itself is old, I think it was built back in the 1930's, and probably originally as a 1-lane road for the larger cars back then but is now 2-lane - but two very narrow lanes. There is no shoulder along most of its length, and parts of it are bordered by very unfriendly stone walls or steel guardrails with some rather long drop-offs on the other side. There are a lot of fantastically tight turns along its whole length, which used to be white-knucklers for me in ordinary cars growing up in that part of the country - but the RX8 is made for that road. It just flies along and flows around all the curves, with the bucolic scenery unfolding mile after mile.
Most people just use the Taconic for short commutes to wherever they need to go. But, if you live in the area, try driving the whole length of it, just for the fun of it. It's one of the best drives in the area, and absolutely made for the RX8 (just watch out for all the police and speed traps - with all municipalities dramatically stepping up speed enforcement to generate more revenues, there were police cars and speed traps every few miles this week, a good radar detector is a must).
I have always thought that the Taconic Parkway is one of the Great drives in this part of the country. It's a beautiful, winding 2-lane road which snakes its way along the east side of the Hudson River, starting at the end of the Henry Hudson Parkway in New York City, and continuing about 150 miles due north to Albany. The road loops, twists, and turns its way through some absolutely spectacular scenery in the Hudson Valley of New York, and through the rolling Hudson Highlands range, past gently rolling hills and farms with sweeping vistas of forests and lakes.
The road itself is old, I think it was built back in the 1930's, and probably originally as a 1-lane road for the larger cars back then but is now 2-lane - but two very narrow lanes. There is no shoulder along most of its length, and parts of it are bordered by very unfriendly stone walls or steel guardrails with some rather long drop-offs on the other side. There are a lot of fantastically tight turns along its whole length, which used to be white-knucklers for me in ordinary cars growing up in that part of the country - but the RX8 is made for that road. It just flies along and flows around all the curves, with the bucolic scenery unfolding mile after mile.
Most people just use the Taconic for short commutes to wherever they need to go. But, if you live in the area, try driving the whole length of it, just for the fun of it. It's one of the best drives in the area, and absolutely made for the RX8 (just watch out for all the police and speed traps - with all municipalities dramatically stepping up speed enforcement to generate more revenues, there were police cars and speed traps every few miles this week, a good radar detector is a must).