New-York tribune., 1906-10-28
PALISADES PARKWAY.
Region 1t Uiu Open to Sightseer'
Along West Bank of Hudson.

point of the compass and at night IL swarms
back again by the many ways 1t came. But on
the seventh day this tide Is reversed Early on
Sunday the army Of pleasure seekers begins
to move and before IL o'clock 1t is in full swing
throwing out its columns to Coney Island. to
New Jersey. to Long Island. up the Sound and
along the Palisades of the Hudson
There are many veterans IN this army whose
expeditions are invariably into the open country,
where there is green grass under foot and free
air uncontaminated by the creations Of the
frankfurter man or the smell of the regular
dinner" Necessity limits their range OF opera
tions, however, and envious eyes watch the van
guard OF the pleasure army as it goes whirrtns
by in automobiles to more extended fields. The
cost of place in the vanguard is not pro-
hibitive after all. For s5 one can drive all day
along the Palisades in runabout and the Fort
Lee ferry will land the true enthusiast within
walking distance of a country which Is too little
known.
From the village Of Fort Lee, on the cliff
above the ferry landing and reached from II
by a trolley line, the road runs along the top of
the Palisades through open woods, from which
the undeTbTusn and small growth has been cut
away, leaving long viStas through the trees.
Here and there little wood roads after winding
IN and out end abruptly on the very edge of the
Palisades. AS the sghtseer tolts slowly over
their uneven surface ne is likely to fancy himeslf
in some remote inland region rather than in the
Immediate vicinity OF the second city in the
world. The feeling of sylvan simplicity. how
ever, vanishes at one glimpse of the view from
the brink Of the rock wall Even now it pays to
take the Journey for one look at this view when
the new parkway is completed the spectacle will
be continuous, not intermittent.
For this parkway the Palisades Commission
has now practically completed the plans. From
Fort Lee TO Piermont just over the boundary
line of the two states, hghroad will be con-
structed Jointly by New York and New Jersey.
For practically all of the distance of about ff
teen miles the road will be cut in the face
of the rock, putting at the threshold of New
q 6riV UThiP in nat 9ylflP
can be compared only to such thoroughfares as
the coast road from Naples to Amalh and Sor-
rentO, or to the famous Axenstrasse. along the
shore Of the lake of Lucerne. The latter, in
deed. 1t will closely resemble in it's construction
with the sheer mountain on one side of the arti-
hcial shelf and the water below upon the other.
Under the provisions of the Carpenter bill,
which the Governor signed last spring. the new
road will be extended from Piermont, where the
authority of the Palisades Commission
stops, fifteen miles further, to the state reserva
ton at Stony Point.
At the present time the Sunday tourist must
content himself with occasional glimpses from
the end of the little country lanes running off
from the main road. For the curious wayfarer,
however, there is much to be seen. Just before
Englewood is reached, for example, a peculiar
looking rock stands up free and clear. A
slight knowledge Of geology proves 1t TO be an
immense piece of sandstone that was dropped
there by glacier in the ice age. This relic Of
a faroff period Of the worlds formation is in
striking contrast to the hard and beetling ap-
pearance of the Palisades themselves. made OF
volcanic traprock forced up from below IN a
molten state. This is the kind OF rock
of which Hook Mountain is composed, and from
the geologist's point of view. the mountain Is
therefore part Of the Palisades. although to
the ordinary observer the rock wall seems to
end abruptly at Piermont-
1t is worth while to follow Palisade avenue in
Englewood as it winds down to the bank of
the river. Sloping up from the shore is the
mass OF stones and earth that cons Of time
have rubbed from the face of the cliffs. Sheer
from the top Of this rise the bristling rocks to
a height of over two hundred feet, while the
perpendicular fssures that extend from bottom
to top give impression Of greater
height.
Beyond Englewood one of the narrow wood
roads runs to Clinton Point and comes out sud-
denly upon the point close to the edge of
the rock wall that one can jump over it from
his wagon. Directly across the river is River
dale Yonkers is just g. little above, and the
waters Of Spuyten Duyvil Creek glisten below,
while UP and down as far the eye can reach
stretches the Rhine of the New World. At
ones feet the precipice falls away so sharply
that its base seems actually to stand in the
water. The height is deceiving, however for
at this point the beach is really so wide that
there is an old legend that George Washington
was the only one who ever threw stone into
the river from the top.
There is blot upon the landscape. At the
base of the cliffs at intervals along the shore
little shanties and piers built as part Of
the effort TO turn the Palisades into paving
stones. Years ago the New York Legislature
prohibited the painting of advertisements on the
cliffs but, strange to say. 1t remarkably
slow to stop their actual demolition. Citizens
bought up privately strip at the foot of the
against the contractors whose blasted rock fell
this land, and thus put a stop TO part Of
their depredationS. The creation of the Pali-
sades Commission by the joint action OF New
Jersey and New York in 1900 completed the
work Of preservation as far as Ptermont and
the passage OF the Carpenter bill has saved
old Hook Mountain.
From Clinton Point the road now known as
the Alpine Way goes on through Alpine to Pier
mont The road. however, is carried inland
here and the tourist must leave 1t II he wishes
to the Tappan Zee spread out before him.
with the bold outline of Hook Mountain closing
It in upon the north sil miles away. It Is
around the Tappan Zee more than elsewhere
that the Dutch legends of the Hudson cluster.
1t is the Tappan Zee that Rambunt van Dorm,
another Flying Dutchman, is forever trying to
sail to his homo at Spuyten Duyvil. and from
the summit of the Nerdriegete Hoek-the
Troublesome Point-as Hook Mountain was for
merly called, one commands the whole land OF
goblinS who were once such a thorn in the flesh
of the Dutch colonists. On the face Of the
mountain the drill and the dynamite have been
at work. and from far away as PierTnont
plainly the rough scars.
Now that the contractors have been driven
from Hook Mountain by the Palisades Park
Commission they have sought other fields for
their destructive work, and have organized COM
panies TO begin operations Crows Nest and
Storm King. The state IS planning road
around the face of these two mountains which
viii be continuation of tho Palisades Park
way.
over the existing roads however, Piermont
IS almost far enough for the Sunday adventurer
to stray from home. Another route viii take
him along the valley through the historic old
town OF Tappan. where Major Andre ex-
ecuted, and hack to Tenafy and Englewood.
There he will fall in with one OF the main
columns OF the pleasure army, returning by
trolley and railroad to the city.
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