page_title: Taconic State Parkway
section_title: Columbia County
hierarchical_section_title: Taconic State Parkway / Route description / Columbia County
caption_attribution_description: English: Taconic State Parkway looking north from NY 217 overpass in Ghent, NY, USA
context_page_description: The Taconic State Parkway is a 104.12-mile divided highway between Kensico Dam and Chatham, the longest parkway in the U.S. state of New York. It follows a generally north-south route midway between the Hudson River and the Connecticut and Massachusetts state lines, much of its upper section along the westernmost flank of the Taconic Mountains. Its southernmost three miles are a surface road; from the junction with the Sprain Brook Parkway northward it is a limited-access highway. It has grade-separated interchanges from that point to its northern terminus; in the three northern counties, there are also at-grade intersections, many with closed medians, allowing only right-in/right-out turns. It is open only to passenger vehicles, as with other parkways in New York, and maintained by the state Department of Transportation, the fourth agency to have that responsibility.
  Franklin D. Roosevelt, who had long envisioned a scenic road through the eastern Hudson Valley, was instrumental in making it a reality as a way to provide access to existing and planned state parks in the region.
context_section_description: The parkway terrain in Columbia is similar to that in northern Dutchess, with more views opening up in the north as the road levels out. The surrounding farms and woods get more extensive. After entering the county, the Taconic continues due north through the town of Gallatin through unbroken woods. It bends slightly to the intersection with CR 8 to pass the beach at Lake Taghkanic State Park, with the access road for the park leaving to the east at grade from the northbound lanes where the highway enters the Town of Taghkanic. Another ¹⁄₂ mile (0.80 km) to the north is the second interchange with NY 82.
  North of that exit, the parkway bends to the northeast again, paralleling the orientation of the county as a whole. It crosses briefly into the town of Claverack, then back into Taghkanic before re-entering Claverack as it heads due east briefly, then north again into the NY 23 exit near the hamlet of Martindale. It bends from the northerly heading back to the northeast to cross into Philmont over the next three miles (4.8 km), where NY 217 comes to its eastern terminus at the exit with the Taconic.
  Past a rise beyond that exit, there are scenic overlook parking areas on both sides of the highway with panoramic views west to the Catskills. The road curves into the town of Ghent, with two more at-grade intersections, one of which being Rigor Hill Road, which features a gas station right on the side of the parkway.
  The Taconic continues on a heading closer to the north from here for five miles (8.0 km) more, crossing into the town of Chatham, with an exit for NY 203 shortly after. The parkway continues north through Chatham, where signs warn drivers that the NY 295 exit is the last before the Thruway tolls at the end of the road. The grade intersections in the next few miles are open only to southbound traffic, primarily allowing commercial vehicles that have mistakenly ventured onto the parkway to exit. A small toll booth named the Chatham Toll Plaza for exit B2 on the Berkshire Section of the New York State Thruway (I-90), marks the administrative end of the Taconic State Parkway, 104 miles (167 km) from Kensico Circle.
caption: Birds-eye view of the Taconic at the NY 217 exit in Philmont
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