Written Directions
east branch,ny RT.17 about 15 miles from Hancock,NY. this specific loop ends where rt. 30 meets up with rt.28 or if coming from the south on rt. 17 this begins about 15 miles from the roscoe diner on rt. 17.
Scenery
have started the ride out from hancock,ny on rt. 17 which is actually about 17 miles from the real beginning of this ride,which is east branch,ny, state rt. 30 one of the finest roads in all of new york state. take rt. 30 east/north and you will ride along the east branch of the delaware river on your right with great sweeping turns,rock wall formations on your left and beautiful mountain scenery all around you and for the most part you may be the only person on the road, its as if you own the road. About half way thru this ride you will come into the town of Downsville,ny(more on this later) and once you cross over the bridge here is where the ride really gets good. you will decend a rise with the pepacton reservoir now on your left and will come into some really tight 180's going both to the left and right with a couple of hairpins mixed in,halfway thru this you'll go over a bridge and will be able to see the reservoir spread out befor you on both side! s with about 14 miles left.
Drive Enjoyment
the quality of this highway is excellent with new road pavement from Downsville up thru the nice twisties until you come to the bridge which crosses the reservoir. the ride is full of wide sweepers, tight twisties and some of the best scenery anywhere and the best part is there is hardly any traffic at all. rt. 30 is one of the finest roads in ny and you can take this road from this point all the way up to canada.thru the catskill park ,up into the adirondak park and you would not be dissapointed other than a few dull spots around the NY state thruway.this pepacton loop is part of a larger loop you could take that would take you thru 2 reservoirs,the other being cannonsville reservoir which i've wrote about in another post on this site. just take 28 north to delhi,grab rt. 10 south and take that to rt. 17 and back to Hancock,ny where I've started this ride from.
Tourism Opportunities
In Hancock there is the hancock house hotel with rooms and a great bar/restaurant with some pretty good lunches. In downsville there is the old schoolhouse restaurant with some of the best burgers you will ever have,they raise they're own longhorn cattle right up on the hill behind the resaurant,ask at the gas station on the corner where it is and they'll tell you its 400 yards from the light. at the end of this ride when you reach rt.28 you can either take 28 north towards Andes with another great hotel bar/restaurant or stay on 28/30 and go into Margerettville,with gas,restaurants or continue south on 28 for about 10 miles go thru arkville,(where you can take a train ride)and on your left will be Oakley's where you can get a real wood-fired pizza that's one of the only wood-fired ovens in the area.
